Inter-Agency Real Time Evaluation of the Humanitarian ... - alnap

IA RTE of the humanitarian response to Pakistan’s 2010 Floods crisis
44. At the cluster level, organisations (e.g. WFP, WHO and UNICEF) carried out assessments
related to joint operational frameworks (e.g. the survival strategy). The nutrition cluster
succeeded in combining response with assessments (“active case finding” methodology)
enabling the cluster partners to identify immediate needs and take proper action. These are
examples of cluster‐wide assessments that paved the way for what are considered to be positive
responses (see part 6 ‘Response’). They are nonetheless exceptions, as most assessments were
carried out based on single agency operational needs and programming requirements.
45. For different reasons and purposes, INGOs and most UN agencies have carried out
numerous single agency needs assessments. The
main reason being the need to have data that is
strictly relevant for organisations’ response
planning, while others mentioned that data was not
disaggregated which limits its usefulness in planning
local‐level response activities and that joint
assessments took too long to be carried out; once
the results from assessments were ready, the
situation on the ground had already changed. Large
movements of populations further challenged
assessments, particularly in the Sindh province. This
was further complicated by the lack of an initial
registration and profiling of the affected population
caseload.
Riccardo Polastro, Aatika Nagrah, Nicolai Steen and Farwa Zafar
We were affected by the floods
but we were not asked about
what our needs were. Some
groups visited, but they met with
the local feudal landowners only.
These people made promises to
provide us with repair support for
homes, food, tents, and took our
land ownership papers and never
came back (Rahm Ali Shah Village,
Kot Addu)
46. While there is an understanding of organisation’s need to have information on needs up
front, there are several drawbacks of single agency assessments, one being that too many of
them are carried out, with the result that affected populations are consulted several times, and
are often left without receiving what is needed or without explanations as to why certain needs
are met while others are not.
47. Furthermore, many of the assessments used different formats, making information
consolidation a challenging and as yet unresolved task. Information sharing was also
problematic, particularly from agencies and INGOs. This prevented humanitarian partners,
especially OCHA, from getting a more nuanced picture of needs across the affected areas and
within each of the clusters. National authorities also complained of the lack of information
sharing, especially at district levels, which prevented them from coordinating efforts more
effectively. A further challenge was that data from Government institutions, such as PDMA and
NDMA or line departments, rarely tallied with those put forward by humanitarian partners,
especially the MCRAM and the DNA. These discrepancies added to the confusion at operational
levels.
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