New York, April 2024—In a major push to transform crisis action, the Complex Risk Analytics Fund (CRAF’d) allocated $3.5 million to five innovative data initiatives.

With backing from multilateral partners, this strategic investment will cover critical datasets for internal displacement, migration, climate change, and multi-hazard scenarios. The combined impact of these datasets will shape global emergency assistance for up to 110 million people, facilitating earlier, faster, more targeted, and dignified responses to crises worldwide.

“Better data empowers us to navigate storms with more precision, ensuring crisis support has the biggest impact—saving more lives and livelihoods in times of growing need,” said Ambassador Thomas Zahneisen, Co-Chair of the CRAF Steering Committee and Deputy Permanent Representative of Germany to the United Nations in New York.

Selected after a rigorous review process by top global experts from a highly competitive pool of over 150 applicants, these five investments stand at the forefront of data innovation. They will provide essential data for better crisis anticipation, prevention, and response:

• Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) for the global reference dataset on internal displacement, covering over 70 million people in need of more sustainable solutions.
• International Organization for Migration (IOM) for a novel dataset on internal migration and associated risk factors covering over 40 million people in need of better assistance. crafd.io
• IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre (ICPAC) for pioneering localized hazard data and models for enhanced preparedness and anticipatory action across East Africa.
• Red Cross Climate Centre (RCCC) for new composite risk datasets and indices for more anticipatory humanitarian action in Africa and the Middle East.
• United Nations Development Program (UNDP) for a risk data platform with on-the-fly data analytics on over 15,000 indicators for early warning and action.

“With these investments, CRAF’d partners are cultivating the seeds of a stronger data ecosystem that allows us to get ahead of crises and shocks wherever we can in this time of global uncertainty,” said Guy Ryder, Co-Chair of the CRAF’d Steering Committee and Under-Secretary-General for Policy in the Executive Office of the Secretary-General.

The initial CRAF’d call for investment proposals received applications from over 100 organizations across 63 countries, demonstrating the potential for data-driven solutions in crisis action. The five projects will empower ecosystem partners and build upon ongoing CRAF’d investments in partners such as the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, the International Crisis Group, Peace Research Institute Oslo, INFORM Consortium, and UN organizations.