Africa Platform

INFORM Risk Index: Vulnerability
Understanding why and where humanitarian disasters are likely to occur is a fundamental step in saving lives and promoting sustainable development. The main focus of humanitarian organizations is people. The Vulnerability dimension of the INFORM Risk Index (global risk assessment for humanitarian crises and disasters) addresses the predispositions of a population to be affected by hazard. It represents economic, political and social characteristics of the community that can be destabilized in case of a hazard event. This layer presents the vulnerability index for each country. The risk score ranges from 0-10, where 10 is the highest risk.

Data provider

EC-JRC
Suggested citation

INFORM. 2020. INFORM Risk Index 2021. https://drmkc.jrc.ec.europa.eu/inform-index. INFORM is a collaboration of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee Reference Group on Risk, Early Warning and Preparedness and the European Commission. The European Commission Joint Research Centre is the scientific lead of INFORM.
Related tool or portal

https://drmkc.jrc.ec.europa.eu/inform-index/INFORM-Risk
Licence

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Date or time period of observation

2021
Frequency of update

Pluriannual
Geographic coverage

Global
Spatial Resolution

Countries
Technical background

The INFORM Risk Index is a global, open-source risk assessment for humanitarian crises and disasters. It can support decisions about prevention, preparedness and response. INFORM simplifies a large quantity of information about risks into a simple risk profile for each country. The index has three dimensions: hazard & exposure (events that could occur), vulnerability (susceptibility of communities to those hazards) and lack of coping capacity (resources available that can alleviate the impact). Each dimension encompasses different categories and each category is broken down into components that capture the topic and are presented with a carefully chosen set of indicators. For each component, the risk score ranges from 0-10, where 10 is the highest risk. There are two categories aggregated in the vulnerability component: socio-economic vulnerability and vulnerable groups. The indicators used in each category are different in time variability and the social groups considered in each category are the target of different humanitarian organizations. If the first category refers more to the demography of a country in general, the vulnerable group category captures social groups with limited access to social and health care systems. More on the INFORM methodology available at: https://drmkc.jrc.ec.europa.eu/inform-index/INFORM-Risk/Methodology
Cautions

The INFORM Risk Index is a composite index, which is a simplified view of reality. Therefore, it should be used in conjunction with other sources of information. Methodology and detailed discussion of limitations are available at: https://drmkc.jrc.ec.europa.eu/inform-index
Related SDGs and targets

GOAL 10: Reduced inequalities, GOAL 17: Partnerships to achieve the Goal, GOAL 1: No Poverty, GOAL 2: Zero Hunger, GOAL 3: Good Health and Well-being
Related Topics

Health, Economy, Security, Disaster Risk, Sustainable Growth & Jobs, Gender & Inequality, People, Humanitarian Aids

Select for mapping