
The State of Humanitarian Professions
The State of Humanitarian Professions 2020 (SOHP) is the result of a year-long consultation with more than 1,500 humanitarian professionals.
For the first time, this study gathers and analyses key figures on 24 humanitarian professions, as well as on recruitment practices and professional development in the sector.
In addition, the SOHP study demonstrates the need to coordinate on the challenges of professionalising humanitarian teams, with 19 recommendations to be discovered in the final report.

SOHP 2020: professionalisation, a guarantee of the quality of humanitarian aid
Download the full report. Analysis and synthesis of interviews of key informants, survey, 11 local workshops in 10 countries, additional study on the impact of covid-19 on humanitarian professions, and recommendations from the conference on professionalisation in the humanitarian sector.

The State of Humanitarian Professions: providing a reference tool to the aid community
In a rapidly changing aid ecosystem, how to help humanitarian organisations better recruit, retain and develop competent staff? How to help individuals have greater clarity on how they can enter the aid sector and be effective for people in need? How to help learning providers better target the most acute learning needs?

Executive Summary
SOHP 2020’s main findings and observations: humanitarian environment, humanitarian professions, trends in recruitment, professional development and career progression, humanitarian competencies, impact of covid-19 and recommendations for next steps.

Recommendations for next steps
The SOHP study is a snapshot of the sector; based on the experiences, views and opinions of humanitarians. Retaining this concept of engagement, the SOHP Conference was planned as an appropriate way for humanitarians to gather and reflect on the findings of the study, and to discuss and propose recommendations.

The SOHP conference gathers more than 500 humanitarian professionals
On November 17, 566 humanitarian professionals from all continents participated in the online conference presenting the results of our study “The State of Humanitarian Professions 2020 (SOHP)”.