1. WoSA Assessment Training Module 2: Basic Principles of Needs Assessments

2. Session Plan What is a Need? What is a Needs Assessment? What is measurement and uncertainty? Humanitarian Principles

3. What is a Need? IDPs need psychosocial support and access to protected water sources, and attend weekly hygiene session IDPs are thirsty, have less water on average than before they were displaced  A lack of…  A deficiency in…  A problem of…  An issue related to…  A gap in…  A shortage of…

4. What is a Needs Assessment? “The process through which agencies identify and measure the humanitarian needs of a disaster- affected community.” The best way to answer the question: “what assistance do disaster-affected communities need?” Enables humanitarian organisations to make strategic and operational decisions Uses a range of methods and sources to collect and triangulate information

5. Exercise 1 “What sort of decisions do humanitarian agencies need to make?” Note on a flipchart

6. Exercise: Imagine i would give you one hour of time to prove me this is an actual real can of coca cola with real coca cola inside (10 mn plenary work) Measurement

7. X measured = X Truth + error

8. Understanding measurement… There is always more than one way to measure something Measurements are error prone Even when dead-on, measurements are often just an approximation for what you really need to know Measurement change behavior Your problem is not as unique as you think You have more data than you think You need less data than you think An adequate amount of new data is more accessible than you think

9. Exercise 2 Two groups Complete the puzzle! 15 minutes Discuss results What do we learn from this game for the assessment process?

10. Key Learning Points You can describe the picture even if some pieces are missing It is important to know how pieces can fit together in order to be able to complete the exercise under time pressure Some pieces that don’t fit need to be discarded

11. ASSESSMENT ACTIVITIES Time Secondary data review Assessment decision Field assessment design and planning, training In crisis primary data collation Data reconciliation and management Analysis Reporting and dissemination Assessment Process

12. Assessment Outputs

13. Humanitarian Principles

14. Humanitarian principles are the fundamental foundations for humanitarian action. They also apply to needs assessments. Humanity Human suffering must be addressed wherever it is found. The purpose of humanitarian action is to protect life and health and ensure respect for human beings Neutrality Humanitarian actors must not take sides in hostilities or engage in controversies of a political, racial, ethnic, religious or ideological nature Impartiality Humanitarian action must be carried out on the basis of need alone, giving priority to the most urgent cases of distress and making no distinctions on the basis of nationality, race, gender, religious belief, class or political opinions Operational independence Humanitarian action must be autonomous from the political, economic, military or other objectives that any actor may hold with regard to areas where humanitarian action is being implemented

15. Humanity and Data Collection 15 Respect and dignity: Regard each person as autonomous and understand cultural norms involving the individual and the community. When undertaking the assessment, obtain the informed consent of the key informant to participate in the data collection exercise. Explain the purpose of the information collection ; its scope and method and use of the information collected; the confidentiality and the possibility for the respondent to request that certain information may be kept confidential; the possibility for the respondent to cease the participation at any time.

16. Neutrality and Data Collection Be sensitive to possible biases: Be aware of possible biases in people’s perceptions and reports, including those of the assessment team. Establish diverse teams with gender, ethnical diversity. Be aware of your own background and biases and how this may affect answers or reluctance of people to share information.

17. Impartiality in Data Collection Data shall be collected in order to determine humanitarian needs, irrespectively of ethnicity, religion, and the political view of the person in need. Only ask questions that relate to getting information about humanitarian needs and issues that impact the needs. Do not collect more information than needed. Be objective – and be seen to be objective – and consistent : This is essential in order to build and maintain respect and trust. Obtain information from a broad range of people representing all the different groups in the population, including (especially) women.

18. Relevance of Context in Data Collection Age: If there is a large number of youth or aged within the community group discussion, and if there are sufficient assessment team members, it may be useful to hold a discussion with youth and older people separately. Crises affect these groups differently. Common language: use a language with informants and the communities they can easily understand. Location and local context: At least one member of the team should be familiar with the location.

19. Independence and Confidentiality in Data Collection Use the collected data only to determine humanitarian needs and priorities. Collected data shall not be compromised for political means. Consider all discussions taking place during meetings and interactions related to the assessment as strictly confidential. Collected data should not dispose any information about the identity of the informant nor should be used for any other purpose than to achieve assessment results.

20. Exercise 3 Ethical Dilemmas in Needs Assessments

21. An alleged community leader from a village you do not have access to, tells you that 50,000 people in that village are in urgent need of food. What would you do? Include 50k people in your assessment Do not include them

22. On your way to assess a community that was stranded in a valley after trying to flee an area of conflict, you are stopped at a checkpoint. The commander of the checkpoint tells you: “they are okay, they have plenty of food and water.” He points you in a different direction claiming that you will find a group of people that are in urgent need and haven’t received any assistance in the past two months. Will you visit the second community? Will you continue with your original plan?

23. You have difficulty accessing some of your designated locations for data collection. An armed group which seems to be in control of the area of concern offers to escort you to the area. Do you accept? Accept Don’t accept