1.14 IPC Technical Development

The IPC partnership is committed to ensuring that protocols draw from latest global standards and research, and to better utilizing technological advances while also learning from field applications. Continuous learning for technical development is embedded in the IPC and is the responsibility of the Technical Advisory Group, which considers the latest advances and users’ feedback to recommend updates to protocols as needed.

Ongoing technical development is especially important to refine parameters stipulated by the IPC on topics where there is a clear lack of an authoritative agreement by the relevant global community. Examples of areas where the partnership had to make decisions in the absence of agreement among the global community include parameters for use of Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) for classification of acute malnutrition and cut-offs for identification of significant humanitarian food assistance for classification of acute food insecurity. Accordingly, IPC updates are not only expected, but also desired. Updates may take place as forthcoming versions of the IPC Technical Manual such as the IPC Technical Manual Version 3.1 or the IPC Technical Manual Version 4.0, or as addenda to the IPC Technical Manual Version 3.0. Specifically, the IPC Reference Tables may be updated as new indicators or cut-offs are identified by the global community.