The intersection of conflict, displacement, and recurring climate shocks, combined with evolving humanitarian responses, poses challenges for effective social assistance in protracted crises.

BASIC (Better Assistance in Crises) Research, funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, explores why, how, and when social protection approaches can be used in various crisis contexts to improve assistance, helping vulnerable people better cope and meet basic needs.

The key question which needs to be answered is this: In crisis settings, how can international, national, and local actors collaborate to strengthen commitments and provide social assistance effectively, efficiently, and sustainably to those in need?

Ultimately, BASIC Research aims to generate evidence and fresh perspectives on how to strengthen social assistance in the most difficult protracted crisis settings and for the populations that are the hardest to reach.

The key themes and related sub-questions for BASIC Research are presented in the table below.

BASIC Research is led by the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) together with the School of Global Studies at the University of Sussex, and the Centre for International Development and Training (CIDT) at the University of Wolverhampton, working with an assortment of partners across 11 countries affected by protracted crisis. Deeper research focuses on Lebanon, Niger, Nigeria and Yemen.

To find out more about BASIC’s themes – take a look at ‘Conflict is the new ‘hazard’ on the social protection block’ blog.

Find out more about other research on social protection and the Centre for Social Protection.