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What Is the Protection Analysis Framework?

The Protection Analysis Framework is an analytical tool developed by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in collaboration with local and international organizations. Its purpose is to support humanitarian actors in:

• Understanding the threats faced by individuals and communities
• Analyzing the root causes of harm, violence, coercion, and deprivation
• Identifying vulnerabilities and existing capacities
• Designing protection responses grounded in both prevention and response

Rather than simply describing risks, the framework situates them within their political, social, economic, and legal contexts, while integrating gender and intersectional analysis.

What Does It Help Us Understand?

The Protection Analysis Framework guides us to ask critical questions, including:

• Who is most exposed to threats and harm?
• Who are the perpetrators or sources of harm (state actors, armed groups, community structures, legal systems, etc.)?
• What forms do risks take (violence, coercion, exclusion, denial of rights, hate speech)?
• How can risks be reduced and individual and collective capacities strengthened?

This approach enables a shift from reactive interventions to knowledge-based, preventive protection strategies.

Where Can the Protection Analysis Framework Be Used?

The framework can be applied in a wide range of contexts, including:

• At the onset of crises and throughout emergencies, to understand rapidly changing risks
• In emerging spaces of harm, such as:
  • Digital environments
  • Online hate speech and incitement
  • Gendered and sexualized targeting on digital platforms

It is also useful for program design, protection planning, reporting, advocacy, and policy-oriented analysis.

Why Is the Protection Analysis Framework Important?

Because it enables practitioners and organizations to:

• Identify risks of violence, coercion, and deprivation rather than treating harm as isolated incidents
• Develop fair, inclusive, and context-sensitive protection strategies
• Link prevention and response instead of separating them
• Integrate gender, gender identity, disability, class, and other structural inequalities into protection analysis

In this sense, protection is not merely a service—it is a deliberate political and social practice.

Who Can Use This Framework?

The Protection Analysis Framework is designed for:

• Local and grassroots organizations
• Community-based networks
• National NGOs
• International humanitarian and human rights organizations

The Protection Analysis Framework (PAF) was developed by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in partnership with other international and local humanitarian organizations to support coordinated, context-based protection analysis across diverse crisis settings.