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Supporting Mercy Corps’ innovative program design

Supporting Mercy Corps’ innovative program design

Mercy Corps is an international non-governmental organization working on the frontlines of today’s most urgent crises. With operations in more than 35 countries and over 4,300 staff members, the organization works with local communities, governments, and international partners to deliver not just emergency relief but long-term solutions. Its Crisis Analysis Team provides specialized, data-driven analysis to monitor conflict trends, anticipate risks, and produce thematic research to inform decision-making in fragile and conflict-affected states. 

ACLED’s reliable global conflict data are a critical input for this effort.

Challenge

Designing programs for fragile contexts means navigating crises shaped by conflict, displacement, food insecurity, and climate shocks — often unfolding simultaneously. It is essential to untangle these interconnected drivers to design programs that reach the right people in the right places. Yet this complexity comes at a time of deepening financial strain across the humanitarian sector, making it more important than ever to prioritize programs that deliver the greatest impact. For Mercy Corps, this means grounding operational decisions in rigorous crisis analytics that can guide better prioritization, program design, and resource allocation.

Solution

Mercy Corps’ Crisis Analysis Team uses ACLED’s global conflict data to ensure program design is grounded in a clear understanding of the evolving conflict landscape. In Sudan, they combined  ACLED data with agricultural and economic data to guide program location and inform agricultural assistance planning during the 2024 growing season. In Syria and Lebanon, ACLED informed Mercy Corps’ predictive models to assess fluctuations in the Survival Minimum Expenditure Basket, a monetization of the goods and services necessary for basic survival, thus shaping cash assistance programs amid high inflation. In Haiti, Mercy Corps used ACLED data on gang violence to produce a scenario report on Haiti’s security situation and relevant humanitarian impacts. This supported contingency planning, preparedness, and resource allocation.

Why does  Mercy Corps choose ACLED data?

  1. ACLED’s efficient, systematic data collection process is led by researchers who code information based on local sources, capturing around 375,000 events per year.
  2. ACLED’s extensive library of analytical content (over 300 publications annually) contextualizes and interprets the ACLED dataset. This includes monthly regional updates, country/thematic reports, and actor profiles.
  3. ACLED releases weekly data updates covering all 244 countries and territories in its dataset. Expedited conflict data are published biweekly for select countries.
  4. ACLED’s local networks in fragile and conflict-affected settings enable the collection of event data and data verification in hard-to-reach areas.
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Over 30% of ACLED’s event data is locally sourced.
The contributions of ACLED’s local networks and partner organizations are crucial for ensuring reliability and coverage of data in hard-to-access places.

Impact

ACLED data empower organizations working in fragile and conflict-affected contexts to design programs that are evidence-driven, targeted, and efficient. By untangling complex crisis dynamics and supporting anticipatory planning, non-governmental organizations like Mercy Corps and its peers can optimize location selection, improve beneficiary targeting, and maximize the impact of interventions across volatile environments.

What is your key challenge?

Speak to one of our specialists and find out how ACLED can support your data needs.