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ECB agencies deploy joint needs assessment staff to some of the worst affected areas in West Sumatra province Photo: Courtesy of REUTERS/Nicky Loh 2009 |
Joint Needs Assessment (JNA) - A Case Study from West SumatraECB agencies work together after West Sumatra Earthquakes
On September 30, two major earthquakes struck in quick succession off the coast of West Sumatra. The death toll is estimated at over 1,100 people with many thousands more injured and displaced. Damage to homes, roads, water and power supplies, local hospitals and schools was extensive. Several international and national NGOs were already working in Indonesia, via an ECB Consortium, to build capacity to improve the speed, quality and effectiveness of the humanitarian community to prepare for and respond to this type of disaster. Following the West Sumatra earthquakes, the ECB consortium worked alongside UN and Government coordination bodies to deliver a rapid, coordinated assessment, secure joint additional funding for ECB project activities and continue their collaboration during the response to best serve the communities affected by the disaster.
The ECB Indonesia Consortium
The ECB Consortium in Indonesia is led by CRS and includes CARE, Mercy Corps, Oxfam, Save the Children, World Vision, the International Medical Corps and the Indonesia Society for Disaster Management (MPBI). The collaboration in Indonesia began in 2007 when inter-agency teams, as one of a number of capacity building activities, started developing and piloting a tool for Joint Needs Assessment. The result was a Joint Needs Assessment (JNA) template and a rudimentary database that trials ‘real time’ information-sharing within ECB agencies, avoids duplication and critically feeds into the work of UN clusters and local, regional and national government assessments. Community and regional level joint preparedness activities have also been designed to work more closely with affected communities and thus increase the quality and potential use of future emergency responses. Furthermore, agency staff have worked towards improving their understanding and application of accountability principles through use of the Good Enough Guide to Accountability and Impact Measurement, together with other sector standards such as the Sphere Minimum Standards in Disaster Response. These innovative collaborative efforts have helped build national capacities and strengthen relationships between NGOs, UN agencies, government institutions and other partners.
A Rapid Response in West Sumatra
ECB Consortium agencies met at 8.30 am on the morning after the earthquakes and agreed to deploy the ECB Joint Needs Assessment tool. Further coordination meetings were held in Padang, the worst affected city. Building on the partnership developed through ECB over the past two years, inter-agency teams including NGO, UN and government staff were able to conduct a simple, initial Joint Needs Assessment and share the findings within 5 days. Comprehensive assessment data was used to inform early decision making in the response, as well as feeding into UNOCHA Situation Reports. Based on this data, ECB Agencies in Indonesia secured funding from several humanitarian donors. Their response activities are well underway, and some of the funds received will be used to support their learning from the process as well as their longer term joint capacity building activities.
Capturing and sharing the learning
The consortium will continue to work together in order to maximise their potential impact and learn from the joint funding process. ECB emergency response specialists are currently in the region evaluating the effectiveness of the Joint Needs Assessment tool and providing support to their colleagues in the field. Other opportunities for learning under consideration include a review of how the implementation of accountability principles by field staff has altered since the last major earthquakes in West Java and following recent accountability training using the Good Enough Guide. This ‘real time’ learning can be used to further improve existing accountability practices, strengthen the effectiveness of capacity building initiatives and feed into planning already underway for a dual-site Emergency Simulation in Indonesia next year. Furthermore, the lessons learnt and examples of best practice can be widely shared amongst other ECB consortia currently developing Contingency Plans and preparedness initiatives in Bolivia, Bangladesh, Niger and the Horn of Africa.
Harnessing Humanitarian Sector Partnership
The Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) has mandated the Needs Assessment Task Force (NATF) to lead a global effort to harmonize and improve needs assessment, across the sectoral clusters and between different NGO, UN and government actors. The NATF invited Helmi Hamid from the ECB Consortium in Indonesia to their recent workshop in Geneva, to share the successes and challenges faced during the West Sumatra earthquake Joint Needs Assessment. Helmi emphasized the speed at which the consortium was able to gather data and the strong commitment from a wide range of actors including government, UN, INGOs and NGOs, to use a common tool. Better training for national staff in assessment methods and an improved database for rapid capture, analysis and sharing of data were highlighted by Helmi as ECB’s priorities for further improvement of joint needs assessment in Indonesia.
There is now wide recognition of the importance of simple, shared approaches to needs assessment based on existing national capacity, particularly in the immediate aftermath of a disaster, before international teams can deploy, and in the many smaller emergencies which do not attract global attention. In partnership with other NGO initiatives such as the Assessment Capacities Project (ACAPS), the ECB Project seeks to engage with and support the NATF, both through the influence and reach of ECB’s global members, and by involving the ECB consortia in practical capacity building work at field level. Improving the JNA database tool will facilitate the collecting, collating and disseminating of assessment information in a user-friendly format, ensure compatibility with national and international systems (e.g. OCHA’s needs assessment dashboard), and provide opportunities for further real time learning during future emergencies. Rigorous field testing and improved national staff training will help us to ensure that future assessments and the decisions they inform accurately reflect the needs and perspectives of disaster-affected communities.
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