In response to continually challenging operating environments for humanitarian aid, InterAction commissioned Humanitarian Outcomes to conduct a study in 2016 of how the major humanitarian NGOs perceive, define and manage risks to their organizations and operations. The NGO Risk Review centered on a participant group of 14 international non-governmental organizations from among the largest and most field-present humanitarian operators:

• Action Contre La Faim (ACF)
• Catholic Relief Services (CRS)
• CARE
• Concern
• Danish Refugee Council (DRC)
• International Medical Corps (IMC)
• International Rescue Committee (IRC)
• Islamic Relief Worldwide
• Mercy Corps
• Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Holland
• Norwegian Refugee Council
• Oxfam
• Save the Children
• World Vision

Research Questions

• The study examined two key principal questions:
• What do humanitarian NGOs view as the primary external risks affecting their ability to carry out principled humanitarian action?

How do humanitarian NGOs interpret, differentiate, prioritize and manage these risks internally?

Related documents:

• Residual Risk Acceptance: An Advocacy Guidance Note (September 2016)
• Guidance: NGO Risk Management: Principles and Promising Practice handbook
• Tool: Blank Risk Register template