This report describes the concept and methodology of INFORM Severity Index. INFORM is a multi-stakeholder forum for developing shared, quantitative analysis, relevant to humanitarian crisis and disasters globally to establish a common evidence base that is of interests of the European Union, UN agencies, donors, other NGOs and research institutions.
The INFORM Severity index is a composite indicator that measures the severity of humanitarian crises against a common scale at the global level. The concept of the INFORM Severity Index is based on three dimensions: impact of the crisis, conditions of people affected and complexity of the crisis. The model of INFORM Severity index is divided into levels to give insight into each of the dimensions to provide a quick overview of the underlying factors defining the severity of a humanitarian crisis.
INFORM plans to be a suite of quantitative products to support decision making in different phases of disaster risk management cycle. It is mostly known by INFORM Risk Index that supports proactive part of crisis risk management framework. INFORM Severity Index will contribute to improved management of humanitarian crisis with quantitative information about their severity. It will be helpful for an objective analysis of the factors determining the severity of a crisis and trends in crisis severity over time, to make decisions about allocating the required resources as well as being a valuable tool for coordinated actions focused on improving transparency and accountability of the response.JRC.E.1-Disaster Risk Managemen
