Research

Equip Foundation undertakes community-centred, evidence-based research to understand local realities, identify needs and opportunities, strengthen development interventions and generate knowledge for informed decision-making. Our research focuses on livelihoods, education, child rights, gender and inclusion, climate change and disaster resilience, with an emphasis on understanding the strengths, assets, vulnerabilities and aspirations of communities.

Equip Foundation gives particular attention to research related to children, women and socially excluded and vulnerable groups. An important area of our work is disaster-related research and assessment, including the use and contextual adaptation of the Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) methodology. PDNA provides a structured approach for assessing the effects and impacts of a disaster and identifying recovery and reconstruction needs across sectors. By combining research evidence with community knowledge and the Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) approach, Equip Foundation seeks to generate actionable evidence that can guide programme design, resource allocation, policy development, recovery planning and long-term community resilience.

Our action research approach enables communities and practitioners to participate in identifying problems, testing solutions, learning from experience and applying findings to improve practice.