Iasc cluster approach evaluation, 2nd phase april 2010

Executive Summary
Introduction
Method
Background
Findings
Conclusions
Recommendations

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50
Clusters help disseminate 
results… 
… but duplications and 
quality problems remain.
Joint assessments  
and their problems
74
   Clusters facilitate the sharing of assessment results, but do not use their potential to improve 
assessment methods through learning and are not effective enough at avoiding duplications.
75
   Clusters in all case study countries were used to disseminate the results of individual 
needs assessments and thus informed humanitarian actors better about the situation. 
76
   However,  duplications  and  quality  problems  in  needs  assessments  persisted. 
Affected populations, for example in Myanmar and Uganda, confirmed that they 
were repeatedly asked the same or very similar questions by several different actors. 
Moreover,  needs  assessments  very  rarely  contained  sex  and  age  disaggregated 
data. Reasons for this include:
 
•   
Many humanitarian actors have strong internal policies on needs assessments 
that are difficult to change through coordination.
 
•   
Needs  assessments  are  crucial  for  fundraising  and  as  an  entry  point  for 
organizations  to  specific  areas  and  populations.  Organizations  there  have 
strong incentives for keeping individual needs assessments. 
 
•   
In most cases, clusters do not focus on activities related to needs assessments.
77
   While clusters currently rarely exercise this role, they have a clear potential to 
improve  the  quality  of  needs  assessment  through  peer  review  mechanisms.  In 
DRC the Nutrition Cluster established a data quality management group to ensure 
that assessment results are credible. In Myanmar clusters supported a joint needs 
assessment by designing indicators and questionnaires, as well as validating data 
analysis. 
78
   Furthermore,  the  evaluation  team  identified  examples  of  increased  use  of 
joint  assessments.  This  includes  a  growing  number  of  UN  inter-agency  needs 
assessments,  for  example  in  DRC,  Chad  and  Myanmar.  While  some  of  these 
assessments  have  been  described  as  successful,  others  are  problematic  because 
they  imply  the  arrival  of  large  groups  of  assessors,  accompanied  by  heavy 
military escorts where the security situation requires for UN agencies, which can 
overwhelm or intimidate the affected population.
50
 
 
50   Another example is the Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit for Somalia (FSNAU). It combines 
evidence- and expert-based approaches and relies on field-generated data, multi-year comparisons and peer 
review. Almost all humanitarian actors and donors active in Somalia rely on the information generated by 
FSNAU.