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Basic Needs Assessment and Response Analysis Framework & Toolkit

Pays
Nigéria
Sources
CALP Network
+ 4
Date de publication

OVERVIEW OF THE TOOL

The Basic Needs and Response Analysis Framework and Toolkit (known as the Framework & Toolkit) is part of the ECHO ERC funded project to increase the uptake of multi-purpose cash grants (MPGs) in emergency responses for more efficient and effective humanitarian action. MPGs are a powerful aid modality because of their efficiency and effectiveness. They can be combined with other assistance modalities to maximize the benefit for affected communities.

Although the Framework & Toolkit initiative sits within an MPG-focused Consortium, the outputs aim to support emergency responses more broadly. Specifically, the Framework and Toolkit enables humanitarian actors to assess the basic needs of affected communities and to make preliminary recommendations around the most appropriate response options, according to beneficiaries’ preferences and access to commodities and services. These preliminary options, validated by collecting complementary information through other assessments, may include cash transfer/vouchers, in-kind aid, services or a mix of those.

WHY A NEW TOOL?

There is currently no agreed-upon methodology that allows humanitarian actors to jointly assess, compare/analyse delivery modality options and select the best (combination) of these, based on the affected communities’ perspective. The MIRA is a multi-sectoral needs assessment tool but it does not factor in the possibility of cash transfers (CT) as a response option, alone or in combination with other modalities. This is a major impediment to designing CT programmes that are integrated into broader responses.

In addition, many tools supporting CT programming are used by multiple organisations, but thus far they have not been systematically adapted for inter-agency, multi-sector, and multipurpose use. More importantly, no tools exist to inform mixed-modalities emergency responses (i.e. in-kind with cash and/or other inputs), which may be more relevant than single-modality responses.

Finally, “basic needs” encompasses both food and non-food needs; therefore, the scope of a basic needs Framework and Toolkit is broader than what is generally covered by the Food Security (and Livelihoods) clusters/sectors.

The Framework & Toolkit will attempt to fill these gaps, and when used as a compliment to existing tools such as the MIRA, will allow actors to draw on both the opinions of the affected communities and functioning and accessibility of markets. It ultimately attempts to address the demand from the World Humanitarian Summit, the Grand Bargain and humanitarian across to improve evidence-based decision making; this includes the crucial stage of response analysis.

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs: To learn more about OCHA's activities, please visit https://www.unocha.org/.