Workstream 5 (Improve joint and impartial needs assessments): November 2019 update

Published Date

The development of a Joint Intersectoral Analysis Framework (JIAF) is one of the key activities of the Grand Bargain on Needs Assessments (GBNA). The JIAF aims at contributing to the achievement of several of the GBNA commitments, particularly the commitment of conducting a holistic and intersectoral analysis of people’s needs, the causes of these needs and their severity, vulnerability, capacities and risks. The successful development of the framework is expected to lead to better prioritization and quality improvements of the Humanitarian Needs Overviews and Humanitarian Response Plans across sectors.

The JIAF methodology is being developed by an inter-agency Joint Intersectoral Analysis Group (JIAG). A JIAF Steering Committee was established to accelerate progress on the development the Framework by providing strategic guidance to the JIAG and endorsing outputs. A Concept Note for the JIAF covering the period 2020-2022 was also drafted to agree on the next steps and mobilise the necessary resources. Beyond the analysis framework, the JIAG aims to develop the tools, methods, and training material that will allow the framework to be systematically applied, collectively, in humanitarian crises.

Increasing NGO involvement in the Grand Bargain on Needs Assessments was identified during the Annual Meeting in June 2019 as a key area for progress acceleration. To this end, Save the Children, InterAction and OCHA conducted a workshop in early October aimed at enabling senior technical and humanitarian experts from NGOs to review the work of the GBNA to date, and its application through the enhanced Humanitarian Programme Cycle (HPC). The workshop engaged NGO experts in identifying barriers and opportunities to directly share the rollout of these new tools and approaches in field-level operations.   Emphasis was also placed on community engagement and gender mainstreaming within the GBNA and HPC, including specific entry points for NGOs to ensure affected populations’ participation in needs and response analyses and adequate consideration of gender issues.