Eglantyne, named after Eglantyne Jebb, the founder of Save the Children and the inspiration of UNICEF with her work ‘The Rights of the Child’, is an AI-based humanitarian Research Assistant.
Eglantyne does not provide medical, legal, financial or emergency advice.
Eglantyne is provided free to use to anyone involved with or interested in humanitarian work – practitioners, students, media or simply the curious. Anyone seeking to find a response to a humanitarian question as accurate as we can manage is welcome to use Eglantyne. Her primary directive is to generate assured answers to questions. She uses advanced AI tooling and deterministic controls to achieve this. Every question will pass between multiple analytical phases, each using a different AI model. Models are selected from OpenAI (the technology behind ChatGPT), Gemini (the Google AI engine) and Claude (from Anthropic) depending on the complexity of the challenges related to answering the specific question. Eglantyne does not solely rely on AI by any means; where facts can be checked deterministically, this will override any AI assessment.
As the model strives to achieve the maximum possible assurance, Eglantyne undertakes far more work than a simple single prompt to any of the AI models. Consequently, it will take a little longer than individual model responses, though this is minimised to the extent that the primary objective of assurance allows.
Eglantyne operates in two modes; Essay where she will provide a full answer to the question answered, and Conversational where you can interact and query her findings in a less formal style. Even in conversational mode, Eglantyne strives for assurance and will not confuse brevity with inaccuracy. Eglantyne can currently operate in British and US English modes; other language options are under review.
Using Eglantyne
Eglantyne is a research assistant for humanitarian questions. It helps you explore humanitarian issues, understand evidence, compare experiences and present findings clearly.
You can type your question or speak it using the microphone button. Spoken questions are transcribed into text, which you should check and, if necessary, correct before submitting. Think carefully about the exact question you wish to ask.
Questions must have a humanitarian connection. This includes humanitarian organisations and people, crises and emergency responses, displacement, protection, public health, food security, water and sanitation, funding, standards and lessons from past experience. Eglantyne seeks to avoid party-political discourse.
You can choose between two answer styles:
- Essay: a fuller, structured response providing background, analysis, supporting evidence and relevant limitations.
- Conversational: a shorter, more direct response suited to exploring a topic through questions and follow-ups. Supporting references remain available.
Both styles support follow-up questions. You can ask for clarification, explore a particular point, challenge a conclusion or request a different presentation. Start a new question when you want to move to an unrelated subject.
The Output Style option lets you choose UK English or US English. This controls spelling and phrasing; it is not a translation or multilingual mode.
Eglantyne can address several types of question, including:
- Facts and explanations: definitions, humanitarian principles, standards and how something works.
- People and organisations: their history, roles and humanitarian contributions.
- Historical research: what happened, how responses developed and what lessons emerged.
- Current developments: recent humanitarian events and organisational activity, subject to available reporting.
- Comparisons: similarities and differences between countries, organisations, crises or approaches.
- Analysis and evaluation: what worked, what remains uncertain and what evidence suggests about causes or consequences.
- Data questions: quantities, rankings, changes over time and available breakdowns by country or population group.
Answers can combine written explanations, references and visual outputs. You can request a particular format in your question.
| Output | What it can show |
|---|---|
| Summary and comparison tables | Key facts, findings or differences presented side by side. |
| Numerical tables | Values by country, category or year, including supported population breakdowns. |
| Bar and column charts | Comparisons and rankings. |
| Grouped charts | Several categories compared side by side. |
| Stacked and composition charts | How verified component categories contribute to a total. |
| Line charts | Change over time, including comparisons between several series. |
| Scatter plots | Relationships between two numerical measures. |
| Range or interval charts | Uncertainty ranges published by the source. |
| Timelines | A sequence of documented events. |
Mapping capabilities include country-level maps, maps with areas shaded according to a numerical value, proportional-symbol maps where symbol size represents quantity, and point maps showing supported locations. Eglantyne can also produce first-level administrative maps—such as provinces, states or regions—where suitable boundary information is available. Adding numerical values requires compatible data for those same areas.
A context map may be provided simply to help you understand the geography. Its caption will distinguish it from a map displaying the requested figures or locations.
Eglantyne does not currently provide general district-level or finer boundary mapping, complex multi-layer maps, route or movement-flow maps, satellite or raster imagery analysis, or animated maps with changing historical boundaries and time sliders. Map coverage is also dependent on the available sources: not every country, measure or location can be mapped.
Tables, charts and maps depend on suitable evidence. If the necessary figures, coordinates or boundaries cannot be established, Eglantyne may provide a simpler presentation or explain why the requested output is unavailable. Missing information should remain visible rather than being filled with assumed values.
Attachments cannot currently be processed. Eglantyne cannot read or analyse uploaded documents, PDFs, spreadsheets, photographs or other files. Include the information needed to understand your request in the question itself.
For the best results, specify the topic, countries or organisations, time period and preferred output—for example: “Compare changes in AIDS-related deaths in Angola, Eswatini and Zimbabwe between 2010 and 2024, using a line chart and a short explanation.”
Human in the Loop
Eglantyne seeks to provide a considered, complete and assured answer by combining AI models in distinct roles with deterministic controls. She then sets out her supporting evidence, and highlights the restrictions and limitations of which she is aware.
Eglantyne first drafts responses in Author mode and submits them to an Editor function for detailed checking. The Editor and Author then re-draft together to reach agreement. When a material claim cannot be agreed, Eglantyne does not settle the matter by taking a vote. The answer is first revised and rechecked against the evidence. Any remaining disagreement enters a staged dispute-resolution process: a first-stage arbiter – the ‘Magistrates’ Court’ – handles straightforward cases, while a more capable arbiter – the ‘High Court’ – examines those requiring deeper judgement.
If that final review cannot resolve the issue with sufficient confidence, Eglantyne provides the answer but clearly identifies the affected sentence and refers it for human judgement rather than presenting it as assured.
Important Information
Eglantyne is a research tool, not an infallible authority. She may overlook evidence, rely on inaccurate source material or interpret information incorrectly. Her answers should always be considered alongside the cited evidence and stated limitations, and independently checked before important decisions are made.
Eglantyne intentionally retains only the exact wording of questions submitted, solely to help improve the service. No information identifying who asked a question, when it was asked or where it came from is intentionally stored with it. As with any internet service, servers may automatically receive technical information such as your IP address and approximate location. Caches under our control are regularly cleared, but we cannot control how the wider internet or third-party services handle information. Please do not include personal, sensitive or confidential information in your question.
Use of Eglantyne and reliance on her answers are at your own risk. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we accept no liability for errors in source material, mistakes in Eglantyne’s interpretation, or any loss arising from reliance on an answer. Nothing in this notice excludes any liability that cannot lawfully be excluded. Please following the link to our Legal, Privacy and Responsible Use Policy in the page footer for more information.