The consortium
ACAPS was established in 2009 by a consortium of three international NGOs:
The consortium members have a strong field presence in major emergency settings and extensive experience in humanitarian assessments, emergency response and operational learning. They support the ACAPS project with their expertise in developing and delivering training, roster development and management, coordinated multi-agency and multi-sector assessments and targeted support to vulnerable groups.
Committed to the humanitarian reform agenda, the consortium will ensure the project remains practical and results-focused.
The partners
ACAPS believes in partnership and knowledge sharing to strengthen needs assessments capacities. Collaboration with leading research centres on humanitarian issues and other organisations involved in assessments provides the project with technical expertise to further develop and implement better multi-sector needs assessments. In addition partners support with operational learning which identifies and applies good-practice and innovative approaches to needs assessments. In order to continually improve ACAPS' approaches, regular consultations with a wide array of stakeholders such as UN agencies, Cluster representatives, international NGOs, regional bodies and academic institutions take place to share experiences and ensure complementarity with other ongoing initiatives.
ACAPS collaborates with the following partners
CaLP
The Cash Learning Partnership (CaLP) collaborates with ACAPS on the Disaster Needs Analysis by providing information on cash transfer mechanisms of the country in question to support decision making and response planning.
The Cash Learning Partnership aims to improve the quality of emergency cash transfer and voucher programming across the humanitarian sector. CaLP is composed by five organisations: Oxfam GB, the British Red Cross, Save the Children, the Norwegian Refugee Council and Action Against Hunger / ACF International.
CartONG
The cooperation between ACAPS and CartONG specifically focuses on a review related to the use of mobile device collection system within the framework of the NOMAD project.
CartONG is a French NGO whose mission is to promote the use of the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and provide mapping services as well as information management for humanitarian organizations with special focus on Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons.
Columbia University
Columbia University provides technical advice and expertise to different activities of ACAPS, mainly methodology development and training materials for coordinated needs assessments.
Columbia University is one of the world's most important centers of research. It seeks to attract a diverse and international faculty and student body, to support research and teaching on global issues, and to create academic relationships with many countries and regions.
ECB
The Emergency Capacity Building Project (ECB) and ACAPS support and strengthen the capacity of national actors to carry out joint needs assessments. They are collaborating on joints needs assessments in Bangladesh, Bolivia, Indonesia and Horn of Africa.
The Emergency Capacity Building Project is an interagency consortium of INGOs whose mission is to improve the speed, quality, and effectiveness of the humanitarian community in saving lives, improving welfare, and protecting the rights of people in emergency situations.
iMMAP
iMMAP and ACAPS are collaborating on improving the mapping of affected population needs at the early stage of a disaster. Through a review of existing maps, best practices will be identified and guidance will be provided on how best can crisis situation be represented for phase 1 and 2 of disasters.
iMMAP is a non-for-profit organisation that promotes, develops and implements good practices in the application of Information Management tools and methodologies to humanitarian operations.
infoasaid
infoasaid and ACAPS initiated a new collaboration in November 2011 with the Disaster Needs Analysis (DNA) on Niger. Both projects will continue to work together by ensuring that the future DNAs contain a specific section on the media and telecommunications landscapes of the country in question to support decision making and response planning.
infoasaid is a DFID funded consortium of the BBC World Service Trust and Internews that focuses on improving how aid agencies communicate with disaster affected communities. Among other tools for humanitarian agencies, infoasaid is producing over 20 media and telecommunications landscape guides to developing countries that are vulnerable to humanitarian crises.
JIPS
JIPS (Joint IDP Profiling Service) and ACAPS are jointly developing an accessible resource facility for profiling and assessments activities. The PARK (Profiling and Assessment Resource Kit) is an online repository for different methodologies and tools used to plan and implement profiling exercises by a range of actors. The PARK was launched in February 2012.
JIPS is a service providing guidance on IDP profiling, supporting field/country teams to undertake appropriate methodologies and advising how to operationalise profiling exercises.
Karolinska Institutet
ACAPS collaborates with the Karolinska Institutet on developing training materials for coordinated needs assessments and on exploring new methodologies such as use of data from cell phone providers to track population movements.
Karolinska Institutet is one of the world´s leading medical universities. Its mission is to contribute to the improvement of human health through research and education.
MapAction
ACAPS and MapAction started to collaborate in October 2011 with the Disaster Needs Analysis of DPRK. In addition to providing maps for future DNAs, MapAction will work together with ACAPS on needs assessments training.
MapAction is an international NGO whose mission is to assist responders to humanitarian emergencies by providing mapped information and other services that enable rapid situational assessment and decision making.
Feinstein International Center at Tufts University
The Feinstein International Center is supporting the operational learning activities of ACAPS in order to get a better understanding of the challenges related to assessment. ACAPS and the Feinstein International Center also collaborate on the needs assessment training courses.
The Feinstein International Center develops and promotes operational and policy responses to protect and strengthen the lives and livelihoods of people living in crisis-affected and marginalized communities.
