COORDINATED ASSESSMENTS:FROM POLICY TO PRACTICE

June 2012

Quotes from the Field: Pakistan & HaitiPakistan•“We have a proliferation of assessments…nearly each organization does its own assessment, often without any coordination even within their respective cluster. Regularly, questionnaires are badly designed with inappropriate, insensitive and/or misleading questions and analysis is not done. Hence there is a lot of work needed to get assessments right. (Manuel Bessler, former OCHA HoO)

Haiti•“…a large number of needs assessments of varying scope were carried out…Many assessment teams arrived late and reinforced biased assumptions rather than contributing to a clear picture of the situation and needs. (IARTE)

Why Coordinate Assessments?It’s about making the case for humanitarian action

•Better articulating needs of people affected by emergencies

•Better prioritization of needs to ensure the most vulnerable receive appropriate and timely assistance

•Creating a common operational picture on which to carry out strategic planning and development of appeals

•Making linkages between assessments and monitoring: are we responding to the needs of the population?

IASC NATF PackageOperational Guidance•Operational Guidance on Coordinated Assessments in Humanitarian Crises

Joint assessment approach for sudden-onset emergencies•MIRA: Multi-cluster Initial Rapid Assessment

Data Consolidation •Key Humanitarian Indicators/ Humanitarian Dashboard

Capacity building and support•Roster for response and preparedness•Training

What is the Operational Guidance?• Promotes information-sharing as a fundamental

responsibility of humanitarian actors- for the benefit of those we are serving

• Provides suggestions on how to coordinate at the field level- to be adapted to country level specificities

• Proposes different assessment approaches for different phases of an emergency (joint assessment in the earliest weeks, and coordination within and between sectors thereafter)

• Calls on OCHA to coordinate inter-sectoral assessments, and clusters to coordinate sectoral assessments.

Assessment Framework: P 0• Focus Data and assessment preparedness to

ensure ability to undertake timely and quality collection and analysis of needs assessment data.

Phase 0: Preparedness• Data preparedness: CODs, FODs, baseline• Agreed roles and responsibilities with standard operating

procedures for collecting and collating secondary data, collecting primary data, conducting joint analysis, and communicating findings

• Agreed methodology and data collection tool• Existing capacity in-country with required skills and

knowledge

Assessment Framework: P I/II• Focus Multi-Cluster Initial Rapid Assessment (MIRA)

Establishing structures, initial vision of situation, identify priority interventions and next steps.

Phase I: First 72 Hours • Establish assessment coordination structure• Collect, collate and analyze pre- and post-crisis secondary data and

initial primary data• Develop Preliminary Scenario Definition and initial Flash Appeal

Phase II: First 2 weeks• Plan, coordinate and undertake primary data collection • Continue reviewing secondary data• Undertake sectoral and inter-sectoral analysis. Use to inform

revised Flash Appeal and MIRA report

Assessment Framework: P III/IV• Focus Harmonizing single cluster/sector data

collection, Survey of Surveys, aggregation and analysis of data, establishment of monitoring systems, transition to early recovery.

Phase III: Week 3+• Harmonize in-depth sectoral assessments (HH/FGD)• Collect (SoS) and analyze sectoral needs and response data

and develop Humanitarian Dashboard.

Phase II: Second Month• Continue Phase III efforts• Ensure linkages with PDNA

Who does what?HC•Overall responsibility for assessment coordination.•Activates coordination mechanism (AIM WG, ICWG)•Calls for MIRA, Humanitarian Dashboard•Holds actors accountable

OCHA•Provides assessment coordination support (i.e. Assessment Coordinator or Focal Point, Data Analyst)•Chairs AIM WG, ICWG•Coordinates and manages MIRA and Humanitarian Dashboard

Who does what, continued…Cluster/Sector Leads•Coordinate NA within clusters, including MIRA and Humanitarian Dashboard

Cluster/Sector Members•Engage with coordination structures•Utilize methodologies and tools to allow for harmonization of data and information•Share data collected and participate in inter-agency and inter-cluster analytical processes

Questions and discussion