1. Role of assessment in an emergency
The role of assessment in an emergency is a critical and ongoing step in determining humanitarian needs and meeting obligations to humanitarian principles. Assessments are used to make decisions and help to identify the most appropriate response to an emergency and what value CARE can add to an emergency response. Through assessments, humanitarian organisations gain accurate data about the needs and operating context. They engage with local communities and other humanitarian actors in the affected area. Assessment is a critical step in programme planning (Sphere definition).
| Position | Key responsibilities |
|
Assessment Team Leader
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Lead assessment team including planning, team management, external and internal representation, liaison with CARE stakeholders, overall responsibility for compiling and drafting assessment report and, if directed, may be involved in communicating results. |
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Assessment team members
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Carry out assessment within area of expertise, provide all required reporting inputs to the assessment team and contribute to overall assessment objectives. |
| Administration and logistics support units | Provide all necessary support required by the assessment team (funds, communications, logistics and administrative). |
| Assistant Country Director/Programme Country Director | Provide updated situational analysis, partnership possibilities and staff capacity information to the assessment team. Approve deployment of field assessment. Ensure the CO provides all necessary support to the assessment team, especially safety and security in the field. Approve the assessment draft report before it is shared with stakeholders and follow up recommendations. |
| CI Head of Emergency Operations | Coordinate CARE International Members support to the assessment team |
| Crisis Coordination Group | Make decisions on basis of assessment recommendations and support their implementation. |
| Security Officer/CI Safety and Security Unit | Provide security clearance before deploying a team to the field. The locally based security officer should always be involved in the decision to deploy a team, and ideally accompany the team to the field. In high-risk or non-presence situations, it the CI SSU Director will accompany the team. |
The role of the assessment team is to capture critical information to help understand the current humanitarian situation, identify needs as perceived by the affected population (and other key stakeholders) and recommend the most feasible response options.
The assessment team, led by the Team Leader, is responsible for all phases of the assessment, including planning, fieldwork, analysis and reporting. They must be able to quickly identify, assess and communicate the situation to CO senior management to determine whether and how CARE should respond to an emergency.
See section 8 for guidance of team composition and Annex 4.1 Assessment Team Leader TOR.
