Situation reports, often abbreviated as “sitreps,” are useful for giving a brief summary of a current status of a particular situation or event to aid understanding and guide humanitarian responses and advocacy. They are typically used by humanitarian organizations, governments, or military forces to track the progress of an ongoing operation, crisis, or emergency.  

Situation reports can vary in format and content depending on their purpose and audience. Generally, they include the current situation status, recent developments and any actions taken or planned. In addition to providing updates on the context of the crisis, situation reports may also include information on the resources and personnel involved in the response, the political and economic context, and any challenges or obstacles encountered.  

Sitreps can be internal – designed to provide the organization which created them with updates that will help it understand how best to improve or further support the response – or external – designed for external audiences, providing an overview of the situation and updates on the organization’s response or partners’ activities. 

Sitreps are usually developed by country representatives or local sources, with support from regional staff or headquarters as necessary. 

Why are they important?  

Situation reports are an essential tool for managing and responding to complex situations, as they help to ensure that all stakeholders are informed and on the same page regarding the current state of affairs 

Locating new and varied data sources to determine response on the ground remains a critical issue for all humanitarian responders. This includes limitations in access to field data, poor and inconsistent monitoring of events that could turn into hazards, an overall lack of standardization, and poor data validation. Ensuring situation reports data are capturing data from local and national organizations can have a significant positive impact, including: 

• Partnerships, focused advocacy and sharing of good practices among diasporas 
• Efficient use of financial and human resources in responding to crises 
• Better preparedness mechanisms and planning for crisis response  

Sitreps do not often include diaspora humanitarian activities, which means that diaspora activities are often not ‘’visible’ to other humanitarian agencies. The Switchboard Sitreps have been created for use by diaspora humanitarians from Haiti, Sudan, and Syria to capture their humanitarian activities and to support diaspora crisis advocacy.  Diaspora humanitarians from other diasporas may also find them useful for creating their own Sitreps to support their humanitarian work.

Read our Situation Reports on Sudan, Haiti and Syria on our website here- https://shabaka.org/situation-reports/