Centre for Humanitarian Action

What Centre for Humanitarian Action does

Centre for Humanitarian Action (CHA) is a Berlin-based, registered nonprofit association (eingetragener Verein, or e.V.) founded in 2019 that operates as a think-and-do tank on international humanitarian policy. It was established and is governed by three founding German humanitarian organisations — Ärzte ohne Grenzen e.V. (Doctors Without Borders), Deutscher Caritasverband e.V. (German Caritas Association), and Evangelisches Werk für Diakonie und Entwicklung e.V. (Protestant Agency for Diakonie and Development) — who jointly hold its copyright. CHA's work centres on humanitarian-system reform, with particular focus on the localisation of aid, equitable partnerships between international and local actors, humanitarian financing (including pooled funds), the climate–humanitarian nexus, and the politicisation of aid. Its core outputs are an annual international conference (held yearly since 2019, with CHA25 attracting 28 panellists, 130 in-person and 500+ online participants), the CHAtroom podcast series, a bilingual publication library, and Chatham House Rule member exchanges that host senior figures such as UNICEF's Ted Chaiban and OCHA Geneva's Mohan Ramesh Rajasingham. Research is anchored by the SPreAD project, funded by the German Federal Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt), which has generated field studies in Bangladesh and South Sudan.

CHA's technology footprint is conventional for a policy nonprofit: a WordPress-based website, Mailerlite for newsletters, WP Statistics for analytics, SoundCloud and YouTube for audio/video distribution, X/Twitter and Bluesky for outreach, and Pretix for conference ticketing. It has no AI/ML capabilities, no public APIs, no proprietary software products, and no patents or trademarks. The organisation does not charge for its publications, events, or most programming; its operating budget is funded primarily through institutional grants from the Auswärtiges Amt (notably for the SPreAD research programme) and through membership contributions from its three governing organisations and additional humanitarian actors such as Caritas Europa, which has commissioned flagship research (the 'Unfulfilled Promises' report). CHA serves two primary customer segments: (1) international and German humanitarian organisations seeking policy dialogue, research collaboration, and convening access, and (2) government policymakers and donors (German Bundestag, Auswärtiges Amt, EU institutions) seeking independent expert analysis. A secondary segment comprises the academic and research community engaging with CHA's publications and conferences. CHA's GTM motion is community-led, relying on the credibility of its convening and the seniority of its participants to drive membership, commissioned research, and policy influence rather than paid acquisition.

Name

Centre for Humanitarian Action

Legal name

Centre for Humanitarian Action e.V. (CHA eV)

Website

https://chaberlin.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Centre for Humanitarian Action is a Berlin-based nonprofit think-and-do tank, founded in 2019 and governed by three major German humanitarian organisations, that produces research, podcasts, and annual conferences on humanitarian-system reform, localisation, and humanitarian financing for NGOs, donors, and German policymakers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Humanitarian Policy Research and Convening Services

NAICS

Social Advocacy Organizations (8133), Civic and Social Organizations (813410)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Humanitarian Coordination, Information Management & Needs Assessment (BPADADAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

International & Local Implementing NGOs (HLAJAKAD), Medical Missions & Global Health NGOs (BPAGACAI)

Keywords

• Humanitarian policy research
• Humanitarian aid reform
• Aid localisation research
• Humanitarian convening platform
• Humanitarian think tank

Headquarters

HQ city

Berlin

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Institutional Funding and Membership: CHA operates as a nonprofit association (e.V.) funded primarily through institutional grants from the German Federal Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt) for specific research projects like SPreAD, and through membership fees from humanitarian organizations including Ärzte ohne Grenzen e.V., Deutscher Caritasverband e.V., and Evangelisches Werk für Diakonie und Entwicklung e.V.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Centre for Humanitarian Action is a nonprofit think-and-do tank that produces policy research, publications, podcasts, and convening events on humanitarian action reform. It serves humanitarian organisations, German and international policymakers, and academic researchers with analytical work on localisation of aid, humanitarian financing, and power dynamics in the international humanitarian system. Core revenue is generated through institutional grants (German Federal Foreign Office), membership fees from leading German humanitarian NGOs, and commissioned research.

Product overview

Centre for Humanitarian Action (CHA) is a German think/do tank focused on strengthening local humanitarian leadership and reforming international humanitarian action. CHA operates as a unified platform offering multiple interconnected products: research publications (including SPreAD project outputs, localisation studies, and risk-sharing analyses), the CHAtroom podcast series featuring expert discussions on humanitarian topics, annual international conferences addressing key challenges like power imbalances and contested aid, and confidential member exchanges with humanitarian leaders. These offerings work together to advance CHA's mission of promoting localisation, equitable partnerships, and systemic reform in humanitarian assistance.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• CHA Publications Research papers, policy briefs, and analytical publications on humanitarian action topics including localisation, risk sharing, pooled funds, humanitarian financing, and humanitarian principles. Free to download from CHA's website; serves humanitarian organisations, policymakers, donors, and researchers.
• CHAtroom Podcast CHA's podcast series featuring interviews and discussions with humanitarian experts on topics including localisation, power imbalances, contested aid, humanitarian financing, and humanitarian reform. Distributed via the CHA website, SoundCloud, and YouTube.
• CHA Annual Conference

Quantifiable outcome

• 28 panellists, 130 in-person and 500+ online participants at CHA25 conference
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Warande Advisory CentrecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Warande Advisory Centre is the cooperation partner for the CHA Konferenz 2026. The conference titled 'Fixing the money – Changing aid for real' will focus on humanitarian financing reform and will be held at the Publix in Berlin Neukölln.
• YPSA (Young Power in Social Action)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCHA organized three online discussion sessions in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh together with YPSA to examine possibilities and limitations of localized project management in humanitarian contexts.
• South Sudan NGO ForumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCHA partnered with the South Sudan NGO Forum to conduct workshops in Juba on possibilities and limitations of localized project management, bringing together local/national and international NGOs.
• Help – Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe e.V.minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHelp – Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe participated in CHA localization workshops and contributed to the CHAtroom podcast discussing practical aspects of localisation.
• Caritas EuropacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCHA was commissioned by Caritas Europa to produce their first flagship report on local humanitarian aid ('Unfulfilled Promises'), which analyzed the gap between commitments and actual support for local humanitarian organizations.
• NEAR NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCHA collaborates with NEAR Network on localisation research, including member exchanges with NEAR Executive Director Hibak Kalfan and joint publication efforts.
• Member Organizations (Ärzte ohne Grenzen, Deutscher Caritasverband, Evangelisches Werk für Diakonie und Entwicklung)coreOthersThree major German humanitarian organizations form the organizational membership base and copyright holders of CHA, providing institutional support and participating in CHA programming.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD): Geneva-based nonprofit focused on mediation and dialogue in armed conflict and humanitarian crises. Highly comparable as a similarly-named, similarly-sized humanitarian policy/mediation organization operating as a Swiss nonprofit foundation, though HD emphasizes mediation rather than research and reform advocacy.
• ALNAP: Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance in humanitarian action, hosted by ODI. Directly comparable as a sector-wide learning and research network addressing humanitarian system performance, closely aligned with CHA's reform and accountability focus.
• International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA): NGO consortium focused on humanitarian policy and advocacy, with members including MSF, Caritas, and NRC (CHA's three founding members). Comparable as a membership-based policy and advocacy platform for humanitarian NGOs working on the same reform agenda CHA addresses.
• Humanitarian Outcomes: Independent research organization producing analysis on humanitarian action. Directly comparable as a similarly-sized research-focused organization studying humanitarian system performance, with overlapping topics including access, security, and localization.
• NEAR Network: Network of locally-led humanitarian organizations advancing localization. Directly comparable as CHA's active research partner on localization, with overlapping mission around shifting power to local actors in humanitarian response.
• Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi): Berlin-based independent nonprofit think tank producing research on global public policy. Comparable as a similarly-sized, Berlin-based policy think tank with international reach, though focused more broadly on peace, security, and global governance than humanitarian-specific reform.
• Development Initiatives: International development organization producing data and analysis on humanitarian financing and resources. Comparable as a research-driven organization producing analysis that influences humanitarian financing policy, overlapping significantly with CHA's pooled funds and financing reform work.

Emerging players

• Forced Migration Review: Oxford-based publication on refugee and displacement issues. Comparable as a thematic knowledge platform producing analysis relevant to CHA's humanitarian policy work, though focused specifically on forced migration rather than broader humanitarian reform.

Broad incumbents

• Overseas Development Institute (ODI): Major UK-based global affairs think tank working on international development and humanitarian policy. Comparable as a broader think tank covering humanitarian reform, though much larger and more diversified than CHA, and not German-anchored.
• Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP): German Institute for International and Security Affairs, the German federal government's leading foreign policy think tank. Comparable as a Berlin-based, German-government-relevant policy research institute addressing humanitarian and development policy among broader foreign policy topics.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses3 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/cha_germany
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/centre-for-humanitarian-action

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Centre for Humanitarian Action