Pulse check: Prioritisation online conversation

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Humanitarians are no stranger to prioritisation – appeals have always been underfunded, resources always dwarfed by the scale of need. Yet in the current dramatically shifting environment of funding cuts there is lack of clarity about how organisations are making tough prioritisation decisions: what the process is, who and what is - and isn’t - being prioritised, and why.

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Lots of internal consultations and idea seeking at the beginning. In the end lots of closed-door discussions that seemed to protect senior positions and particular interests.

Anonymous respondent of The Prioritisation Exchange: Insights, Challenges & Lessons survey

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What do we mean by prioritisation?

How are humanitarians allocating scarce resources in tough financial times?

Our work finds that prioritisation decisions have to be made in four interconnected areas
1) who receives assistance (populations)
2) what assistance they get (programmes)
3) the size and shape of the organisations providing assistance (structure)
4) and the mechanics and architecture of the humanitarian system (system)

We want to better understand the impact of the decisions being made, and what can be learned from them.

Your insights can be part of a global conversation about difficult decisions, challenges and trade-offs. You will not be asked for personal identifying information or your organisation. The conversation is yours to shape.

Your insights will be added back into the conversation that will build as more people submit their experiences. Come back to this page to see what the sector is saying. They’ll also contribute to a report on the experience and impacts of prioritisation due out at the end of this year, and to the 2026 State of the Humanitarian System report.

It was less prioritisation and more just stemming leaks caused by cutting of funds. Changes in my organisation focused on staff cuts and not programming effects of cuts.

Anonymous respondent of The Prioritisation Exchange: Insights, Challenges & Lessons survey

Stay tuned!

Follow this page for updates as we analyse what we're receiving.