Managing data in an emergency - the first evaluation of Humanitarian
Information Centres
DFID and USAID (United States Agency for International Development)
commissioned a joint evaluation of OCHA's (the UN Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs) Humanitarian Information Centres (HICs) in Iraq,
Afghanistan and Liberia.
Humanitarian Information Centres are set up in
emergencies to help coordinate information within the humanitarian community.
The evaluation - the first of it's kind - has just been completed. It assessed
the performance and impact of the HICs to date, and put forward recommendations
for improvements.
A key finding is that the HICs have generally had a positive impact in their
regions. But their contribution to the creation of a common information
management framework has been limited. An NGO in Afghanistan described the
problem: "Gathering data in an emergency is difficult. We have gone from
300 NGOs to over 2000. Everybody underestimated the challenges to
collection."
A key recommendation of the evaluation is to set up an advisory board to
promote transparent management of HICs in the field, and to provide strategic direction.
The evaluation also raises significant questions about the future development of
HICs. DFID is responding by working closely with  USAID
and OCHA
to take forward the recommendations.
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