An analytical framework for humanitarian protocol and policy review exercises

This paper presents the main lines of an analytical framework to approach humanitarian policy review exercises, based on the example of the IASC System-Wide Scale-Up Protocols. Anchored in sociological paradigms, this framework could be understood as a socio-phenomenological-functionalist one. It revolves around two central steps: i) starting from practice in order to grasp the reality of a protocol or policy, and ii) considering a protocol or policy (as revealed through its practice) as a sui-generis social object whose patterns of realisation are to be identified. The idea is to make this framework available so that it can be used (when and where relevant) for other similar review exercises. Although it doesn’t aim to evaluate the quality and relevancy of a protocol or policy in light of a broader environment, this approach appears pertinent to reconstruct a protocol or policy as it manifests in practice, which enables actors to maximise its use and deploy it more efficiently.