Abby Stoddard is a researcher, writer, and humanitarian policy analyst. She is a founding partner of the international research consultancy, Humanitarian Outcomes, where she conducts independent and commissioned studies and provides analysis and advice to governments and international aid agencies.
Her latest book is Necessary Risks: Professional Humanitarianism and Violence Against Aid Workers, exploring the role of humanitarian action in war and the causes and consequences of attacks on civilian aid operations.
Recent research
Follow the links below to view recent research publications. A full archive can be found here.
Enabling the local response: Emerging humanitarian priorities in Ukraine, March–May 2022
A report by Humanitarian Outcomes, commissioned by the UK Humanitarian Innovation Hub.
Contending with threats to humanitarian health workers in the age of epidemics
The 2020 Aid Worker Security Report examines the unique threats to aid workers in health emergency responses, particularly as relates to public fears around communicable diseases and containment efforts.
Speakable: Addressing sexual violence and gender-based risk in humanitarian aid
The 2019 Aid Worker Security Report, focusing on the issue of sexual violence and the differing risks for female and male aid workers in violent operational settings.
NGOs and Risk: Managing uncertainty in local-international partnerships
This is the report of an applied research study commissioned by InterAction with the participation of 10 major international NGOs, analyzing the current challenges, approaches, and tools for risk management in operational partnerships with local actors.
Humanitarian Access in Armed Conflict: A need for new principles?
In many active conflict areas, humanitarian operations are unable to gain secure access to provide aid to people in need. This report, with co-authors Adele Harmer and Alexandra Sarazen, was commissioned by the UK government to determine the feasibility and potential impact of the international community developing a new set of principles for humanitarian access in war.
Efficiency and Inefficiency in Humanitarian Financing
This report defines a measure of efficiency in international humanitarian financing and compares the relative efficiencies of the main funding modalities in a sample of recent emergency contexts. It aims to help inform donor decision-making at a time of surging financial demand for humanitarian aid and new momentum for change in the sector. Commissioned by USAID and co-authored by Lydia Poole, Glyn Taylor, Barnaby Willits-King.
Articles and op-eds
“We have already spent everything we had in our own wallets”: How international aid is failing Ukrainian responders – and what to do about it.
FP2P
When Risk is Part of the Job
The New Humanitarian
Mosul: Lives saved, credibility lost?
The New Humanitarian
Out of Reach: How insecurity prevents humanitarian aid from reaching the neediest
Stability: International Journal of Security & Development
The View from the Foxhole: How Risk and the Fragmented Perspective of Agencies Limits the Reach of Humanitarian Aid
ATHA
A Practical Response to MSF’s Report Where is Everyone?
The Guardian
Why Aid Workers are Targets
The Globalist
You Say You Want a Devolution: Prospects for Remodeling Humanitarian Assistance
The Journal of Humanitarian Assistance
