2026 Seminars

Humanitarian organisations are increasingly expected to demonstrate results, support locally led learning and adapt rapidly to changing contexts. Yet many are grappling with the same question: how can we generate credible evidence to inform decisions when change is difficult to observe, and when time, budgets and data are limited?

In complex humanitarian settings, conventional measures of success do not always tell the full story. Outcomes may emerge slowly, be highly influenced by context, or be difficult to attribute. At the same time, decision-makers continue to need evidence to inform adaptation, prioritisation and future programming.

This interactive multi-stakeholder discussion will bring together donors, humanitarian agencies and practitioners to explore what can help in these situations. Drawing on experiences from humanitarian evaluations, learning partnerships and evidence generation initiatives, panellists will reflect on how different sources of evidence, perspectives and approaches can contribute to a richer understanding of change and results in complex contexts.

The discussion will explore the trade-offs between rigour, timeliness and feasibility, and discuss how evaluation, monitoring, learning processes and collaborative interpretation of evidence can complement one another. Rather than promoting a single methodology, the session will create space for a practical conversation about what meaningful evidence looks like when change is hard to see, and how humanitarian organisations can make informed decisions in the face of uncertainty.

Session objectives

• Explore the challenges of measuring and demonstrating results in complex humanitarian contexts where change is difficult to observe or attribute.
• Share practical approaches and tools for generating useful evidence when budgets, time and data are constrained.
• Discuss how learning partnerships, local actors and implementing partners can play a greater role in evidence generation and interpretation.

Participants will leave with:

• Practical ideas for generating credible evidence using existing programme and monitoring data.
• Examples of how organisations are balancing rigour, timeliness and cost in evidence generation.
• Insights into how localisation and partnership models can strengthen learning and accountability.