Humanitarian wiki: Difference between revisions

A humanitarian wiki, or perhaps an aid worker wiki, has been much discussed.

For example, see the blog post Do you think it’s time for a humanitarian wiki? by Paul Currion and the subsequent discussion in the comments.

The existing humanitarian wiki

Note the ways in which Appropedia covers this scope, for example in Principles of development, as well as more specific topics such as emergency management, sanitation and . The planned country guides will also be of great value to aid workers.

Other examples of relevant content are:

• Community-led total sanitation
• Water supply and purification methods for emergencies
• Info on specific crops and agricultural techniques,
• Food processing e.g. Food processing building design (Practical Action Brief) and Fruit juice processing (Practical Action Brief),
• Pages about organizations, e.g. Full Belly Project),
• Resource/supply data - a simple example is this list of hardware stores in Parras, Mexico but much more sophisticated methods are planned - e.g. see Enabling Innovation,
• All kinds of how-tos, e.g. How to measure water flow),
• More obvious appropriate technology designs (e.g. Home biogas system (Philippine BioDigesters)).

Key issues

• Appropedia is about appropriate technology - we need something for humanitarian work.
  • A: Development, aid and all kinds of humanitarian work have always been part of Appropedia’s intended scope, and Appropedia is already working very hard on this.
• Emergency workers have no time as they are in the field and overworked.
  • A: No emergency worker works in disaster zones 365 days per year, and much relevant knowledge is found outside the field of current aid workers.