The course is primarily designed for Assessment Coordinators and Information Analysts’ profiles. Those profiles are tasked with leading or supporting Emergency Needs Assessments and are involved in their design, either from a technical perspective (sampling, questionnaire, analysis frameworks, etc.) or from a coordination perspective (collaboration, resources, competencies, assessments strategy, etc.). Those profiles need to be aware of their options for ensuring timely, useful and quality results. Both profiles also have representative roles outside of the assessment team with other humanitarian actors and need to be aware of existing assessment approaches and methodologies outside RCRC movement to avoid duplication. The participants in the training should function in a role where they are deployed to support ENAs and where it is required to collate information from different sources, prioritize needs, and recommend resource allocation and program strategies. No statistical degree or expertise is required to participate in the course.

The training aims to introduce and equip Assessment Coordinators and Information Analysts with the necessary frameworks, skills, and knowledge to carefully and successfully design and implement Emergency Needs Assessments and deliver high-quality end products usable for planning and strategic decision-making. During the training, participants will be exposed to several case studies typical of the diversity of constraints normally faced during operations and each requiring specific design choices or strategies to mitigate negative impacts on final products.

By the end of the course, participants should be able to:

• Support NS and participate in the design, planning, and implementation of all steps of Emergency Needs Assessment, linking with planning and action plans, within and across IFRC,from design to end-product.

• Support and participate in other joint (humanitarian organizations/agencies and sector/clusters) assessment processes.

• Recognize and select amongst a range of strategies, resources and techniques to design and implement quality needs assessment including gender/risk-informed that fit the requirements of speed, cost and scope.

• Assess the quality of assessments and their relevance for strategic decision-making in emergencies.

• Reflect on their individual skills and competencies and know how to improve their knowledge and best contribute to ENA processes.

The methodology of the training will include:
• Pre-training online sessions;
• Lectures and Presentations in plenary;
• Participatory approaches using facilitated discussions;
• Group work, desktop and discussion-based exercises;
• Scenario-based simulations to allow for practical application of information and concepts presented;
• Roleplay;
• Practical work on different scenario-based practical’s.

In emergencies, where a National Society (NS) delivers aid to hundreds of thousands of people, needs assessments are critical in defining the emergency plan of action of any intervention. Although some NSs have improved data collection and introduced new technologies to conduct emergency need assessments during the last few years, there is often a delay in the development of the operationa strategy and in the decision-making process to respond to the needs of the affected population. There is strong consensus that IFRC and NSs’ key strength in Emergency Needs Assessments (ENA) is their proximity and access to affected populations and locations. NSs are well-positioned to provide reliable primary data to the humanitarian community. However, there are still gaps regarding our ability to systematically collect, manage and analyze secondary and primary data and document the evidence that informs our collective decision-making process and key planning outputs.

The revised approach for Assessment and Planning in Emergencies capitalizes on existing strengths and increases the use and analysis of primary and secondary data while aligning with the humanitarian landscape. It also recognizes the need to increase our collective competencies in assessment and planning in emergencies, looking at multi- and inter-sectoral dimensions, with a recovery lens to better respond to the needs of affected communities in their early recovery process.

Complementing the key resources that IFRC has developed over the last 10 years such as ENA guidelines or training, this approach aims to:

• Suggest a timeline and framework guide the assessment and planning process

• Strengthen the analytical process while aligning our current practice with the existing trends

• Provide a competency framework to support assessment competency development, recruitment, learning and appraisal of assessment team members.

This approach will also enhance IFRC surge capacity to support National Societies for the assessment design and planning in case of large-scale disasters and crises (orange and red emergencies) or on request of NS for smaller-scale disasters (yellow emergencies).