Turn SEAH incident reports into collective intelligence for safer aid
The Harmonised Reporting Scheme (HRS) brings together anonymised, comparable data on sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment (SEAH) incidents reported by humanitarian and development organisations. By combining data from across the sector, the HRS reveals recurring risks that no organisation can see alone. This shared evidence helps organisations and donors strengthen prevention, improve responses, target resources and make aid more accountable to people and communities affected by crisis.
Led by CHS Alliance, the HRS puts the commitments of the Core Humanitarian Standard into practice by turning reporting into collective learning and action.
The more organisations participate, the stronger the evidence becomes. This better equips the sector to prevent SEAH, mitigate risks and respond effectively.
Find what you need
Go directly to the information most relevant to you.
How the HRS can support your work
For organisations
Use HRS insights to understand your reporting patterns, identify potential gaps and strengthen prevention and response.
For donors
Support more consistent reporting and use collective evidence to inform funding, policy, oversight and risk mitigation.
For practitioners and policy makers
Explore current findings, recurring risks and practical recommendations for stronger prevention and response.
How the HRS works: one secure submission, two levels of value
Report securely, when it works for you
Enter SEAH incidents as they arise or submit your data periodically, at least twice a year.
The HRS uses a defined set of harmonised, non-identifiable data fields. No names or identifying information about the victim or survivor, alleged perpetrator or reporting organisation are collected.
Understand and use your organisation’s data
Only your organisation can access its submissions. Through your private dashboard, you can:
- view visualisations of your organisational trends;
- monitor reporting patterns and identify potential gaps;
- generate consistent information for internal reporting; and
- export a donor incident notification report in a single click.
The export can support notification to donors whose reporting requirements align with the HRS fields. Donors may request additional information in line with individual funding agreements.
Learn from the wider evidence and see where you stand
Your organisation’s non-identifiable data contribute to a securely aggregated dataset containing reports from all HRS participants.
You can access collective trends and use benchmarking functions to compare your organisation’s reporting patterns with the aggregated dataset. This helps you:
- understand how your experience compares with wider sector patterns;
- identify potential areas of under-reporting or heightened risk;
- strengthen prevention, risk mitigation and response; and
- make more informed safeguarding and resourcing decisions.
The aggregated evidence is also analysed by CHS Alliance to identify recurring risks and develop practical recommendations for organisations, donors and the wider sector.
Towards more harmonised reporting across the sector
Organisations face different SEAH reporting requirements across donors and funding agreements. This can create duplication, increase the reporting burden and make it harder to build a consistent picture of risk across the sector.
The HRS provides a shared set of reporting fields that can support greater alignment between organisations and donors. Wider recognition of these fields can:
- make reporting more consistent and proportionate;
- reduce unnecessary duplication for organisations;
- improve the quality and comparability of SEAH data;
- provide stronger evidence for donor policy, oversight and resourcing; and
- support better prevention, response and risk mitigation across the sector.
1. Recognition
Donors recognise or align with HRS fields.
2. Participation
More organisations join and report consistently.
3. Evidence
More comparable data strengthen analysis.
4. Action
Better evidence improves prevention and response.
How to join the HRS
The HRS is open to humanitarian and development organisations, including national and international NGOs, civil society organisations and private-sector organisations working in aid.
1. Start a conversation
Contact the HRS team to discuss your organisation, current data collection and any questions.
2. Confirm participation
Complete the participation process and receive support to set up your secure platform access.
3. Begin reporting
Enter incidents as they arise or submit your data periodically, at least twice a year.
A manageable commitment
For organisations that already maintain an internal SEAH incident database, reporting typically takes around one hour every six months, depending on caseload and data readiness.
The HRS team will support your organisation through onboarding and help you understand the reporting fields and platform.
Join more than 100 participating organisations
Every organisation strengthens the shared evidence base. See all participating organisations at the end of this page.
Hear from supporters of the Scheme
The HRS is supported by organisations and sector leaders who recognise that responsible reporting and stronger collective evidence are essential to preventing and responding to SEAH.
“The UK’s FCDO supports the SEAH data harmonisation scheme. It is a valuable tool to encourage reporting, analyse trends, manage risk, develop policy and improve transparency and accountability at global and country levels. Our partners can use the information from the scheme’s data fields to inform us about SEAH allegations. This makes reporting easier. We may require further information for case management purposes. We continue to expect prompt reporting as set out in our funding agreements.”
Safeguarding Unit, Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO)
“DG ECHO has largely aligned the data fields of its individual case reporting template to the Harmonised Reporting Scheme.”
Anne Schley, DG ECHO Compliance Officer
“We need to flip the narrative around reporting by underscoring it as one of the key ways we will be better able to prevent and respond to SEAH incidents.”
Elizabeth Pender, Senior Advisor, Safe and Accountable Programming, USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance
“We want to reassure organisations that signing up for the Scheme, reporting transparently and in doing so helping to address allegations is a positive step. [The Scheme] will mean we can better analyse patterns and develop evidence driven strategies and interventions to help target areas, both thematically and in terms of locations, with the highest risks of SEAH.”
Dr Kweku Ackom, Health Advisor, Safeguarding Unit, UK FCDO
“At the moment, we simply don’t have the adequate quality of data to know what we’re facing; let alone what forms it takes. This is like fighting blindfolded. The more quality data we have the better we can see. See enough to chart a way to stop this unacceptable abuse happening to the people most deserving of support and care.”
Wonder Mufunda, Chief Executive Officer, Centre for Humanitarian Analytics
“Sharing of information and reporting incidents of SEA can help us to understand the scope and complexity of the problem. It will also allow us to address the causes and to support victims and survivors more effectively. We are committed to working towards the harmonization of the UN iReport and the SEAH Harmonised Reporting Scheme to simplify reporting, eliminate duplication, and increase transparency and accountability across the aid sector.”
Christian Saunders, Special Coordinator on improving the United Nations response to sexual exploitation and abuse