The humanitarian sector is increasingly challenged in its ability to meet growing humanitarian needs. In contexts of protracted fragility, repeated cycles of crisis are eventually resulting in the degradation of critical infrastructure, which impedes the delivery of essential services such as water and electricity. Greater efforts are needed to strengthen the resilience of essential services in these contexts; however, strengthening resilience first requires a holistic, systems-level understanding of how the systems work and how they are influenced by external factors. This talk presents the application of a systems mapping approach in Venezuela and the Gaza Strip* to assess the delivery of essential services and identify potential resilience-building interventions. *pre-October 2023