Source description last updated:  2 September 2021

In brief: ReliefWeb is a specialised online database of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs providing humanitarian updates.

Coverage on ecoi.net:
Selected publications from a variety of sources for countries of priorities A-C. Articles from Thomson Reuters for countries of priorities A and B2. Please note: ReliefWeb itself generally does not author reports, i.e. it is not the source of the information. ReliefWeb (re-)publishes information produced by others.
Covered daily on ecoi.net.

OCHA, which runs ReliefWeb, is covered as a separate source on ecoi.net.

Mission/Mandate/Objectives:

ReliefWeb is a specialised online database of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). It provides information on situations of disaster and crisis to support humanitarians with their work.

ReliefWeb aims to provide “new and better digital products and services”. In ReliefWeb Labs, ReliefWeb continues “to experiment with better ways to share information for today’s humanitarians.” (ReliefWeb website, About Us, undated)

Funding:

“ReliefWeb has been funded entirely by donor funding since it was started in 1996 [...]”. In 2006, funding was about $2.5 million. When ReliefWeb was started, the US was the primary funder, but by 2006 other major donors, such as Japan, Sweden, Norway and the United Kingdom, also made considerable contributions. (Forum One Communications: Evaluation of ReliefWeb, 2006, p. 66/67)

Scope of reporting:
Geographic focus: All countries.
Thematic focus: Agriculture, security, protection/human rights/rule of law, shelter and non-food items, water and sanitation, coordination and support services, education, food, health, infrastructure and rehabilitation, mine action, refugees and IDPs.

Methodology:

“ReliefWeb's editorial team monitors and collects information from more than 4,000 key sources, including humanitarian agencies at the international and local levels, governments, think-tanks and research institutions, and the media.

Our editors select, classify, curate and deliver the content that is most relevant to global humanitarian workers and decision-makers on a 24/7 basis [….]. Key content, including the latest reports, maps and infographics from trusted sources, is delivered through various channels - the reliefweb.int website, social media networks, subscription services, and other specialized OCHA platforms such as HumanitarianResponse.int, RedHum, and OCHA corporate site through API or RSS - so that humanitarian workers can access a range of latest humanitarian information anywhere, any time.” (ReliefWeb website, About Us, undated)

ecoi.net uses ReliefWeb as a source because of its collection and pre-selection of information. The author/source and methodology of each individual document vary.

Languages of publications:
Mostly English, some documents are available in French, Spanish, Arabic or Russian.

Further reading / links:
Resolution adopted by the General Assembly [A/RES/51/194], 10 February 1997
https://undocs.org/a/res/51/194

Resolution adopted by the General Assembly [A/RES/57/153], 3 March 2003
https://undocs.org/a/res/57/153

ReliefWeb: Vision & Strategy, September 2012
http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/ReliefWeb%20Vision%20and%20Strategy.pdf

ReliefWeb Online Survey Results Analysis, 18 May 2010
http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/ReliefWeb%20Survey%20Analysis.pdf

ReliefWeb: Labs
http://labs.reliefweb.int/

OCHA source description on ecoi.net
https://www.ecoi.net/en/source/11533.html


All links accessed 2 September 2021.

Methodological note:

ecoi.net's source descriptions contain background information on an organisation’s mission & objective, funding and reporting methodology, as well as on how we cover the source. The descriptions were prepared after researching publicly accessible information within time constraints. Most information contained in a source description was taken from the source itself. The aim is to provide a brief introduction to the sources covered regularly, offering information on relevant aspects in one place in a systematic manner.