---
title: "A common approach to understanding needs across crisis-affected populations"
description: "Given the current upheaval facing our system and momentum towards reform, we believe now is the right moment to address this challenge."
url: "https://www.nrc.no/resources/position-papers/a-common-approach-to-understanding-needs-across-crisis-affected-populations"
language: "en"
published: "2025-09-02T10:00:00Z"
modified: "2025-12-05T12:43:50Z"
---

Position paper

# A common approach to understanding needs across crisis-affected populations

Published 02. Sep 2025|Updated 05. Dec 2025

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[Humanitarian policy](https://www.nrc.no/themes?categoryId=339)

Given the current upheaval facing our system and momentum towards reform, we believe now is the right moment to address this challenge.

In April, NRC and IMPACT Initiatives shared a joint note calling for the adoption of a standardized approach to understanding the severity of refugees’ needs, and encouraged “alignment of this methodology with the approach used to reprioritize within and across OCHA-led responses”. This note aims to go one step further by outlining how this could be taken forward.

[NRC---A-common-approach-to-understanding-needs.pdf 206.4 KB](https://www.nrc.no/globalassets/pdf/position-papers/a-common-approach-to-understanding-needs-across-crisis-affected-populations/nrc---a-common-approach-to-understanding-needs.pdf)