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Published on 1 July 2010

Following the earthquake that struck West Sumatra in September 2009, the ECB Consortium in Indonesia and UN OCHA brought together a broad group of humanitarian actors, including national and international NGOs and UN and government agencies to plan and implement a Joint Needs Assessment (JNA). Within 80 hours of the disaster, preliminary findings were available to support the humanitarian response. Much was learned in the process, and the partners subsequently came together to conduct an After Action Review. The ECB Project is now pleased to share a short Case Study, capturing the learning from this innovative exercise and highlighting what went well, and where improvements in tools, systems and processes will help the humanitarian community in Indonesia and elsewhere further improve their ability to rapidly and accurately assess the needs of people affected by disasters and emergencies.

Getting comprehensive, accurate and timely data on humanitarian needs in front of decision makers in the immediate aftermath of a disaster has been a persistent problem for the humanitarian community. Duplication of assessment effort wastes scarce resources and places additional burdens on already traumatized communities. ECB agencies in Indonesia have long been aware of this, and during the project’s first phase they developed a rapid Joint Needs Assessment (JNA) methodology, in consultation with the Government and the UN Country Team. This methodology included pre-agreements between actors to deploy a common approach, a standard data collection template and an embryonic database for the management and analysis of data. The ECB Project emphasizes accountability of humanitarian actors to disaster-affected populations, and agencies participating in the JNA hope not only to improve the timeliness, coherence and quality of assessment data, but also to ensure that the views of those most affected are adequately represented.

The Sumatra earthquake provided a robust test for this approach. The Case Study highlights the strong willingness among the different agencies and actors to work together on Joint Needs Assessment, and the value of pre-disaster agreements about the data collection tool to be used and the roles of different actors in implementing the tool. However, the After Action Review points to important improvements required in a number of areas, including the design of the tool itself, the way in which data is compiled and shared, the training provided beforehand to staff required to join assessment teams and the key role of government in endorsing and supporting the Joint Needs Assessment.

The ECB Consortium in Indonesia will take these findings into account in further improving and refining the JNA tool and the systems and platforms that support it. As a global project, ECB also seeks to share learning from its work in the field with other initiatives in the global humanitarian community. In the needs assessment area, ECB is working closely with the IASC Needs Assessment Task Force (NATF), and facilitated a presentation at a recent NATF meeting in Geneva by a member of the Sumatra JNA team. This presentation stressed that initial assessment and response activities are always carried out by local actors, and need simple systems suited to the local context to collect and share essential data, and support coordinated approaches led by the government or the UN. Under the NATF workplan, ECB is also working in partnership with the Assessment Capacities (ACAPs) initiative, to build capacity at the local level for effective needs assessment.

The ECB project is now actively seeking funding to pilot JNA approaches, building on the learning and expertise developed in Indonesia, in the diverse geographical and disaster contexts represented by the other ECB consortia. It is also seeking to identify resources or partners to upgrade the database system to allow direct data entry by use of smart phones, etc. to further streamline processes.

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Photo: A collapsed home in Agam, Sumatra. Katie Twaites, Oxfam GB, 2009

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