This report presents the results of an exercise to collect and analyse the humanitarian needs assessment reports conducted in the Central African Republic (CAR) since December 2013. It aims to reinforce humanitarian actors’ understanding of the CAR crisis by: 

• analysing the humanitarian needs assessments landscape;
• identifying the limitations of these assessments; and
• presenting courses of action to reinforce practices and minimise constraints. 

This monitoring needs assessments (MNA) exercise does not cover all the information available and required for an analysis of the crisis. It focuses on the assessment of humanitarian needs over a set period: 1 December 2013 to end June 2014. It therefore does not include assessments made prior to this period, nor works on the CAR and the crisis in the country such as thematic or analytic reports.

A rapid needs assessment was carried out from mid-­‐November to mid-­December 2013 in Dar’a Governorate and covered a population of 692,000 people across 12 of the 17 sub-­districts.

This thematic report provides an overview of available lessons identified from assessments undertaken concerning the humanitarian situation in Syria as well as the situation for Syrian refugees in host-countries. This report is based on conversations with individuals from different organisations working in the region. The document does not intend to provide a comprehensive list of all the issues that should be taken into account while conducting an assessment, but rather provides a starting point for organisations planning an assessment in Syria or the host countries. For more guidance on how to conduct an assessment please see the key resources at the end of this report.

At the beginning of April 2015, ACAPS conducted a phone based, multi-sectoral assessment of KIs in all 15 counties of Liberia. The objective of the assessment was to identify the main problems faced by communities, and how their needs differ from the pre-Ebola situation. The assessment intends to inform the ongoing discussions on early recovery and strategic decision making on sustainable development. 

Import restrictions from the economic crisis that escalated in 2014 are resulting in severe food shortages and escalating malnutrition rates. A recent assessment of 526 children in several states found GAM rates of 8.9% and SAM of 3.2%. Severe medicine shortages combined with poor hospital services facilitate the spread of diseases such as malaria and diphtheria. Maternal mortality increased by 65% between 2015 and 2016 according to some government data. Approximately one million children do not go to school due to insecurity, food shortages in schools, and teachers’ absenteeism. Protection concerns are widespread as Venezuela recorded increasing violence with one of the highest homicide rates in the world in 2016.

The traffic lights diagram above is based on the result of multisectoral priortrisation tool developed by Analysis Hub. The tool uses NPM site assessments Round 12 data from five sectors to priortise needs geographically, at majhee block level. The 32 indicators are selected from the sectors to build up composite index; combine to present basic need gap index at majhee block level. Each indicators are evaluated for their inclusion in the priortrisation tool and selected according to the amount of variation that each indicator revealed. The Bette Verma method is used to calculate the weight of each indicator and multiple deprivation tool is used to calculate the index in STATA. Additional explanation can be found in Rohingya Influx Overview. Camps and sites are tool large and diverse to be effective planning devices. The analysis for basic need gap was done at majhee block level because the majority of differences and variations in needs are between majhee blocks; and camp level analysis can hide the pockets of high need area. To illustrate this, each gap in above diagram is presented at majhee block level. 

This report provides an in-depth analysis of the WASH conditions and needs in the Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar. It presents the WASH Severity Index, which classifies the Rohingya population at camp-level into five groups by level of need: very high severity, high severity, moderate severity, low severity, and very low severity. 
These severity scores were calculated for water, sanitation, and hygiene as well as an overall WASH index. Need is calculated using a combination of indicators from the REACH-UNICEF WASH Household Assessment – Monsoon Follow-up. The Index thus helps to understand where the severity of WASH needs is the highest. The severity index is calculated on the current level of response. There is no “no severity” category as all Rohingya refugees are dependent on aid.
In this report, findings from the REACH-UNICEF survey are contrasted with data from the Needs and Population Monitoring (NPM) survey. A secondary data analysis, interviews with WASH experts, and field visits complement the results.

In the complex environment of an epidemic, capacity to identify humanitarian needs is essential to inform and guide operations. Such capacity was challenged in the three countries most affected by the Ebola crisis, due mainly to problems of access and fear of the disease. 

This report gathers lessons identified from assessments of the humanitarian situation in West Africa during the later stages of the Ebola crisis, between November 2014 and April 2015. It is based on conversations with individuals from different organisations who conducted assessments, as well as on ACAPS experiences of assessments conducted in Sierra Leone and Liberia during the Ebola Needs Analysis Project (ENAP). 

The document provides a starting-point for organisations planning an assessment in this Ebola outbreak or in similar future situations. More general lessons, which have been covered in other publications, are repeated here because experience has indicated they need reinforcing. When considering these lessons, it is important to keep in mind that Liberia and Sierra Leone are developing countries whose public health systems were already weak pre-crisis.  

Heavy rainfall from 23–25 July caused flooding in El Nuhud town, West Kordofan state. An inter-agency rapid assessment concluded on 2 August estimated that more than 23,000 people had been affected in El Nuhud alone. Shelters and WASH infrastructure have been significantly damaged. The ongoing humanitarian response has been insufficient to meet the needs in El Nuhud. At 13 August, at least 4,000 people are reported to remain in need of humanitarian assistance, particularly emergency shelter and WASH assistance. Other areas are affected but beyond the scope of this note.

Since the publication of ACAPS Nigeria Floods Update I Briefing Note on 26 September, rains have continued although Niger and Benue river levels have dropped slightly. As of 26 September the flooding of the Niger and Benue rivers is affecting 826,400 people and displacing 176,300 people across 12 states. Assessments are ongoing, and numbers are likely to increase. Since 26 September, some 200 deaths and 1,035 injuries have been reported. Assessments indicate that around 17,800 homes were damaged or destroyed across all affected states as of late August. Shelter, food, NFIs, and medical assistance continue to be key needs for the affected population. There is no available data from Adamawa and Taraba states.

Heavy rains over 5-8 March caused flooding in the Southern region of Malawi. As of 10 March, at least 14 districts have been impacted, affecting approximately 468,650 people and displacing more than 31,700 people. At least 30 people have been killed and over 370 injured. Assessments are ongoing. On 8 March, the president declared a state of disaster in the areas affected by ongoing rain and flooding. Priority needs are shelter, WASH, food, livelihood and health assistance.

A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck Haiti on 6 October, and was followed by a magnitude 5.2 aftershock on 7 October and a magnitude 4.2 aftershock on 8 October. The departments affected by seismic activity were Artibonite, North and North-West.
So far, 17 people have died and at least 421 have been injured. The earthquakes destroyed 353 houses and damaged 7,430. An estimated 31,132 people were affected, although needs assessments are still being completed.
Considering the presence of UN agencies, the scale of pre-positioned aid and the reported response by the government as well as national and external relief actors, the need for international assistance and the impact are estimated at low to moderate.

The Syria Needs Analysis Project (SNAP) started in December 2012, as a collaborative project between ACAPS and MapAction, aimed at bring together available information on humanitarian needs in the Syria crisis. At the time, information-sharing and publications on the humanitarian situation were extremely limited; in this context, SNAP’s initial goal was to help create a shared situational awareness among humanitarian actors, which in turn would contribute to a better-targeted and more needs-based response and improvements in the situation of crisis-affected populations. Over 2.5 years, SNAP has pursued these goals with a combination of independent information products, technical support and capacity building for humanitarian assessments. At the end of 2014, the project name was changed to Strategic Needs Analysis Project, to reflect the growing need for regional and whole-of-crisis analysis following the declaration of an L3 crisis in Iraq. The project closed at the end of June 2015.

Since the publication of ACAPS Nigeria Floods Briefing Note on 21 September, river levels in most of the 12 affected states remain high due to flooding, which has affected 441,251 people, and displaced 141,369 people between late August and 24 September. A total of 108 deaths and 192 injuries have been reported as of late August. Rainfall is expected to continue for the next week. Rivers and Bayelsa states are estimated to be amongst the worst affected states where water levels continue to rise. Initial assessments indicate that 13,031 homes were damaged or destroyed across all affected states as of late August. Shelter, food, NFIs and medical assistance continue to be key needs for the affected population.

Heavy rainfall since 25 March triggered floods across Herat, Badghis, Faryab, Sari Pul, Jowzjan and Balkh provinces in western and northern Afghanistan affecting 17,000 people. As assessments are ongoing and some of the affected areas are difficult to access, the full impact remains unclear. Available information suggests that vast areas of agricultural land have been damaged, and livestock lost, compounding already high levels of food insecurity in the affected provinces. Shelter needs are likely high as hundreds of houses have been damaged or destroyed. IDPs living in tents and makeshift camps are affected. Afghanistan has been experiencing severe floods since early March, affecting more than 143,000 people across the country.

Heavy rainfall in Bamako on 16 May caused flash floods in all six communes of the city, flooding streets, damaging houses and washing away property. At least 16 people have been killed and several others injured. 10 people are known to have died in Niamakoro district, one of the worst affected areas. According to initial assessments, 101 families (around 575 people) have been affected, with some of them forced from their homes and staying in temporary accommodation. Up to 300 households (around 1,710 people) may have been affected in total. According to the Malian Red Cross, food, medical care and medicine, as well as NFIs are the priority needs.

Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh has been a place of refuge for Rohingyas fleeing violence in Myanmar on numerous occasions since 1978. August 2017 saw the beginning of the largest and most rapid influx of Rohingya refugees, over 730,000 Rohingya, including 400,000 children, fled across the border in response to a genocide.

They joined an estimated 300,000 Rohingya who had already fled violence in previous years, creating the world’s largest refugee camps. As of October 2019, there are 914,998 refugees living in 34 sites in Ukhiya and Teknaf sub-districts of Cox’s Bazar. Of those, 55 to 60% are children, 4% of households are headed by a child, and there is an estimated 11% of people with disabilities. 

This document collates and analyses publicly available secondary information focusing on children and youth since the influx of Rohingya Refugees at the latter end of 2017 favouring the most recent reports. Over 35 documents and assessments have been reviewed and data from the MSNA and the NPM where relevant have also been included. Technical advisors from Save the Children reviewed the document and contributed to the identification of information gaps.

The aim of the document is to give an overview of children’s needs both inside and outside the camps and identify child related information gaps. The desk review will then be used as a basis to guide the design and methodology of the primary data collection of a children’s consultation led by Save the Children.