Guidance for Information and Data Sharing

How to establish mechanisms for integrating environmental data and information before a crisis happens

• Engage in humanitarian information sharing mechanisms:
  • Environmental actors: actively contribute to the response by sharing key environmental data sets as widely as possible through humanitarian platforms and offering support to analyse this environmental data; when Clusters are activated as a preparedness measure, directly approach humanitarian actors including cluster representatives and offer to share relevant environmental data and information.
  • Humanitarian actors: reach out to national counterparts to request the engagement of environmental actors with relevant information; consult HDX and the assessment registry for environmental assessments.
  • Key data and information sharing platforms include:
    • Humanitarian Data Exchange
    • https://www.humanitarianresponse.info
    • https://reliefweb.int/
    • Global Protection Cluster website
    • Country Cluster websites – when Clusters are activated they often have their own websites at the country level, to share key documents relevant to that specific response.
• Support in identifying and adapting environmental data, such as water quality and quantity, forest cover, disaster waste and ecosystem productivity, to humanitarian settings. Adapt environmental information to language relevant to humanitarian actors.
• Actively reach out to environmental and humanitarian actors to establish communication networks and an active exchange of data.
  • Register on HumanitarianID and look for environmental experts deployed to the particular context.
• Explore the integration of environmental data and decision support tools for including information into emergency response planning approaches.
• During sudden-onset and protracted crises, Information & Data Sharing is essential to facilitate and supports coordination, thereby improves the humanitarian response.
  • Develop capacities and prepare for a swift collection and exchange of data. See Information & Data Sharing in Crisis Response and Recovery for specific guidance.

For more guidance on environmental data and information sharing in the humanitarian system, see this Guidance Note.