How listening to data can improve humanitarian aid | Sarah Fuhrman & Emily Janoch | TEDxPearlStreet

To make humanitarian responses more effective and keep them from perpetuating gender inequality, we must change how we collect, analyze, and use data. This involves really listening to the communities we work with—particularly women—when they tell us what they need. By changing our decisions and systems to include not only data but also life experiences, we can create a better future and better serve those in crisis. Sarah Fuhrman is an attorney and humanitarian aid professional with more than a decade of experience in policy, advocacy, research, and operations. She has worked with a variety of organizations on issues including adherence to international law, food insecurity, gender equality, and the protection of civilians in conflict. Sarah has supported humanitarian responses in Afghanistan, DRC, Iraq, Kenya, Mexico, South Sudan, Thailand, and Yemen. She is the Director of Humanitarian Policy at InterAction and an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.

Emily Janoch is the Director for Knowledge Management and Learning at CARE, focusing on ways to better learn from, share, and use implementation experiences on eradicating poverty through empowering women and girls in order to improve impact. With 16 years of experience, she is an expert in designing systems to capture and share information across many sources, and facilitating conversations with practitioners and decision makers. Emily holds a Masters' in Public Policy in Internationals and Global Affairs from the Harvard Kennedy School. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx