We were delighted to learn of your work in developing an Initial Rapid Assessment Tool through the Emergency Capacity Building Project. After 6 weeks in Yangon, leading the UN team in the development of the Post-Nargis Joint Assessment, I was convinced that Indonesia could be a lot better prepared for the next big natural disaster if we could agree in advance upon a common rapid assessment tool. Thank you for enabling us to skip a painful exercise in "reinventing the wheel."
Reiko Niimi
Deputy to the Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator
United Nations, Indonesia
Shared Assessment Tools
Duplication of assessments is a persistent problem in the humanitarian sector, identified frequently by evaluations as an important constraint on the quality and effectiveness of humanitarian response. Communities affected by emergencies are often on the receiving end of assessment visits by many separate agencies – needs assessments that by no means guarantee that those needs will be met. Both a waste of scarce resources and a source of resentment, the current approach falls short of the primary goal of assessing needs: ensuring that the right assistance reaches the right people at the right time.
Joint Needs Assessment/Evaluation Database
What is it?
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Why is it useful?
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A simple, robust tool enabling on-line sharing of rapid assessment data in real time.
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More accurate data and less duplication of effort mean better, faster assessments and responses.
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In the early stages of an emergency response, responsibility for collecting data and acting on it lies with field staff in the affected country. ECB's approach to this problem is thus firmly based in the field, with the crucial steps of consensus building around data standards and operating procedures, as well as the development of the platform prototype, taking place in Indonesia, under the leadership of a local steering group of NGO frontline staff. Two years of working together on ECB projects has built up critical trust and mutual understanding between these partners, whilst Indonesia’s vulnerability to a wide range of natural hazards make it an appropriate place to test and refine this type of system.
A team of accountability in emergency response experts worked to identify a core set of assessment fields that are common to all agencies and useful across a range of sectors – including critical issues such as shelter, sanitation and food security.
Joint Initial Rapid Assessment Tool Template
Already this year, ECB partner agencies used the Joint Initial Rapid Assessment tool template to respond to earthquakes that struck Indonesia on September 30 in West Sumatra and on January 4th, 2009, in the province of West Papua. Mercy Corps, Save the Children, Catholic Relief Services, Oxfam GB, CARE and World Vision International deployed the tool with several other partners. Click here to learn more about their active engagement at the field level in Indonesia.
The core set of assessment data forms the basis of a pilot technology platform designed specifically to enable easy entry, storage and retrieval of assessment data, and robust enough to operate reliably even under challenging field conditions and poor connectivity. Critically, when operational, the data collected will be open access: available in real time to anyone with an internet connection via a web interface.
Though still at the pilot stage, the ECB Shared Assessment / Evaluation Tool has been enthusiastically received by stakeholders in Indonesia, including the UN Country Team and the government. Testing and refinement of the tool will continue in Indonesia.
Click here to view the current tool template used by the ECB Indonesia Consortia in their recent response to the earthquakes in West Sumatra during October 2009. A version is also available in Bahasa Indonesian.
In ECB Phase II we also plan to introduce the methodology in other disaster vulnerable countries, work with a technology partner to improve the user interface, and work closely with UNOCHA to develop our shared learning. Members of the ECB AIM advisors group are working closely with UNOCHA to develop further joint initiatives in 2009 and beyond.
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