Displacing Ignorance: CLA for applied humanitarian learning

The steep global increase of people needing humanitarian assistance each year can overwhelm those responding to the crises. The increasingly complex crises, protracted emergencies, displacement contexts, and disasters require swift, adaptable responses and better evidence of what works, where, how, and for whom.  

Learning agendas have emerged as a sound approach to focus and prioritize such evidence needs. Leveraging insights from research and regular monitoring and evaluation, they propel evidence generation, translation, and use. However, their use within the humanitarian and emergency setting is relatively new.  

This case study, through the concrete example of evidence-building efforts for the Ultra-Poor Graduation model (UPG) in displacement settings, showcases how using adaptive management, leveraging monitoring and evaluation (M&E) for learning, and creating a culture of continuous learning and improvement helped World Vision develop and operationalize a learning agenda for its humanitarian and emergency programs.  

More practically, the evidence generated around the UPG model for displacement settings has improved the model’s application in three ongoing programs in Somalia, Zambia and Rwanda. It also has been used in new project designs and, more importantly, has laid out an evidence-building pipeline for the model, which will serve World Vision and others using it.