STRESS: Strategic resilience assessment guidelines

This is a practitioner’s guide to the Strategic Resilience Assessment (STRESS), a methodology that helps teams apply resilience thinking in distinct humanitarian or development contexts. A STRESS provides practitioners with guidance through new ways of: 1) analyzing the places they work to understand how the complex, interconnected drivers of instability threaten progress; and 2) designing strategies and interventions that reflect these insights and support communities in achieving long-term well-being outcomes and transformational change.

The opening section outlines the purpose of a STRESS and the conditions under which one may be conducted. The remaining sections provide guidance through the process. While this guide presents best practices based on current knowledge and experience, no two situations are identical and certain contexts may require practitioners to alter the format and sequencing of the activities presented here.