• The Good Enough Guide
• Impact Measurement
• Inter-Agency Standing Team
• Joint Evaluations
• Joint Needs Assessment (JNA)
  • Somalia Humanitarian Needs Assessments
  • ECB Project & ACAPS collaborate to improve humanitarian needs assessments
• Cluster Accountability Initiative

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Following discussions with various organizations working in Somalia, the Assessment Capacities Project (ACAPS) and the ECB Project identified the need for an improvement in data collection and needs assessment capacity.

In order to improve this capacity among local NGO staff, working for international and local NGOs in Somalia, ACAPS and the ECB Project organized a training series “Field Data Collection for Humanitarian Needs Assessments”.

Field Data Collection for Humanitarian Needs Assessments Training in Somalia, October 2011 © ACAPS/ECB Project

The main objective of the training is to equip participants with the skills and knowledge to collect good quality data during a needs assessment.

Specifically allowing participants to:

• Understand the importance of good quality data collection and how it contributes to the analysis of needs and decision-making
• Understand the importance of collecting quantitative and qualitative data
• Practice different participatory data collection techniques to increase accuracy and reliability of data
• Understand how to ensure data accuracy and overcome inaccuracy
• Have an awareness of potential problems in doing coordinated or joint needs assessments

Two training programmes have taken place:

•  4-5 October 2011: In Mandera, a border town between Kenya and Somalia. The training was supported by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

• 10-12 October 2011: In Galkayo, Somalia, supported by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC).

Due to the large number of applicants, further training was organized in Galkayo at the end of October.

The impact of the training will be evaluated through clusters, through reviews of proposals and interviews with beneficiaries, to see if data collection has improved.

Massimo Nicoletti Altimari, the ECB Horn of Africa Field Facilitator, comments:

"These trainings should be seen as a great achievement for ACAPS and the ECB Project, especially considering access issues and security concerns in Somalia."