INFORMATION / DATA MANAGEMENT STRATEGY

4.1 Overview and Function

The information management strategy should be drafted and maintained by the Information Management Officer (IMO), preferably, or the Information Manager. The IMO is a specialised technical position within UNHCR. Staff filling IMO positions will need to be those with both the requisite training and the experience required to undertake information management activities, particularly the coordination, design and management of an information management strategy to support operational objectives and partners. Information management focal points may be other staff designated to cover specific information management needs within an operation.

An information/data management strategy is a plan that defines the purposes, outputs, time frames and responsibilities for all operational information systems in an emergency. An Information Management Strategy Template is included as Annex 4 in this section. The information/data management strategy will provide a broad overview of how information systems relate to one another and which organizations are stakeholders in which systems, allowing the Information Manager to better coordinate information. The strategy will also help identify whether there are information gaps or redundancies between systems.

From a consensus-building perspective, the strategy provides an opportunity for managers and operational staff to agree on reporting frequencies and data ownership. On a practical level, the strategy details how the information systems will operate. It is also a starting point for budgeting for information management costs, such as for implementing partner agreements, data-entry staff, mobile data-collection devices and laptops.

Explicitly defining and implementing an information management strategy will help make information management product delivery more predictable and more reliable. Doing so will also support the introduction of standard operating procedures (SOPs) for information/data management. The following guidance details the steps for defining and implementing an information and data management strategy during the first six weeks of a refugee emergency.

4.2 How-to Guide: Steps for Undertaking/Coordinating Information and Data Management Strategy

In order to develop an information/data management strategy, an Information Manager needs to answer the following questions:

• What are the information gaps?
• What types of analysis products are needed?
• Who are the focal points responsible for implementing each system?
• What methods should be used to obtain the data?
• What human resources are required to run the systems?
• What is the frequency of reporting from each system?
• When should each system be implemented?

4.2.1 Considerations for the Information Manager during planning

During planning, the Information Manager will need to consider some of the following factors, which will affect the design of the information management systems:

• The operation’s contingency plans: What is the most likely scenario for how the emergency will evolve? How might the information systems need to change in the future?
• The operation’s programming and intervention plans: Which sectors are the most active and/or are most likely to be? Are there some sectors with more information management needs?
• The displacement pattern: Is the population moving en masse or is there scattered population movement? Is there secondary displacement? Is the population stable or is there new movement? What is the scale of the displacement?
• Physical access to populations of concern: Is remote monitoring required? How will the logistics of data collection affect the types of information systems deployed and the frequency of availability of information products?
• Security issues, humanitarian space and the Government’s position with regards to IM: Are there particular types of data that are difficult to get from populations due to security? What are the limitations of the types of information that can be disseminated?
• The IM activities of other partners: Which data management activities should be undertaken by UNHCR? By its implementing partners, operational partners, by the Government – or jointly?
• The availability of Internet connectivity and other communications/computing technology: Are website and e-mail dissemination systems the best for the situation? Is there a need for sharing burned DVDs and hardcopies of information with partners who have no Internet access? How will data from deep field locations be transmitted to the operational hub?

4.3 Refugee Emergency: Weeks One–Two

4.3.1 Set IM objectives and reporting lines: Set up and produce initial IM products

Before drafting the information management strategy, the Information Manager will need to discuss IM objectives and products with the Representative and senior managers, and with programme, protection and sector leads. Discuss what type of information decision-makers in the office need to know, at what level of detail, and why the information is needed. It will also be important to set up a regular and clearly communicated weekly dissemination schedule, so colleagues and partners know what type of information products to expect and when to expect them.

The Information Manager, Representative and senior managers will establish a plan for preparing the following standard IM products, which may be produced during the first four weeks of a refugee emergency:

• IM strategy;
• Including IM in coordination meetings or establishing IM coordination meetings;
• Secondary data review of information already available from other sources and situational analysis;
• Initial rapid population estimates;
• Contact list of operational partners;
• An initial needs assessment report;
• Maps, including security, situation and 3W maps; and
• Web portal deployment.

The Representative and other senior managers, emergency team leader (if deployed), sector leads and the Information Manager will need to agree on clearance procedures and a dissemination schedule for the aforementioned IM products. The Information Manager should also assist as needed with the development of IM strategies for the production of sector-specific reports, a process that includes the dissemination of sector-specific information products.

In order to do the above, the Information Manager should undertake each of the following upon arrival in the emergency:

• Ask to see the operation’s contingency plan, or, if one does not exist, ask management what the most likely scenarios are for the evolution of the emergency.
• Ask colleagues if any information management preparedness activities have been undertaken, such as planning a needs assessment.
• Find the standard geographic data being used by the humanitarian community and learn the process for updating this. (If no process is defined, the Information Manager will need to do this.)
• By discussing with the protection officer, become familiar with the operational context’s protection risks and constraints, in order to gain an understanding of which types of information are the most sensitive.
• Try to find pre-emergency baseline data, including data from the country’s annual statistical report, the UNHCR Global Focus website (the agency’s global reporting website for donors), the Government statistical office, development actors, etc.
• Identify UNHCR and partner staff who are capable of assisting with data collection and analysis, as the skill levels of colleagues will influence the complexity of information systems implemented. Design an information management strategy that is realistic and sustainable in terms of operational capacity.
• Determine SOPs for clearances and issuance of IM products.

4.3.2 Include IM in coordination meetings

With the agreement of the Representative, the Information Manager will need to ensure that IM is included as an agenda point at all inter-agency coordination meetings at the field and capital levels as a topic of discussion.

 The Information Manager should immediately begin attending inter-agency coordination meetings and begin reaching out to partners, using the opportunities to establish contact lists that will be circulated in meetings and posted on the UNHCR web portal. To such meetings, the Information Manager should always bring information products, population figures, maps and contact lists to share, in part to create linkages with partners to identify emergency information needs. 

4.3.3 Establish a contact list and weekly meeting schedule

The Information Manager should also immediately start work with a UNHCR admin colleague, as designated by the Representative, to create and track a contact list of all operational partners, which may be circulated to partners. The Information Manager will be the focal point for all changes on and custodian of the contact list, unless otherwise delegated. If available, it is good practice to keep a copy of the contact list on a shared drive, to allow access to all UNHCR staff. The Information Manager should always keep a backup copy of the master contact list, saved each day on his/her personal drive.

Specific contact lists may also be extracted from the master contact list and presented to partners in different ways. For example, the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector contact list includes only staff members in that sector, and thus can serve dual functions as a sign-in sheet for coordination meetings. This not only allows colleagues to ensure that their contact information is correct, but also reduces data-entry time for the tracking of meeting attendance.

Another useful tool to produce and distribute to all partners is a contact list of technical experts – for example, a list of UNHCR protection and programme colleagues, in addition to sector leads for WASH, health and shelter. A sample template of a contact list is included in this section as Annex 4: IM Strategy Template; tab 2: E-mail Dissemination List. A contact list by sector may be produced by filtering the master contact list by activity.

4.3.4 Secondary data and situational analysis

Within the first two days of arrival in a refugee emergency, the Information Manager should meet with the protection officer and begin both to jointly analyze secondary data and to collaboratively produce a situational analysis.

 “The situation analysis is undertaken through a desk review of existing information, including data gathered about the population. It also involves identifying the different stakeholders to learn about their interests and priorities, and mapping their activities, resources and expertise, ” according to A Community Based Approach in UNHCR (First Edition, UNHCR Geneva, February 2007, pg. 27).

 When compiling the situational analysis, it will be important to identify what types of camp administration (if any) have been set up by the refugee community, while also noting refugee coping mechanisms at the camp level. The situational analysis will also need to detail the host Government’s involvement and response to the refugee situation, and track developments in terms of camp coordination and host Government assistance.

 According to the UNHCR Handbook for Emergencies (Third Edition, UNHCR Geneva, February 2007, pg. 28), the UNHCR Protection Gaps Framework of Analysis Tool may be adapted for emergency situation analysis. The Protection Gaps Framework of Analysis Tool is available online at www.unhcr.org/refworld/pdfid/430328-b04.pdf, and provides a format outlining key considerations when conducting a situation analysis.

4.3.5 Analyze emergency registration and population statistics

Another key step for the Information Manager in setting up an information and data management strategy is to begin working with the registration officer to compile and triangulate population figures. A Population Reporting Template should be completed and maintained for the triangulation/analysis of population figures, and is included in the Population Statistics section of this Toolkit.

• If the emergency registration has been conducted, the Information Manager will need to begin compiling cross-sectoral analysis based on population figures, including what is known in terms of operational coverage for specific locations based on information compiled in the 3W and survey of surveys.
• If the emergency registration has not been conducted, reference the Registration in Emergencies section (Section 2) of this Toolkit on the next steps for emergency registration and IM considerations.
• If emergency registration is not possible for all areas, use rapid population estimation techniques (refer to Section 3 of this Toolkit).

The Information Manager must also work with other information specialists within the operation, both those employed by UNHCR and those employed by other organizations, to ensure that all data collected, analyzed and released is as per UNHCR standard age and sex demographics.

 Age and sex breakdowns should be incorporated into all standard IM products, and demographic profiles of the refugee population should be shared with partners by the Information Manager on a daily or weekly basis (depending on the situation), via the UNHCR web portal and through other dissemination avenues.

4.3.6 Who’s Doing What, Where (3W)

The Information Manager will need to continuously engage sector leads and new organizations and partners on the ground. Throughout their assignment, the Information Manager should also establish and track evolving 3W information, using the 3W tool included in the 3W section of this Toolkit, in order to maintain an understanding of operational coverage and emergency needs.

4.4 Refugee Emergency: Weeks Three–Four

4.4.1 Conduct a survey of surveys

An important step in coordinating information management is to compile a survey of surveys and assessments that have already been carried out by UNHCR and partners. UNHCR management, programme and protection colleagues will be able to readily identify partners and contacts for the Information Manager to begin contacting for the compilation of the survey of surveys. Required for completing the survey of surveys template (included as annex in this section) will be information on the organization involved in the assessment, assessment type and name, location of assessment, fieldwork collection start and end dates, and type of population assessed.

 Official UNHCR population types are as follows: refugee, persons in refugee-like situations, returned refugees, asylum-seekers, internally displaced persons, persons in IDP-like situations, returned IDPs, stateless persons and others of concern. For a complete definition of these population types, see the UNHCR 2012 Annual Statistical Reporting Guidelines (pg. 37), available online at: http://www.unhcr.org/4fd6f87f9.html.

As soon as all major partners have been contacted and an inventory of surveys and assessments has been compiled, the Information Manager will need to begin an initial analysis to identify information/knowledge gaps. These may concern population groups not assessed, locations with difficult access or sectors not covered in some locations. In addition to identifying information gaps, the Information Manager will also need to report whether particular geographical or sectoral areas are being over-assessed by multiple organizations. This process is done in coordination with partners (NGOs, UN agencies, Government offices and so on) so that the resulting outcome is shared and owned by all partners.

Should an emergency needs assessment (ENA) be recommended by the Information Manager based on analysis of the survey of surveys, this topic should be discussed in plenary at the next coordination meeting with partners. For guidance on undertaking and leading an ENA, reference the Emergency Needs Assessment section (Section 6) of this Toolkit.

4.4.2 Refugee Information Management Working Group (RIM WG)

The RIM WG is one element of the IM services that UNHCR provides its partners in refugee operations. With the participation of IM focal points outside of UNHCR, the Information Manager will set up and lead the RIM WG. Although many partner organizations will not have a staff member responsible specifically for information management, each partner organization should be asked to provide at least one focal point to participate in the RIM WG. The RIM WG terms of reference (TORs) are included as an annex in this section.

The RIM WG will coordinate IM activities at the inter-agency level between partners in refugee operations. This coordination is important to ensure the cross-analysis and harmonization of data between organizations, to prevent duplicate or competing data systems from being developed, to enable the sharing of information and to make the best use of humanitarian information management resources. The Information Manager should conduct a mapping of available resources at the operational hub and capital levels, including information on which organizations have datasets and monitoring systems in place already, and which organizations have in-house data collectors, database administrators, translators and data analysts who can assist with IM projects.

The Information Manager will need to lead the RIM WG to do the following:

• Map and harmonize datasets among all operational partners. The Information Manager should track the names of locations, coordinates, Pcodes, common operational datasets (CODs) and fundamental operational datasets (FODs), which may be found at http://cod.humanitarianresponse.info/terms-use in an Excel database. Contact the local OCHA office for area-specific Pcodes. The Information Manager will need to share the Excel database of Pcodes, CODs and FODs with all operational partners, to ensure that emergency partners are using the same units of assessment for data analysis.
• Liaise with implementing and operational partners on data quality issues and data standards; participate in and/or organize inter-agency data groups at the field level; and, if necessary, advise partners on methodological issues and promote timely reporting of data, according to agreed standards, for which they are responsible.
• Ensure consensus surrounding initial population figures, and regularly update partners on registration activities and changing population demographics.
• Distribute information products, CODs and baseline data that should be used by all partners.

4.4.3 Set up web portal and information kiosk

The Information Manager will need to do the following:

• Following approval from the Representative/senior managers, initiate an emergency web portal by contacting web portal administrators. Reference the Web Portal section (Section 17) for instructions on how to initiate a web portal. Working with senior managers, define the frequency of IM products to be updated on the web portal, and begin drafting clearance SOPs for the updating and maintenance of web portal content.
• Begin populating the web portal with the information management products. Meet with the Representative and the external relations officer and discuss web portal needs, such as news highlights, uploading requirements and dissemination schedules.
• Set up and maintain an information kiosk in the UNHCR office, and ensure that hardcopies of information products are available as developed and cleared.
• Use various dissemination channels to share information products and analysis (e-mail lists, SMS, meetings), both within the office and with partners.

Refugee Emergency: Weeks Five–Six

4.5.1 Gather data from sector specialists and understand sector information needs

By the beginning of the fifth or sixth week (or sooner), the Information Manager should meet with programme and all sector specialists to understand what sector-specific information systems are in place and what sector-specific information needs exist. The Information Manager will need to assist all sector specialists with cross-analysis and building or adjusting sectoral data management or tracking tools. For protection and sector-specific IM considerations and tools (where available), refer to the Minimum Sectoral Data sections (Sections 9-14) of this Toolkit.

In this capacity, the Information Manager will need to do the following:

• Hold discussions with the programme officer to understand whether a shelter and core relief item (CRI) distribution monitoring system is functional, and what current needs have been identified. If there is no monitoring and distribution tracking system in place, the Information Manager may establish one. For advice on how to set up a monitoring and distribution tracking system, refer to the Minimum Sectoral Data: C. Core Relief Items section (Section 11) included in this Toolkit.
• The Information Manager should work with the protection officer to gather protection monitoring or needs assessment reports (on security, coping strategies, population movement patterns, etc.), which may impact on the protection situations of persons of concern.
• The Information Manager should gather health, food security, WASH and mortality reports/analyses from respective sector specialists.
• If a vulnerable person case tracking system has been established, the Information Manager should factor this information, as available, into the cross-sectoral analysis. For additional information on registration-related considerations, refer to the Registration in Emergencies section (Section 2) of this Toolkit.
• During the cross-sectoral analysis, if the Information Manager finds conflicting or inconsistent information between sectors, the sectoral leads involved will need to be notified in order to resolve the discrepancies.

Once these steps have been completed, the Information Manager should incorporate sector-specific cross-analysis into existing information products, as agreed with the Representative.

For camp situations, camp profiles should be produced in order to coordinate humanitarian activities across camps and to disseminate multi-sectoral information about particular camps. Refer to Section 8 of this Toolkit for more information on camp profiling.

4.5.2 Identification of IM needs, production of information products and contingency planning

Continue to monitor minimum sector data reports from the sector leads and identify other emergency IM needs as they arise, and include this information and analysis in ongoing standard emergency IM products. The Information Manager may present the most compelling pieces of sectoral information visually, as an info-graphic; see the Info-graphics section of this Toolkit for additional Information.

It may be necessary to transition some of the emergency initial information systems to other systems that can either be sustained over a longer period of time or go into more detail. For example, rapid population estimations could be replaced by an emergency registration.

WHO'S DOING WHAT, WHERE

5.1 Overview and Function

The Who’s Doing What, Where (3W) tool is a practical component of information management for coordination purposes and activity gap analysis. In many cases, other Ws are added such as When, Why and for Whom which expands the tool to 6Ws. At the emergency stage the 3W should be kept simple and potentially expanded as the situation evolves. The raw data from a 3W can also contribute to emergency programme monitoring and is a key component in overall gap analysis representing capacity, which is then compared to needs

Creating, maintaining and sharing a 3W with external partners highlights the coordination and communication role of UNHCR in information management throughout an emergency.

5.2 How-to Guide

5.2.1 Responsibility and reporting

The Information Manager will need to create the format for and maintain a continuously updated 3W format, as well as oversee the dissemination of related information both internally and externally to partners.

Setting up a regular and predictable clearance and dissemination plan for the 3W is important, as partners need to know what to expect and when to expect it. The Representative should be regularly briefed on the 3W, and should agree to a frequent 3W dissemination schedule, externally and internally, of at least two to three times a month.

Once cleared by the UNHCR Representative, and as illustrated in the Mapping section of this Toolkit, the 3W may also be mapped and uploaded on the web portal. Where possible, incorporate creative dissemination techniques – using mass SMS and e-mail lists – and ensure that hardcopies are available at information kiosks, included in briefing kits, etc.

5.2.2 Key Information, sources and maintenance

A 3W is populated through networking at meetings, humanitarian briefings, sectoral working groups, monitoring done by field staff and though informal contacts. The 3W will track information on sector and sub-sector actors, location of activities, funding and whether the information is public.

Whenever there are new attendees at coordination or sectoral meetings, establish communication and gather necessary information for inclusion on the 3W, a copy of which should be shared with new colleagues. If a UNHCR Portal is established information should be consolidated and updated on this platform as soon as possible. You may need to support this with offline 3W matrixes, which are included with this Section of the Toolkit as Annexes 1 and 2.

Under the guidance of senior management, criteria for inclusion and exclusion from the 3W should be decided at the national level. For example, should donors or only implementers appear on a 3W? Should activities that have been planned but not started be included on a 3W, or only those that have begun? Should only those activities that have been authorized by the Government appear on a 3W?

All of these questions should be explicitly considered when deciding who and what to track in the 3W matrix. It is possible to add columns and filters to the spreadsheet template to sort through different types of humanitarian activities – planned vs. started, donor vs. implementer, Government authorized vs. not – and then to produce different 3W matrices for different purposes. If this is done, senior management should make it clear which 3W matrices should appear on very public domains, such as the web portal.

Early in a refugee emergency, it may be difficult to obtain detailed data on activities and locations, as this information remains quite fluid during the first phases of an emergency.  However, if more detailed information on activities and location is required for reporting or coordination purposes, use Annex 1, the Simplified 3W Reporting and Coordination Template, referenced below, to track and follow-up accordingly with the activity focal point.

EMERGENCY NEEDS ASSESSMENTS

6.1 Overview and Function

Needs assessments are required to understand the impact of an event or crisis on affected populations: which populations are most affected, what their coping strategies are and which humanitarian interventions would most aid the population. An emergency needs assessment may be carried out during the first phase of a new emergency or when there has been a significant change to an ongoing emergency such as a sudden population influx.

The key objectives of an emergency needs assessment are to work towards ensuring that:

·       Humanitarian aid is needs based;

·       Humanitarian aid promotes rather than undermines safe local coping mechanisms;

·       The unique and respective needs of different populations have been identified and understood;

·       Decisions regarding humanitarian aid are based on verifiable information.

According to its mandate, which is based on its statute and resolutions passed by the UN General Assembly, UNHCR will coordinate and lead all aspects of humanitarian response in refugee emergencies, including coordinated needs assessments.

How-to Guide

For the initial needs assessment in a new refugee emergency, UNHCR should lead a “joint” multi-sectoral needs assessment, covering multiple sectors and including the participation of multiple humanitarian actors. In non-refugee emergencies, UNHCR may participate in similar multi-agency needs assessment exercises to which many of the principles described here will also apply.  For these exercises, UNHCR IM staff should familiarize themselves with the Multi-Cluster/Sector Initial Rapid Assessment (MIRA) methodology.  

Joint assessments are useful to establish a common understanding of the situation among actors and to maximize the use of available resources. As the emergency progresses, harmonized and/or sector-specific assessments may be undertaken. 

Note: Definitions used in the above chart are from the IASC Operational Guidance for Coordinated Assessment in Humanitarian Emergencies (March 2012).

Emergency Needs Assessment Process

Needs assessments are often situation dependent, and the design of the assessment will be affected by numerous factors. These include the level of humanitarian access, whether population movements are stable or dynamic, the amount of time and resources available for the assessment, and the types of interventions that might be made as a result of the assessment, to name a few.

Here are the basic steps for designing and conducting an emergency needs assessment (note that while listed in the general order of events many of these steps will need to run in parallel):

• Establish basic situational awareness;
• Identify purpose and types of decisions that require needs assessment information;
• Identify inter-agency stakeholders;
• Identify time and resources required for the needs assessment, including equipment, translators, data collectors and data entry personnel;
• Conduct a secondary data review, compile a 3W and identify remaining information gaps through a situational analysis;
• Decide how communities will be sampled;
• Design and test the data collection forms;
• Train the data collection team;
• Undertake primary data collection;
• Collate, clean and analyze resulting data;
• Disseminate data and information products; and
• Begin monitoring.

The general principles described in this chapter apply to any type of emergency needs assessment.  However, carrying out a needs assessment in urban areas can present unique challenges, particularly in the identification of geographic areas and populations to be surveyed.  Special considerations for urban assessments are included throughout this chapter. 

8.1.1 UNHCR roles and responsibilities

The UNHCR Representative in the country of the emergency is responsible for leading and coordinating the overall refugee needs assessment by establishing the required sectoral coordination. In an appropriate inter-agency forum, the Representative should request operational partners to nominate staff to participate in the Assessment Team (see below) for the needs assessment. A Needs Assessment Coordinator will need to be identified within UNHCR to follow-up and make contact with sector and/or organizational focal points. Sectoral leads and emergency coordinators will need to decide on the information required from a needs assessment in order to inform the operational strategy, while the Information Management Officer will provide support with assessment methodology, design, data collection, analysis and coordination.

8.1.2 The Assessment Team and Refugee Information Management Working Group (RIM WG)

An Assessment Team is a temporary working group of stakeholders who will manage a needs assessment.  Members of this team include operational leads who will decide what information is required for decision-making, interpret the results of the assessment and design interventions according to those results, as well as an Information Manager, who will design the assessment, select the sites to be assessed, compile the data and produce information products based on it.

Among the duties of the Assessment Team are:

• Agreement on time frame, data collection methods, cleaning and analysis of data and sharing and dissemination of results;
• Identification of an emergency referral system for urgent interventions needed that are uncovered during the needs assessment process;
• Agreement on minimum life-saving sectoral data;
• Finalization of assessment method and design;
• Site selection; and
• Coordination of resources, training and logistics.

The Assessment Team will need to identify the required resources to undertake the exercise in the field, based on the scale of the assessment to be conducted. Limitations on resources may affect the design of the assessment. The amount of resources spent on the needs assessment should never exceed 10 per cent of the value of the interventions that will be made on the basis of the assessment, and ideally the cost of an assessment will be much less than that.

The Information Manager may be called upon to compile an assessment registry and 3W (see below), coordinate needs assessment methodologies, ensure data compatibility and facilitate data sharing in the context of the RIM WG. The RIM WG is a forum for coordinating multiple assessments, sharing and tracking available data and keeping the assessment registry up-to-date. Needs assessment coordination functions should be included in the RIM WG TORs, included in the Information/Data Management section (Section 2) of this Toolkit.

8.1.3 Who to involve

In the first phase of a refugee emergency, a range of humanitarian agencies, NGOs, government counterparts and possibly donors may be involved in the initial assessment planning process, depending on the specific situation. However, partners involved in actually carrying out the assessment should only be those key actors responsible for overseeing and providing assistance in the first phase of a response. It is critical to involve WFP and other relevant partners in conducting emergency needs assessments when the population to be assessed is over 5,000 persons.

Identifying key stakeholders in an urban assessment context will likely require additional efforts to reach out to refugee focal points within the community. Urban refugees are often mobile and tend to cluster in the poorest areas of the city, and/or be dispersed over many locations throughout a city, making them difficult to identify. Refugee focal points will be crucial in identifying refugee locations, population and demographic estimates, new points of influx, vulnerable groups, infrastructure and security issues, coping mechanisms as well as needs which may change rapidly within an urban context. It is advisable to gather refugee focal point contact information with the support of the Protection or Community Services officer and to confirm or update information as appropriate. 

8.1.4 Establishing expected outcomes of the assessment

At the start of a needs assessment process, begin by asking these questions: What are the underlying causes of risk and vulnerability? Have these causes changed and, if so, how? How widespread is the problem – throughout the country (or countries) or in specific areas? How are the host communities coping with the situation? Which geographical area is the most impacted by the problems, and which affected group are the most at risk?  A crucial first step in the assessment process is to determine, and agree on, the operational data and information needed from the assessment to support intervention planning. 

Do not start a needs assessment process with the design of a data-collection form – that step comes in the middle of the process.  Many needs assessment designers make the mistake of starting with the design of the primary data collection form. However, doing so diminishes the likelihood that the needs assessment will be successful and yield actionable information. Simply put, begin by identifying the questions that need to be answered, not the ones that will be asked. 

8.1.5 Needs assessment logistics and equipment

When planning an assessment, it is vital that the logistical requirements of the field teams undertaking data collection are fully covered. Core equipment is essential, such as appropriate vehicles, first aid kits, computers, radio and/or satellite phones, GPS devices, cell phones and chargers with appropriate SIM cards and credit, along with flashlights, spare batteries for all equipment and physical maps. Ensure adequate food and water is provided for the teams particularly if supplies may be difficult to obtain in the areas to be visited. Also important are enough notebooks, pens, pencils and pencil sharpeners, as well as adequate copies of community interview guides with recording sheets, key informant guides and any materials required for participatory data collection techniques (flip chart sheets, felt-tipped pens, seasonal calendars, etc.). 

Secondary data review and situational analysis

According to the IASC Operational Guidance for Coordinated Assessments in Humanitarian Crises, a secondary data review provides valuable pre-crisis baseline information. The review, conducted by Protection Officer and Information Manager, should be derived from a spectrum of sources and including the following:

• Pre-existing conditions, which may have aggravated the impact of the crisis;
• Underlying vulnerabilities and pre-existing vulnerable groups;
• Existing threats (epidemics, climate, etc.); and
• Lessons learned from past crises in the same area.

Secondary data is any data that originates from outside of the needs assessment, such as data from the Government, monitoring data, etc. This includes data that is owned by UNHCR, such as registration or ProGres data.  Primary data is any type of time-bound data that is collected through completion of the assessment form during the emergency needs assessment. In addition to information from humanitarian partners already in situ, secondary data may be collected from or found through Relief Web, Alertnet, OCHA, HumanitarianResponse.info, media, blogs, crowd-sourcing, coordination meeting minutes, census data, etc. For additional references on conducting secondary data reviews, refer to the Information/Data Management Strategy section (Section 2) of this Toolkit. 

8.1.6 Compiling an Assessment Registry

As part of understanding the overall situational context, the Information Manager should ensure that an “Assessment Registry” has been compiled. The aim here is to identify what has already been assessed and areas of existing coverage that may not need to be included in the first stage of priority needs assessment. A template for an assessment registry is included in the Information/Data Management Strategy section of this Toolkit.  For country operations that have the UNHCR web portal, it may be possible to register needs assessments in an online “Needs Assessment Registry” rather than using the Excel template.

8.1.7 Compiling a 3W

Next, in order to inform an overview of needs, it will be important to understand and map existing services and capacities of the Government and operational partners, by type and location, in a detailed 3W.  As part of the secondary data review, a Protection and Programme Officer should work with the Information Manager to compile or expand an existing 3W for the operation. This can be done through a traditional 3W spreadsheet or, if time permits, through a 3W map, both of which will establish a profile for each administrative unit, highlighting service coverage,  or lack thereof, and areas for prioritization and inclusion in the needs assessment.

For an urban needs assessment the urban area will need to be broken into smaller geographic units that are agreed with local or national authorities and other partners, and discussed within the RIM WG and other coordination forums.  To avoid confusion, these units should be based on existing formal or informal boundaries (i.e. municipal administrative units or locally-known neighbourhoods) to the extent possible but where no sub-divisions exist a new system will need to be created.  

The demarcation of the city into these smaller units should be completed by the Information Manager working with the Protection and Programme Officer and cross-checked through focal points within the community. Once the city has been broken down into smaller segments -- districts, neighbourhoods etc. -- this information should be shared widely with the government and operational partners, and referenced when reporting and coordinating services.

For additional information on compiling a 3W, refer to the Information/Data Management Strategy section (Section 2).  To compile a 3W map of a city, please refer to the Mapping section of the Toolkit, (Section 16, Annex 5, ‘UNHCR Addressing Guidance’,) for practical advice on how to set-up a geo-referenced database. 

8.1.8 Situational Analysis

The output of a secondary data review, including the compilation of an assessment registry and 3W, should be a short situational analysis listing secondary data sources and major findings. Analysis of the gap between the findings of the secondary data review and the information required for decision-making should inform the design of a potential primary data collection exercise.  

Primary Data Collection

8.1.9 When not to collect primary data

Although a needs assessment should always be done in a refugee emergency, there are some situations in which primary data collection should not be conducted:

• When collecting data will put collectors or interviewees in harm’s way;
• When the results of the needs assessment will be incorrect or extremely biased, such as when interviewees do not feel secure enough to tell the truth or if external pressures are limiting the effectiveness of the needs assessment;
• When a population feels over-assessed and possibly hostile to additional needs assessments.

For the above situations, conducting a needs assessment through a secondary data review only --  without any new primary data collection -- might be the appropriate assessment approach.

8.1.10 Emergency referral system

Prior to conducting primary data collection, Protection Staff should establish for the Assessment Team a system for emergency referrals by sector with focal points identified. (See the Minimum Sectoral Data: Protection section (Section 13) for additional information on how to set this system up.) For example, referrals may identify a location, such as a collective centre, in need of a WASH intervention or may refer an individual for a life-saving intervention. The emergency referral process should be separate from, and made functional by the start of, the assessment exercise being undertaken in the field. Field data collection teams should be trained on how to escalate life-saving issues and urgent interventions uncovered during the assessment to appropriate service providers. 

Field data collection teams should carry with them the UNHCR Referral for Assistance (included as an annex in the Registration in Emergencies section of this Toolkit) for any cases encountered in need of emergency referral and support. Doing so will avoid having the required urgent action reports mixed in with needs assessment results to be submitted for data entry.

8.1.11 Assessment method and survey design

The unit of measurement for an emergency needs assessment should be at the community level rather than the household or individual level, saving time and reducing the volume of data gathered during primary data collection. Data collection techniques for community level needs assessments include direct observation, key informant interviews and focus group discussions.

The recommended unit of measurement for an urban needs assessment is a neighbourhood or district as discussed earlier.  An urban needs assessment may also benefit from the use of crowd-sourcing technology and/or the establishment of refugee call-in lines to solicit information, either in the emergency phase or later monitoring of the situation.

8.1.12 Participatory and AGD approaches in emergency needs assessments

Assessments must also be designed and conducted using participatory approaches which allow populations of concern to voice their opinions about their own needs rather than humanitarian personnel simply deciding for them. It is also important that needs assessments reflect an age, gender and diversity (AGD) approach, as the emergency will affect different portions of the population differently. Field data collection teams need to be gender balanced and trained on survey questions and participatory approaches prior to going to field locations to collect data.

Practical ways to include AGD and participatory approaches in needs assessments:

• Have separate focus group discussions for men, women, boys, girls, of different social strata. It can be advantageous to conduct these focus group discussions simultaneously so, for example, men do not also infiltrate the women’s discussion;
• For closed questionnaires or structured interviews, use key informants from different sections of society;
• When selecting villages or camps to be assessed, stratify the locations to reflect the diversity of their resident populations;
• Assess questions and themes that might be relevant to marginalized or less vocal segments of communities;
• Partner with specialized NGOs who work with hard-to-reach groups (i.e. elderly persons, disabled persons, children) to obtain information specific to their needs
• Engage with self-governance structures (i.e. youth committees, women’s committees) as sources for needs assessment information;
• Conduct a participatory ranking of problems and solutions, during which community members carry out the prioritization;
• Triangulate data from multiple social classes to illustrate how various populations experience during a humanitarian situation differently.

Ensuring community participation helps to minimize the potential of needs assessments and the resulting humanitarian interventions causing harm by undermining local coping mechanisms, neglecting marginalized social groups’ needs, and/or wasting resources on aid that is not required.

Data collection teams will have to specifically ask interviewees for their consent to use the information they provide for the needs assessment. Personal information can never be disclosed or transferred for purposes other than those for which it was originally collected and for which consent was explicitly given.  

8.1.13 Site selection

Although desirable, statistically representative site selection may not be possible when choosing which sites to assess in the first weeks of an emergency. For emergency needs assessments, diversity-driven purposive sampling is the preferred sampling method. Purposive sampling is aimed at sampling as many types of sites as possible. It involves first defining which selection criteria are important to consider according to the assessment objectives and second, visiting sites that represent a cross-section of these. Purposive sampling is recommended for rapid assessments because this process ensures that the assessment captures different types and levels of impact. An alternative to purposive sampling is representative sampling in which the population is divided into subpopulations (strata) and random samples are taken of each stratum.  Representative sampling is a more time-consuming process than purposive sampling.

Site selection for an emergency needs assessment should focus on sites based on gaps in existing knowledge, severity of impact, geography and characteristics of the refugee community etc. While considering geography and protection issues, attempt to select sites that represent the diversity of the situation, such as a mixture of urban and rural camps or sites, sites in the mountains and valleys, sites dominated by different ethnic or social groups, etc. For urban assessments, focal points within the refugee community may be able to help identify the locations of other refugees within the city, including hidden or vulnerable groups. Locations should be stratified by criteria that highlight potential differences in the impact of the emergency or the community’s ability to cope with that impact so that the assessment will provide as comprehensive a picture as possible.  

8.1.14 Reducing bias in needs assessment

A key consideration in the process of collecting primary data is the presence of bias. Bias refers to a systematic skewing of data collected. A biased sample refers to a sample in which all members of the population are not equally likely to be represented. A biased estimator is one that systematically over- or under-estimates what is being measured. Bias may occur because of under-coverage of some groups, large non-response rates among particular groups, or lack of access. 

Bias can arise from many sources including the community, Government sources, data collectors, interpreters (if used), key informants, ethnic groups and both sexes. The greatest limitation of any key informant interview is that it provides a subjective perspective on the crisis. Individual responses provide important information, but this will have both an individual and a cultural bias that needs to be considered when analyzing the information. Throughout the assessment process, consider whether the biases of the interviewer or informant may be influencing results, and adjust training or assessment methodologies accordingly.

To reduce the bias of any assessment, there are a number of things to remember. Communities are not homogeneous, and information should be gathered from sources that represent different interest groups, including marginalized persons. It’s important to define the different characteristics of people who are being consulted (e.g. those most affected by the crisis, internally displaced persons, minority ethnic groups, etc.) and record this when collecting data, including those groups that may not be represented. Ensure that the affected population is consulted directly and that all demographics within this population (women, children, the elderly, the disabled, and ethnic or religious minorities) are consulted. Particular attention needs to be paid to the poorest and most socially excluded people, as they are likely to be most affected by a crisis. 

8.1.15 Agreement on minimum life-saving sectoral data

Needs assessment questions should focus on gathering minimum emergency life-saving data required to inform the first phase of an emergency response.  All questions should relate directly to the priority operational information needs identified by the Assessment Team. 

When leading an Assessment Team in the prioritization of assessment questions, consider facilitating a group discussion using the Prioritization Graph, from Annex 2 of this section, which can assist with obtaining Team agreement on questions to include in the assessment.  Data elements that have life-saving importance and that are easy to collect should be the priority for an initial needs assessment.

Minimum and sectoral data sets presented in the protection, HIS, WASH, nutrition, mortality, shelter, CRI, environment and livelihood sections of this Toolkit also provide examples of the type and level of life-saving sectoral data that may be included in the an emergency needs assessment. 

8.1.16 Needs Assessment for Refugee Emergencies (NARE) checklist

Where possible, existing assessment forms should be used and amended as necessary. Some country operations will have developed an emergency needs assessment form during the contingency planning process that may be adapted and used. 

The NARE checklist is a highly customizable multi-sectoral needs assessment format designed to provide a basis from which to develop a country-specific assessment form according to the local situation. The Assessment Team can decide which data collection methodologies should be used and which topics should be the focus. NARE users are not obligated to do the entire assessment specified but can pick and choose from among the methods and themes depending on the time and resources available, the purpose of the assessment and the types of interventions that will be made.  Data collection questions in the columns/rows selected from the NARE may be further customized, suggested questions changed or omitted or new questions added. In addition to sector-specific contents, the contents of the “All Sectors” column and the callouts on population data management, security and logistics should also be considered. (See the NARE Checklist in Annex 7 for additional information on the types of data to collect as well as examples of questions to ask.)

Primary data-collection forms must be tested prior to undertaking the needs assessment widely in the field. This may be as simple as sitting with local colleagues to ensure that the interpretation of assessment questions is clear and that the resulting answers will be analysable.

8.1.17 Field team training

Needs assessment field team members should be trained on the following:

• Completing the needs assessment data-collection forms;
• Reporting problems with the needs assessments;
• Key informant selection;
• Observation techniques;
• Facilitating focus group discussions (if needed);
• Managing  community expectations;
• Data confidentiality principles; and
• Basic principles of the UNHCR Code of Conduct.

8.1.18 Data cleaned, jointly analyzed and agreed

It is important for members of the Assessment Team to agree on the process for cleaning, analysing and interpreting the assessment data prior to undertaking the data collection in the field. Data should be cleaned and entered into a spreadsheet at the end of each day by the needs assessment field team members. Where possible, data should be broken down by UNHCR standard sex and age groups. 

A shared communication strategy for the results will need to be discussed and agreed upon within the Assessment Team. In some situations, two versions of the assessment report – one for internal audiences and one for external audiences – may need to be produced. 

The results of an emergency needs assessment will need to be considered against any pre-existing contingency plans. Information gathered needs to be evaluated for its validity and relevance, the reliability of its source(s), and whether it corroborates other information.  Any evidence or suspicion of fraud, including falsely reported needs to either attract or deny aid to a particular location or segment of the population, must be reported to senior management.

Assessment results should be shared by the unit of analysis (for example, community level findings) unless there are protection concerns. The assessment results should be shared in a format that can be easily re-used by others and adheres to disaggregated data standards whenever possible. Emergency priorities, protection concerns and analysis produced by the needs assessment will provide the foundation for the emergency operations plan and will influence registration planning.

The Information Manager will want to ensure that any links between the assessment and ongoing monitoring needs are taken into consideration by the RIM WG and operational leads. For example, needs assessment information that shows severe problems with a particular sector or in a particular type of community can be used as a trigger to establish an ongoing monitoring system for those problems in those types of communities.  The accuracy of an assessment report should also be verified by the Assessment Team, with assessment limitations openly acknowledged in the final results.

In addition to the assessment report, the initial rapid assessment will contribute to camp profiles, SitReps and funding appeals, as well as other information products. A “refugee dashboard” – a one- or two-page visualization of key needs assessment information – may be produced to show the results.

Post-Emergency Needs Assessment: Monitoring and Detailed Assessments

Monitoring and more detailed sectoral assessments will continue following initial emergency needs assessments. Emergency needs assessments will set a baseline against which the situation may be compared in the coming weeks and months.

EXTERNAL UPDATES AND FACT SHEETS

Overview and Function

UNHCR has established standard templates for external update documents, produced by field operations and Regional Bureau, which provide operational information on UNHCR’s achievements in an operation or a region.

Consistent reporting and information sharing with donors, partner agencies, plays a critical role in external coordination between UNHCR and our partners, and remains a key activity during the first phase of a refugee emergency. External reporting documents also play a key role in identifying pressing and urgent needs, which may require emergency support or resources.

External Updates and Fact Sheets are not intended to replace internal reports such as SitRep’s. Colleagues in the field, Regional Bureau or HQ may decide if External Updates and/or Fact Sheet’s should be produced and the frequency of dissemination of such documents.

How-to Guide

Depending on resources available during the first phase of a refugee emergency, the Representative may designate the External Relations or Public Information Officer or any other colleague as appropriate, to lead and oversee the process of gathering information for Operational Updates, as well as for the Inter-Agency Update and Fact Sheets.

Reporting and dissemination frequency will be according to needs on the ground as identified by the Representative, with contributions provided by UNHCR protection, registration, information management and sectoral colleagues for UNHCR updates. For inter-agency updates, primary information from operational partners may also be obtained from inter-agency coordination forums such as the UNHCR lead RIM WG (for details on how to set-up a RIM WG please see the Information Management Strategy section of this Toolkit), amongst others.

All templates and clearance procedures are available on the UNHCR intranet at:  https://intranet.unhcr.org/intranet/unhcr/en/home/policy-and-guidance/der.html (please note, this link requires UNHCR intranet access).

1.1.1 Choosing a Template: UNHCR Operational Update and Fact Sheets

The UNHCR Operational Update templates may be used by colleagues who want to report on achievements and challenges for one or more UNHCR operations. Fact sheets are two page documents providing an overview of a UNHCR operation.

• UNHCR Operational Update Template: should be used for reporting on UNHCR’s activities in a specific operation (e.g. UNHCR’s operation in Burkina Faso).
• UNHCR Regional Update Template: should be used for reporting on UNHCR activities in several operations affected by the same crisis (e.g. UNHCR’s response to the Mali situation in Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania and Niger) or on several operations that fall under the same region (e.g. UNHCR’s operations in West Africa).
• UNHCR Factsheets: are produced by field operations to provide a quick overview of the operation for external readers such as donors, partners and the general public. 

1.1.2 Choosing a Template: Inter-Agency Update

Inter- Agency Updates refer to UNHCR external inter-agency updates, produced by field operations and Regional Bureau, which provide operational information, such as achievements or challenges faced by UNHCR and partners’ in an operation or a region. External Updates and Fact Sheets are produced by UNHCR and are intended for external coordination and information sharing.

Inter-Agency Update Template should be used for reporting on inter-agency activities for a given refugee operation (e.g. inter-agency activities in Lebanon). These updates should contain all relevant developments related to UN agencies, international organizations, NGOs and governmental agencies.

Inter-Agency Regional Update Template should be used for reporting on inter-agency activities for a given situation (e.g. inter-agency response to the Syria situation in the MENA region and in Turkey).

These updates should contain all relevant developments related to UN agencies, international organizations, NGOs and governmental agencies for a given situation.

Dissimination

Once cleared, the UNHCR Operational Update, Inter-Agency Update or Fact Sheet should be disseminated to the humanitarian community, donors through weekly coordination meetings. These documents may also be uploaded on the UNHCR web portal by the Information Manager, made available inside the UNHCR office or shared regularly through e-mail distribution lists. They are also shared with Permanent Missions in Geneva via email.

SITREP

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CAMP PROFILES

8.1 Overview and Function

Camp profiles provide a consolidated overview of population statistical data, geographic data, the life-saving sectors, cross-cutting sectoral analysis, and information on activities and gaps in 3W data throughout the initial phase of an emergency.

A camp profile is an information product that assembles information about a camp from multiple data systems in order to give a comprehensive picture of the situation. It is a useful tool for donor briefing kits, new staff arrivals and delegations that visit a camp. It is also useful for coordination and planning purposes. Camp profiles can be in both hardcopy and electronic (e.g. generated by a website) formats. Camp profiles also aid camp management by detailing the cultural background of camp residents, camp resident-organized committees and host community administrative structures, thereby helping responding humanitarians to work within local governance structures.

The camp profile must be disseminated regularly to ensure that parallel information structures are not created and that emergency responders are aware of where to find information.

8.2 How-to Guide

Working with the protection, programme and field officers, the Information Manager may begin to compile the standard camp profile within the first week of arriving in an emergency. A camp profile template is included in the annexes of this section of the Toolkit.

During the first few weeks following the onset of a refugee emergency, it is important to populate the camp profile with all information known about the situation. This includes initial population estimates, demographic and geographic data, as well as information known about the population of concern and partners on the ground responding to the emergency.

The camp profile may also be compiled based on information gathered during an initial emergency needs assessment. Ideally, deciding which information to include or exclude on a camp profile should be done in collaboration with partners, who should be encouraged to provide information for the profile.

When sourcing the information for the camp profile, the Information Manager should leverage the camp management structure. If information needed for the camp profile is unavailable from existing data systems, a data collection form build around the gaps in information can be designed and submitted to the camp manager for populating via the camp coordination partner or NGO. The camp coordinator can then analyze and compile the information, sending it back to the Information Manager for inclusion in the camp profile.

The UNHCR Representative or, as delegated by the Representative, the emergency team leader must clear the camp profile. Once cleared, the camp profile should be cross-analyzed and disseminated to the humanitarian community during the first phase of an emergency through weekly coordination meetings. It can then be uploaded on the UNHCR web portal by the Information Manager. Camp profiles can also be made available inside the camps for when visitors arrive, at hardcopy “Information Stations” in UNHCR offices or through e-mail distribution lists.

Thereafter, the camp profile should be updated with additional registration or demographic information, with developments in the life-saving sectors or with any other information that may be useful in responding to the emergency.

For the first four months of an emergency, the camp profile should detail the following:

• Camp information: Name of camp, date it opened, geographic information for the camp (including GPS coordinates), camp phase, as well as emergency and, if possible, site planning information, such as the area of the site, the number of plots, the maximum capacity of the camp, etc.
• Population statistics: Either at the individual or household level, as well as the date the statistics were collected, population demographic information and cultural background of residents. The profile should also mention whether the residents have identity documentation, ration cards, nutrition records or other documentation that will help to facilitate individual or household case management.
• Life-saving sectoral information: Mortality rates, morbidity data, WASH indicators, shelter and CRI, food, protection and vulnerability assessment.
• Once in place, include information on camp coordination structures.
• Include a running list of 3W information, including areas where there are gaps in ownership of needed activities. This latter part will inform donors and newly arrived partners of ways in which they can get involved.

Tip: The camp profile is a fluid document during the beginning of an emergency, especially as the situation may be changing rapidly and information may be difficult to obtain. Therefore, it is better to include whatever information is known (albeit changing) on the camp profile template, rather than leave it blank.