From observations to action: Reflections from the GEO-REAP session at Humanitarian Networks and Partnerships Weeks

As Earth observation capabilities grow, the distance between what is technically possible and what reaches decision-makers during crises remains a challenge in the humanitarian system. This gap was at the centre of discussions during the joint GEO and Risk-informed Early Action Partnership session at Humanitarian Networks and Partnerships Weeks 2026 in Geneva. The hybrid event explored how Earth observation data can be translated into Earth Intelligence that supports humanitarian decision-making and action.

Across early warning, anticipatory action, response, and recovery, the conversation was anchored in examples that illustrated both what currently works and what remains difficult. Panelists highlighted that satellites are now the source of roughly 90% of the data that feeds global weather forecasting models. Crop stress can be detected at subnational scale before a harvest fails, building damage can be mapped within hours of a disaster, and heat risk can be modelled down to the neighbourhood level and linked to the populations most exposed.

In many respects, the technical capacity is already there. It's what happens next – or rather, what doesn’t – that is often a problem.

Do those analyses reach the people making decisions, in a format they can use and at the moment they need them? Are products being developed with communities and users from the start, or is that relationship built only after the fact? And is there enough transparency and understanding in how an estimate is produced for it to be trusted and acted upon?

These questions are not new, and the session offered a space to examine what is needed to address them. Working on the Earth observation side, the reminder that producing something technically impressive is not the same as producing something useful stayed with me – that there is often little value in building products that the people they were built for were not asked about. It is a challenge that is easy to acknowledge but harder to act on consistently.

Nor is it a challenge that sits with one side of the field alone. Earth Intelligence has growing relevance in humanitarian contexts, with many examples shared of how it meaningfully informs humanitarian decisions. But realizing its full potential depends on trust, coordination and partnerships to build solutions together with the communities and decision-makers they are meant to serve.

This blog is part of the GEO Youth Blog Series, a new initiative dedicated to amplifying youth voices, perspectives and contributions across the Earth observation community.