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ABOUT THIS REPORT
This report describes the recent changes in the INFORM Severity Index scores of humanitarian crises in Myanmar from January 2021 to July 2024. The selected period covers the military coup in February 2021, which has significantly affected the humanitarian situation in the country. July 2024 was selected as the endpoint of the period to set a closed time frame and relate changes in the INFORM Severity Index scores to specific events. The report explores INFORM Severity Index data to delineate the trends in scores over this period, with a focus on the changes deemed most significant. Additional contextual analysis was conducted to investigate and explain the drivers of the trends observed.
The INFORM Severity Index
The INFORM Severity Index is a composite index that measures the severity of humanitarian crises against a common scale at the global level. The goal is to support prioritisation in humanitarian funding and response. The index allows users to compare the severity of different humanitarian crises across the world. It is based on three dimensions: impact of the crisis, conditions of people affected, and complexity of the crisis, which are further divided into categories, then into components, and then into core indicators. The Joint Research Centre of the European Commission collaborates with INFORM stakeholders to develop and maintain the index’s methodology. ACAPS is responsible for data collection, adhering closely to the established methodology. In this report, ACAPS uses the full description of the INFORM Severity Index concept and methodology document to explain trends.1
Note on the contribution of core indicators to INFORM Severity Index scores
While some core indicators can contribute to INFORM Severity Index scores, they might not generate a change in the score in a given month because of various factors. These factors include gradual changes in the core indicators, the core indicators having less weight as per the design of the INFORM Severity Index formula, and certain conditions assigned to the INFORM Severity Index formula. For example, displacements (which affects two core indicators in the index) related to the country-level crisis in Myanmar have been on an increasing trend, but given the design of the INFORM Severity Index formula and the gradual change in displacements, the increase in displacements itself has not triggered any month-to-month change in the INFORM Severity Index score of the country-level crisis.