Step-by-Step Practical Guide for Humanitarian Needs Overviews, Humanitarian Response Plans and Updates

This document provides practical, step-by-step guidance on how to organise the collaboration among the various stakeholders to prepare joint inter-sectoral needs analysis, including for the Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO), and response plans and updates, including the Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP). It should be read alongside the HNO and HRP templates. The document complements the existing IASC Humanitarian Programme Cycle (HPC) Guidance, which aims to ensure an evidence-based and results oriented collective response to which Clusters and organisations contribute. It specifically aims to enhance the quality and usefulness of needs analysis to inform response decisions, and to support outcome-oriented response planning. The steps re-assert the sequence of the needs analysis and planning, with needs analysis directly informing the decision-making with regards to response, including the preparation of new plans and adjustments to existing ones.