Bangladesh, joint, needs, assessment, JNA, lessons ... · The key positive features of the joint needs assessment work in Bangladesh: Tools and processes that are piloted in the field

1 Visit: www.acaps.org and www.ecbproject.org Report updated and published by ECB Project February 2013

The Local Consultative Group (LCG)

Joint Needs Assessment Works:

Taking it forward together

Lesson Learned Event for the HCTT Bangladesh October 16 and 17, 2012

Workshop Report

Supported by ACAPS and the ECB Bangladesh Consortium members


Acronyms ACAPS Assessment Capacities Project

BDRC Bangladesh Red Crescent Society

CGD Community Group Discussion

DO Direct Observation

ECB Emergency Capacity Building Project

GOB Government of Bangladesh

HCTT Humanitarian Coordination Task Team

IASC Inter-Agency Standing Committee

IFRC International Federation of the Red Cross

INGO International Non-Government Organization

JNA Joint Needs Assessment

KII Key Informant Interview

LCG-DER Local Consultative Group – Disaster & Emergency Response

MIRA Multi-cluster/sector Initial Rapid Assessment

MOFDM Ministry of Food and Disaster Management

NAWG Needs Assessment Working Group

NGO Non-Government Organization

OCHA ROAP Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Regional Office for Asia Pacific

RCO Resident Coordinator‟s Office

RCO HA Resident Coordinator‟s Office Humanitarian Adviser

SI Solidarities International

SOPS Standard Operating Procedures

TOR Terms of Reference

UN United Nations

UNDP United Nations Development Program

UNICEF United Nations Children‟s Fund

UNRCO United Nations Resident Coordinator‟s Office

WASH Water, Sanitation and Hygiene


Workshop Summary & Key Findings

Disaster assessment preparedness in Bangladesh began in early 2011. Strengthening and adapting the way initial assessments are carried out in Bangladesh is a deliberate feature of the assessment approach that has been agreed by the government and development partners and “Learning by doing” has been key to the assessment successes in Bangladesh. Stakeholders recognize the value of having a “lessons learned attitude” as an integral part of the assessment approach so that it benefits from an ongoing process of reflection and adaption. Participants from multiple parts of the humanitarian sector have understood the value of planning and participating in deliberate events that focus attention on the learning that can be extracted from joining an assessment process. Twelve months after the first lessons learned workshop - held in October 2011 and facilitated by ACAPS - stakeholders considered that it was time to review the assessment process. Real-time assessments implemented in June and August 2012 were supported by an increasing number of national and international agencies. The learning process provided an ideal opportunity to review progress and learn from it together as a multi-agency group.

The theme of the workshop was: “Joint Needs Assessment (JNA) Works: Taking it forward together”. The aim was to highlight the achievements in relation to the JNA work in Bangladesh which illustrate, that multi-sector, multi- stakeholder assessments are possible within the initial days and weeks of a disaster and to galvanize momentum for continued and enhanced commitment to this work. This addressed some of the key challenges: involving more stakeholders in needs assessment preparedness work; disbelief that the objective of timely JNAs are possible, and reluctance to compromise agency specific assessment capacity to contribute to a joint approach. The workshop was organized and funded by the ECB Bangladesh consortium with the design and facilitation of the event provided and resourced by ACAPS. ACAPS worked with a planning team made up from ECB agency staff and volunteers from the Needs Assessment Working Group (NAWG).1

Key Findings

The key positive features of the joint needs assessment work in Bangladesh:

Tools and processes that are piloted in the field provide results and evidence that they work.

There is buy-in from a broad (and growing) range of humanitarian stakeholders including government, INGOs, NGOs, IFRC and the UN.

Stakeholders agree that strengthening of the assessment approach requires:

Stronger communication strategies for sharing the key features of the approach and for communicating key decisions related to real-time assessment

Increased buy-in of Cluster lead agencies2

Greater access to the key documents explaining the assessment approach and methodology to ensure all stakeholders share one consistent understanding

Consolidation of assessment tools and other documentation based on recent experience and learning and translation of these into Bangla

1 Organizations represented include: ECB Project agencies e.g. Oxfam, Save the Children, CARE, UNRCO.

2 See this point expanded on page 6 under participation where the low participation of UN agencies is highlighted.


Training and ongoing capacity building of a multi-stakeholder pool of assessment staff at central level and at district level (focusing on disaster prone regions)

Stakeholders believe that addressing these requirements is achievable within a 6 month time frame if appropriate resources can be secured. While a predictable, coordinated approach to assessment should be a part of the core business of understanding and responding to disasters in Bangladesh and the collective responsibility of all stakeholders, the needs assessment work in Bangladesh has highlighted that establishing a joint needs assessment process requires dedicated expertise, time and resources. Discussions are ongoing at the country level on how to continue to secure appropriate support and technical expertise for consolidation of the assessment preparedness work.

Bangladesh provides an example of a context where small to medium scale disaster events

take place regularly, where disasters, such as flooding and water-logging, often unfold in a time

frame that is neither rapid onset nor slow, and where capacity built in to systems at the country

level is needed in order to provide evidence on which to base decisions that relate to

responding to these events. The assessment approach will continue to be refined and adapted

based on lessons learned and on the disaster context, but the experience so far has delivered

exciting proof of concept that the kinds of phase 1 and 2 assessments as recommended in the

MIRA3 can be a reality and speaks to the value of investing in coordinated approaches to

assessment preparedness at the country level.

3Multi-Cluster/Sector Initial Rapid Assessment; see

http://www.humanitarianinfo.org/iasc/pageloader.aspx?page=content-subsidi-common-default&sb=75


Detailed Workshop Report

1. Background to the Joint Needs Assessment Work in Bangladesh

Recent efforts to strengthen Assessment Preparedness in Bangladesh were initiated in early 2011 when the ECB consortium4 in Bangladesh began exploring the need for improved and more coordinated approaches to humanitarian needs assessment.

What began as interest in global good practice on assessments by the ECB agencies with the view to enhancing their own capacity has grown, over a period of approximately 18 months, into an assessment approach that is embedded in national coordination mechanisms and has a degree of buy-in from a broad range of stakeholders including UN agencies, IFRC, national and international NGOs and, most significantly, the Government of Bangladesh (GoB). In other words, the assessment approach is owned collectively by the coordination mechanisms that represent what can be considered the humanitarian community in Bangladesh; the LCG-DER5 and the HCTT.

Bangladesh provides an example of the practical application of the IASC Operational Guidance for Coordinated Assessment in Humanitarian Crises and the Multi-Cluster / Sector Initial Rapid Assessment (MIRA) approach to the country context. The assessment approach developed has been used in the field several times and findings have informed response planning.

The joint assessment approach developed in Bangladesh has been appreciated by the Government. The GoB had expressed concerns about the transaction costs on local administration and on communities in affected areas when many uncoordinated assessments take place after disasters. This was frequently the experience in Bangladesh because of the disaster prone context of the country and the large number of national and international

stakeholders involved in response.

In November 2011 the Secretary of the Ministry of Food and Disaster Management (MoFDM)6 requested that development partners make every effort to ensure that all assessments in the early days and weeks of a disaster were joint assessments and in April 20127 the LCG-DER8 endorsed a joint approach to assessments. The task of overseeing the ongoing work on assessments was assigned to the Humanitarian Coordination Task Team (HCTT).9

In June and July the HCTT requested an assessment of districts experiencing flooding in the South East. 47 agencies (international and national NGOs) carried out a phase 1/initial days

4 See http://www.ecbproject.org/bangladesh 5 The key mechanism that brings together the Government of Bangladesh with Development partners in Bangladesh around disaster management and coordination is the local Consultative Group (LCG) Disaster Emergency Response (DER). Under the LCG-DER a specific task team has been set up to look at preparedness for coordinated response, this is the Humanitarian Coordination task team (HCTT). The HCTT has constituted a Needs Assessment Working Group (NAWG). 6 In September 2012 the GoB passed the Disaster Management Act creating a new Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief (MDMR). 7 This was the meeting of the 6th LCG-DER. At the time of writing the minutes were not available on the website. 8 The LCG-DER is the key forum in the country where GoB and Development Partners come together around issues related to the Disaster Management Cycle. Visit http://www.lcgbangladesh.org/HCTT.php 9 The HCTT is an operational Task Team under the LCG-DER that has inter-cluster coordination for preparedness and response as two of its key roles. The HCTT is co-chaired by the Department of Disaster Management and the Resident Coordinator’s Office Humanitarian Adviser RCO HA.

“In November 2011 the Secretary

of the Ministry of Food and

Disaster Management (MoFDM)1

requested that development

partners make every effort to

ensure that all assessments in the

early days and weeks of a disaster

were joint assessments and in

April 20121 the LCG-DER1 endorsed

a joint approach to assessments.”

Extract from this report

http://www.ecbproject.org/bangladesh

http://www.lcgbangladesh.org/HCTT.php


JNA in 5 districts; Sunamganj, Sylhet, Chittagong, Bandarban and Cox‟s Bazaar. The assessment had the buy-in of the humanitarian community in Bangladesh represented in the HCTT and close collaboration with the Upazilla authorities (government sub-district) in the affected areas. The time from the decision to undertake the assessment until the reports were shared and findings presented in an HCTT meeting was 3 days.10 Findings were used by the local GoB authorities in their response planning.

Six weeks later the initial assessment was followed by a more detailed joint needs assessment of Shelter, WASH and Early Recovery needs. This assessment was carried out with the direct participation of GoB at the central and local levels, I/NGOs in the assessment teams and with coordination and leadership from UNDP, IFRC and UNICEF.

The experience of JNA in Bangladesh shows how an initiative by ECB has developed into an integral part of the national coordination mechanisms, with the active buy-in and participation of a broad range of stakeholders. While the ECB Project no longer “owns” the assessment work in Bangladesh, the work has undoubtedly benefitted from the particular strengths that the ECB Project and its multiple agency members bring to the process. This includes an emphasis on giving voice to affected communities, on accountability and the deep field presence of ECB Project agencies and their national NGO partners.

The work on assessments in Bangladesh has benefitted extensively from the ongoing support and technical input from ACAPS (the Assessment Capacities Project) based on ACAPS‟ role as a service provider of humanitarian assessment expertise and through the global collaboration agreement between ACAPS and the ECB Project.11 In October 2011 ACAPS facilitated the first lessons learned workshop based on the assessment experiences up until that point. This exercise was appreciated at the country level and contributed to refinements in the methodology and greater stakeholder clarity on the assessment approach.

Stakeholders in Bangladesh continue to develop and refine the assessment approach based on lessons learned, but the experience so far has delivered exciting proof of concept that the kinds of phase 1 and 2 assessments as recommended in the MIRA can be a reality and speaks to the value of investing in coordinated approaches to assessment preparedness at the country level.

The focus of the lessons learned event outlined in this report was specifically to take forward the assessment work in Bangladesh. Stakeholders in Bangladesh believe that the learning from assessments in Bangladesh could be shared more broadly - whether learning from applying the guidance, integrating the results into programming or adapting approaches for different contexts. The agencies involved are very open to sharing this work.

10

The special HCTT meeting took place on the 28th

June and the findings were shared in a second special HCTT meeting on the 1

st July.

11 For information about ACAPS see http://www.acaps.org

“The time from the decision

to undertake the assessment

until the reports were

shared and findings

presented in an HCTT

meeting was 3 days…”

Extract from this report

“Stakeholders in Bangladesh

believe that the work on

assessments at the country

level has lessons to share more

broadly about the application

of the guidance on good

assessment practice to country

contexts and are very open to

sharing this work.” Extract


2. Lessons Learned Workshop

2.1 Aim and Objectives

Workshop aim: to contribute to improving the quality and utility of joint needs assessments in the initial days and weeks after a disaster in Bangladesh so that they better inform a shared understanding of the impact of a disaster. Headline objectives From their participation in the workshop, participants would:

Understand that a JNA is possible, and

Be ready to build on the JNA work already begun to continually improve assessment approaches

Specific objectives Through participation in the workshop, participants would:

1. Be aware of the assessment approach that the LCG-DER has agreed to for the initial days and weeks after a disaster

2. Have a consistent understanding of the key features of the approach 3. Know what worked well in recent assessment experience 4. Expose gaps in the JNA work 5. Commit to working together to do better JNAs 6. Consider how JNA relates to decision making 7. Share the key features of the JNA work and the findings and recommendations of the

workshop with decision makers

Participants added the following objectives which were linked to the workshop objectives above:

Clarity on who can feed information into the assessment and how to do this (workshop objectives 4,6)

Clarity on the process by which assessment findings will be shared (workshop objectives 4,6)

Global practice and how it relates to Bangladesh? (workshop objective 2)

Plan of action- Priorities to move forward (workshop objectives 4,5)

Who will do what? Mapping of Who is doing What Where (workshop objectives 4,5)

How we will relate to the government authorities? (workshop objectives 4,5,6)

Inclusion and recognizing every one‟s contribution and how they fit in? (workshop objectives 1,2,5)

Clarity of the role of local government and linkages to GoB assessments (workshop objectives 5,6)

How are disability and other cross-cutting issues considered in assessments? (workshop objectives 1,2,4,5)

Methodology and contextual differences (workshop objectives 3,5)


2.2 Workshop design and process

In working towards the objectives the workshop focused on:

Clarifying what we mean by learning lessons and why we want to learn them

Exposing, understanding and appreciating the work that has been done

Understanding assessments in initial days and weeks after a disaster: What do we know? What should we know? How do we make it happen? (Revisiting the assessment approach agreed for Bangladesh)

Analyzing the assessments of recent months in order to: o Make structured observations about what worked and what didn‟t work o Distill lessons from the observations o Prioritize the most important lessons o Capture recommendations for how these can be addressed

This was done largely in group work sessions with three groups, each focusing on key elements of carrying out a JNA:

o Preparation and planning o Data collection and field work o Analysis, interpretation, preparing findings/reports and dissemination

Decision makers12 were invited to the final session of the workshop to hear the key recommendations and participate in a discussion with participants about next steps.

2.3 Workshop Participation

Participants for the workshop came from INGOs, UN, IFRC and GoB13. Participation by INGOs was much higher than that of UN agencies in the two day workshop as has been the case throughout the assessment preparedness process. Approximately 32 participants attended the workshop on day one and on day 2 (see Annex 1 invitation list). On day one of the workshop 5 participants who stayed for the entire day were from the UN with 25 coming from I/NGOs, on day two 3 UN participants stayed all day and with 25 from I/NGOs. This highlights ongoing concern that the UN agencies (as agencies and also as cluster leads) are not fully engaged or committed to the needs assessment work. It is also a missed the opportunity for individuals new to the work to learn about the assessment approach as agreed by the LCG-DER. Senior level decision makers from the UN, INGOs and representatives from donor agencies attended the final session where participants shared key workshop findings and recommendations. This high level interest and commitment was welcomed by participants.

12

This included senior level decision making staff from the UN agencies, donors, INGOs and GoB. The UN Resident Coordinator participated in this session. 13

GoB participation was limited due to unexpected and significant changes to the newly formed Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief which took place in the days before the workshop.


2.4 Workshop Outputs, Lessons Learned and Recommendations

Assessments in initial days and initial weeks after a disaster: What we agree on

The appropriate time for a JNA is (usually) in the initial days and weeks after a disaster. When we refer to a joint needs assessment (JNA), we mean an assessment that has the buy-in and ownership of multiple stakeholders across multiple sectors. Globally there is general recognition that existing approaches to assessments in the initial stages or phases of a disaster do not provide a coherent picture of humanitarian needs. Because of this, needs assessment are considered to be one of the outstanding challenges to responding to disasters. Globally there is also agreement that good assessment practice in the initial days and weeks after a disaster involves working on processes that are multi-sector, inter-agency, timely and of improved quality. Learning from global experience in joint and coordinated processes on needs assessments reveals:

• They are important in achieving a timely and appropriate response. • Coordination in the assessment phase can facilitate better coordination in response. • Assessments remain highly political, competitive and difficult processes as agencies

continue to see information on the impact of a disaster as something to be “owned” in order to leverage resources and influence rather than as something to be shared.

• In most cases, the key challenge is not collecting data from the field, but achieving a joint analysis of the situation that draws on secondary data as well as in-disaster information.

• Because a joint assessment is a complex process, involving a range of activities and different stakeholders, advance preparedness in “peace time”14 is critical to achieve quality and timely program responses.

Know what you need to know: As a group of organizations we cannot expend time and resources on assessments just to achieve a good report; assessments need to be linked to decisions that will be made in the initial days and weeks after a disaster. The design of the assessment needs to be in consultation with those who will be making these decisions and needs to consider the key decisions that need to be made in the initial days and weeks of a disaster and the information needed to inform them. Generally, these decisions are general rather than specific and they are about defining an overall strategy rather than a detailed programmatic response. The assessment should aim to answer the following questions:

- Who are the most affected? - Where are the most affected areas? - What are the most affected sectors? - What to do next? (i.e. is there a need to respond? What will be the scale of the

response?)

14

In Bangladesh the period in between responding to disasters is referred to as “peace time”.

“As a group of organizations we

cannot expend time and resources on

assessments just to achieve a good

report; assessments need to be linked

to decisions that will be made in the

initial days and weeks after a

disaster.” Extract from this report


Given that the initial decisions will be strategic ones, the time available (a few days in phase 1 and a few weeks in phase 2) defines reasonable expectations for JNA. This should include:

• Approximations of the number of people affected in specific ways and in need of different kinds of humanitarian assistance (e.g. in need of drinking water, without shelter, facing food insecurity, unable to attend school…)

• Comparisons across different geographic areas, different livelihood groups, different sectors

• Predictions about how the situation is likely to unfold based on existing knowledge of prevailing environmental conditions and past experience

• Community level information (household and individual level information is not realistically possible and should not be attempted)

• Inclusion of existing knowledge • Identifying how conditions for the affected people have changed as a result of the

disaster What we cannot reasonably expect a JNA that takes place in the initial days and weeks after a disaster is:

• To give exact numbers and percentages • To give precise sector specific detail, especially of damages • To be a household level survey • To present a representative, random sample that can be statistically generalized to the

entire affected population Detail: in the initial days and weeks after a disaster it is better to be approximately right with the facts and detail than to be precisely wrong. There is often the idea that an assessment equals going to the field and brining back as much data as possible. A more useful way of conceptualizing the idea of an assessment is the use of a range of information sources in order to achieve a holistic overview of the situation. Rather than a process designed to achieve a complete report, it is more about an ongoing process of updating information as new knowledge and understanding of the situation comes to hand and making this available as widely and as quickly as possible. The assessment approach for Bangladesh that has been agreed by the LCG-DER is based a set of agreed principles and on three key components:

• Utilizing secondary data from both pre-disaster information and in-disaster information • Collecting an appropriate amount of primary data from local authorities and a

community level assessment • Carrying out analysis jointly (i.e. with a group representing different stakeholders and

different sectors) to arrive at a shared operation understanding.


Agreed Principles of the Bangladesh Assessment Approach

• Government has the ultimate responsibility for needs assessment • Commitment to a common approach to assessments • Utilise a phased approach to assessments • Accountability to the affected population • Speed: right information at the right time • Avoid „assessment fatigue‟ for local government and communities • Objective and impartial analysis focused on needs • Ensure gender, age, disability are considered • Transparency • Quick and effective communication and sharing of information • Be as ready as we can now; plan for even better assessments in future

In diagrammatic form, the agreed assessment approach for Bangladesh looks like this:

The analysis part of an assessment is the most important but is also often the most rushed the part that receives the least resources and attention and the part for which we have the least guidance. Joint analysis implies coming to a shared understanding of:

What is likely to happen?

What are the implications?

What needs to be done? Analysis requires comparison:

Between regions (different locations within the affected area)

Between sectors (which needs are the most urgent? Which will likely become a priority soon?)

Between different groups (e.g. displaced and non-displaced, livelihood groups, vulnerable sections of the community)

Over time (how are things evolving)

With what we knew about the situation before the disaster.

DisasterFirst 3 days

First 2 weeks

Second 2 weeks

Onwards

1 32 40Prepare-

dness

Preliminary Scenario Definition

Secondary information

Joint Assessment Report

Single cluster/sectorin depth Assessment

Phase 1 & 2 Assessment for Bangladesh

+

Initial qualitative information

Compiled SOS Form

Community Level Assessment

Compiled SOS Form


As the following diagram shows:

1 32

Summarize Compare Interpret

Analysis of information

What is important

Why is it important

Identification of

Each assessment for each disaster event needs clear and specific objectives. So whilst the over-arching goal of an assessment is to arrive at a shared understanding of the impact of a disaster, within that stakeholder should, at the start of each assessment be very clear about what they want to know and why. This is true for the overall assessment (including the secondary data15) as well as the community level primary data collection. The assessment objectives will relate closely to what is not known about the situation. Finally, JNA is about achieving a shared operational picture, a shared understanding of the situation in the aftermath of a disaster. The aim is to achieve an understanding that all stakeholders can buy into and agree on. This does not necessarily imply the need for equal participation. Different actors can contribute different strengths and different capacities; some have a field presence that can support primary data collection, some have relationships with the government authorities to support the rapid sharing of information, some have research ability to carry out a compilation of secondary data, some have technical capacity for data processing and some for analysis and interpretation, some for report writing. While equal participation may not be required, joint ownership is essential for the assessment findings to be useful to all. This means that all stakeholders must understand the assessment approach and have consistent expectations on what the assessment will achieve.

15

See www.acaps.org for examples of how secondary data has been used to develop Disaster Needs Analysis (DNA) of disasters.

http://www.acaps.org/


Lessons Learned and Recommendations The key positive lesson from the workshop: “We have developed tools and methodologies for JNA. We have used them. They work.”

Planning and Preparation

Lesson Recommendation

The JNA methodology needs to be clearly defined and consistently understood by all parties involved to ensure successful implementation

Greater clarification of the methodology should be made available to all stakeholders. A more detailed documentation of the methodologies for phase 1 and phase 2. At each implementation the methodology needs to be clearly greed and specified.

Clear communication is important Decisions of the HCTT related to assessments should be expressed clearly and communicated in a timely way. Communication channels need to be enhanced so that all relevant stakeholders have access to this information and have consistent expectations.

Clear delegation of roles and responsibilities is important and is not yet in place

Roles and responsibilities need to be agreed on and documented, disseminated and made accessible to all. This should include the general roles and responsibilities of key entities including the HCTT, NAWG, Cluster Leads, Cluster Members, INGO representatives in relation to assessments as well as the specific roles and responsibilities that need to be agreed at the start of each new assessment including who will lead, who will coordinate in the field, who will provide secondary data, whole will be involved in analysis, who will write the report etc.

Participating stakeholders, and particularly lead stakeholders, need to be prepared and skilled in order to facilitate and conduct an effective JNA

Build a pool of people trained, prepared and ready to lead or participate in a JNA. Ensure the training and capacity building is available. Stakeholders need to be accountable to this, if they put forward staff for training and to be part of a pool they need to ensure they will be sufficiently available at the time of assessment.

A good quality translation into Bangla of all key JNA materials is necessary for accurate and consistent data collection and understanding of the process and objectives.

Time and resources are allocated to prepare appropriate translations of all materials in advance. Translation needs to be overseen by someone familiar with the assessment process.


Field enumerators not always participating in orientation sessions leads to inappropriate and poor quality data collection.

All participating stakeholders must be accountable and responsible to send field enumerators to orientation sessions. This needs to be clearly communicated to them.

A dissemination strategy for the assessment results that has been identified during the planning stage will speed up the sharing of information and promote ownership and inclusion by all stakeholders.

Dissemination strategy should be agreed and made clear during the planning stage. This should include local authorities, LCG-DER, partner NGOs, INGOs, UN agencies, assessment teams, and affected populations.

Field work and data entry

Assessment trigger has been defined for an initial days/phase 1 assessment. This needs greater clarity and institutionalization in order to rapidly mobilize the assessment.

Develop a decision framework at HCTT level to define the objectives and methodology of the assessment. Consider other elements to the “trigger mechanism” relating to the size and scale of the disaster and a more flexible approach to initial assessment.

Lack of clarity of the objectives among assessment teams results in confusion and inconsistency of field data. It also results in collecting information that will not be used in analysis.

Objectives need to be defined for each assessment and explained to the assessment teams. In-build a step to the assessment SOPs that ensures clear and specific objectives will be set for each assessment.

Assessment formats/questionnaires should be clearer and appropriate so that assessment teams collect and capture accurate information.

Review assessment format and invest more resources and time in translation.

Interaction and communication with local authority was efficient and positive but it could benefit from being institutionalized from central level to the field.

Ensure official communication with local authorities about objective and responsibility of HCTT and assessment where possible. Discuss with central government counterpart on HCTT options for streamlining this.

Training on JNA of those involved in data collection was useful and would benefit from being enhanced (CGD,DO, KII).

Create capacity building opportunities for government officials and field I/NGO partners on data collection techniques including Community Group Discussion, Key Informant Interviews and Direct Observation. Focus on vulnerable districts. Developing a data base of those trained in JNA for involvement in future disasters.

Data processing using excel is working well as the platform is simple to use and accessible to everyone and the process of field level data entry is fast enough. We know that the skills exist, however there is a limited group of people who have been involved in

Build on existing format to attain a better tool that needs only light adaption to each disaster. Build a pool of people ready to be involved in the data processing.


the data processing and this limits the work. Seek technical guidance on information management aspects of the assessment work from OCHA ROAP.

Analysis, interpretation and dissemination of findings

Capacity and experience to carry out JNA need to be embedded more broadly (involving more stakeholders including cluster leads) and more deeply (developing greater skill levels within agencies/organizations). We have some skilled and experienced people who made this approach work – we need more

Identify resource pool for specific tasks.

The respective agencies/organizations need to institutionalize capacity and experience. Clarity in representational roles needs to be understood by all staff fulfilling the role (e.g. if you are asked to represent your cluster in the joint analysis, what does this mean?)

Ensure that the capacity-building undertaken is a continuous process of learning, improving, and undertaking.

Ensure continuity of improvement and development of capacity building.

Ensure a thorough link between the assessment and the decision-making

Prior networking and mapping at national and local level helps to ensure effective and timely assessments because it ensures relationships and understandings are in place beforehand.

Socialization of JNA approach at national and local level including mapping and networking with contributing agencies. Outlining specifically which stakeholder have put themselves forward for which parts of the assessment process will streamline the division of roles and responsibilities in a real-time assessment.

Clear decision making and communication processes (regarding triggers, objectives, phase, timings, roles, etc.) helps to match the analysis with the stated objectives.

Define and agree process beforehand; Design and agree a communication tree and update SOPs.

Sharing and feedback process, as relevant to the assessment phase, with all levels is necessary to help ensure accountability, accuracy and ownership.

Update guidelines to include concise step-by-step process of sharing and feedback mechanism.

Roles, capacities, responsibilities of the lead and contributing agencies should be defined including time-lines and milestones in order to ensure accountability and meet agreed expectations.

Prepare standing ToR and checklists for agreeing assessment process. Ensure these are detailed enough to give guidance for participating agencies on what is expected.

Although the approach has been endorsed at a high level, at an operational level there is still a fragile understanding of what it implies and there is a need for strengthening the institutional arrangements that support it,

INGOs should ensure that the Emergency Sub-group is working effectively and ensure clear communications on JNA and regular feedback to INGO Forum


including the HCTT, the INGO Emergency Sub-Group and the Needs Assessment Working Group.

HCTT member agencies should ensure all staff representing at HCTT are fully briefed and updated on JNA and related responsibilities.

NAWG needs to be strengthened to enable effective and strong technical functioning. Agreed membership of key technical people, stronger linkage to HCTT, including recognition by HCTT members at all levels are fully briefed.

We have proof-of-concept that joint needs analysis works.

Let‟s take it forward together!

3. Conclusion and next steps

By their nature, Lessons Learned workshops often focus on “what went badly” and how this can be addressed more than “what went well” and how this can be strengthened. The workshop lessons and recommendations discussed here focused on many of the negative features of the assessment work because of stakeholders desire to improve. Several key positive aspects of the assessment should also be noted:

The assessment work in Bangladesh, particularly the phase 1/initial days assessment in June/July was very positively received by assessment experts at the global level because of its timeliness, quality and extent of collaboration.

Key features of a JNA that are constantly difficult to achieve such as multi-stakeholder buy-in and participation and a degree of joint analysis have been achieved.

The practical experience of “learning by doing” has accelerated the progress on JNA in Bangladesh far beyond a gradual discussion/work-shopping on assessment preparedness.

The next steps identified include: stakeholders to modify the existing assessment work plan to ensure the recommendations presented here are addressed. This will include identifying a timeline and appropriate resources. The Co-chair of the LCG-DER (The UN Resident Coordinator) expressed the ongoing interest and commitment of the group to see the work on JNA continue under the HCTT and also clarified the option of the work being shared as needed with the DER.

For further information please contact: ACAPS: Sandie Walton-Ellery, Joint Needs Assessment focal point in Bangladesh [email protected] ECB PROJECT: Md. Harun Or Rashid, ECB Project Manager [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]


Appendix 1 Invitation List Joint Needs Assessment Lesson Learned Event for the HCTT Bangladesh

17th

October, 2012

Name Designation Organization

Mohammad Abdul Qayyum National Project Director CDMP

Ahsan Zakir Additional Secretary Former DG DMB

Ally Raza Qureshi Deputy Country Director WFP

Sajit Menon Acting Representative Shelter IFRC

Khaled Masud Programme Manager IFRC

Swarna Kazi (GFDRR) Bangladesh Focal Point

World bank

Puji Pujiono Project Manager CDMP

Helen Bryer Disaster Management Advisor

DFID

Olivier Brouant ECHO

David Hill

Head of Office ECHO

Mr. Mozahar I. Khan UNFPA

Pia Paguio

Senior Protection Officer

UNHCR

Mohammad Shahriar Islam Programme Officer AUSAID

Amanda Jennings AusAID

Farid Hasan Ahmed SDC

Ms. Janet Durno

Country Director CIDA

Ms. Karin Rohlin Country Director SIDA

Daniel Klasander SIDA

Shahnaz Zakaria USAID

Mr. Alamgir Hossain Climate Change Specialist

USAID

Saidur Rahman Director BDPC

Mohammad Obaidur Rahman Country Director Muslim Aid

Hasina Inam Country Director DCA

Sajjad Mohammad Sajid CD Christian Aid

Damien Joud Coordinator ACF

Nirjharinee Hasan CD Help Age

Farah Kabir CD Action Aid

Neal Walker UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative

RCO & UNDP

Stefan Priesner Country Director UNDP

Arthur Erken Representative UNFPA

Pascal Villeneuve Representative UNICEF

Christa Räder Representative WFP

Dominique Burgeon Representative FAO

Andre Bogui Country Director ILO


Sarat Das Chief of Mission IOM

Leo Kenny Country Coordinator UNAIDS

Kiichi Oyasu OIC UNESCO

Craig Sanders Representative UNHCR

Kazi Ali Reza Officer-in-Charge UNIC

Dr. Thushara Fernando Representative WHO

Santosh Dhungana Security Advisor UNDSS

Naheed Ahmed National Programme Manager

UN Women

SesheeniSelvaratnam Programme Officer UNV

GM HashibulAlam Country Programme Officer

IFAD

ZakiUz Zaman Head of UNIDO Operations

UNIDO

Documents

Bangladesh, joint, needs, assessment, JNA, lessons ... · The key positive features of the joint needs assessment work in Bangladesh: Tools and processes that are piloted in the field