This document is Mercy Corps’ first external guidelines for conducting our Strategic Resilience Assessment (STRESS) process.
 
This document is the result of 5 years of hard work among a diverse group of stakeholders. It provides development practitioners guidance through a process of applying resilience thinking in the distinct and increasingly fragile contexts in which they work.

STRESS is a methodology that helps teams apply resilience thinking in humanitarian or development contexts. The process deepens practitioners’ understanding of risk and the systems that communities rely on—allowing them to adjust what they do and how they do it—with the goal of maintaining progress toward well-being outcomes even in the face of increasing instability and fragility.