Valid International’s new Social Research Unit (SRU)

As part of its efforts to broaden the range of services offered to the humanitarian and development community, Valid International has officially launched the new Social Research Unit (SRU). The SRU was created with one aim in mind: to provide reliable qualitative data to help humanitarian programmes make informed operational decisions. The unit brings together sociologists, anthropologists and linguists with extensive experience working in humanitarian programmes around the world (including Algeria, Burundi, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Ghana, Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Niger, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Uganda and Zambia)

The SRU is looking to expand and strengthen existing partnerships with international non-governmental organisations (INGOs), governmental institutions, United Nations (UN) agencies operational research bodies in the fields of Health and Nutrition, Education, Water and Sanitation, and Food Security.

In particular, the SRU is committed to assisting partners in exploring the sociocultural dimensions of humanitarian programming and the contextual factors influencing programme performance. The SRU offers various support packages, in areas such as:

• Health seeking behaviour and programme uptake
• Local perceptions of illnesses and traditional paths to treatment
• Participatory, beneficiary-focused assessments of humanitarian interventions
• Social networks and support structures
• Social policy and planning
• Stigma and socio-cultural responses to HIV/AIDS
• Socio-political mapping - including key community figures and structures
• Traditional birthing, feeding and child rearing practices
• Health and Nutrition Education

For more information about the services offered by the Social Research Unit please contact Saul Guerrero, email: saul@validinternational.org