HSP Navigation tool | Mapped theme: Assessment

Summary of theme

Assessment – “the process of establishing the impact of a crisis on a society, including needs, risks, capacities and solutions” (Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action Glossary) – is typically the first phase in the humanitarian response cycle.

All humanitarian standards emphasise that, to ensure continued relevance, assessment must be a continuous process, informing not only the initial design and planning of a response, but ongoing adaptation. They also stress the importance of coordination between response actors to avoid assessment fatigue among affected populations and to support a coherent and efficient humanitarian response.

The most important part of the assessment process is the inclusive participation of local communities, to ensure that the process and the response it informs focus on what people actually need and build on existing local capacities.

Source: https://www.humanitarianresponse.info/en/programme-cycle/space

Assessment in the foundational texts

Humanitarian Charter

Our commitment:

Paragraph 12 includes that “For our part, we undertake to make our responses more effective, appropriate and accountable through sound assessment and monitoring of the evolving local context…”

Protection Principles

Principle 1: Enhance the safety, dignity and rights of people, and avoid exposing them to harm

The guidance notes cover context analysis (including possible questions to ask) and regular risk analysis.

Principle 2: Ensure people’s access to assistance according to need and without discrimination

The guidance notes highlight the need to assess barriers to accessing humanitarian assistance and to freedom of movement.

Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS)

Commitment 1: Humanitarian Response is appropriate and relevant

Performance indicator 2 states that “the assistance and protection provided correspond with assessed risks, vulnerabilities and needs”.
The related key actions describe how best to carry out assessments (and analyse their findings) to inform response. They emphasise the importance of cross-checking and verifying information, and they highlight the need to make strenuous efforts to assess the needs of groups at risk of exclusion, including those in hard-to-reach locations.
The guidance notes draw attention to how human resources and budget management can support effective rapid assessment.

Commitment 3: Humanitarian response strengthens local capacities and avoids negative effects

Key action 3.2 highlights the need to “use the results of any existing community hazard and risk assessments and preparedness plans to guide activities”.

Summary of assessment across the handbooks

	The Minimum Standard for Market Assessment (MISMA) – as its name suggests – is focused on a particular form of assessment (market assessment), and two out of five of its key actions (which are comparable to standards in other HSP documents) are focused on the assessment phase of the humanitarian programme cycle (HPC).
	The Minimum Economic Recovery Standards (MERS) include a set of standards focused on each stage of assessment.
	The Livestock Emergency Guidelines and Standards (LEGS) include a core standard dedicated to assessment.
	The Sphere Handbook’s Shelter and Settlement technical chapter refers to assessments in Standard 1: Planning, while the Minimum Standards for Camp Management (MSCM) refer to this theme in Standard 4.2: Site service assessment, monitoring and reporting and many other standards.
	Assessment has a dedicated section within a standard in each of the following: the Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action (CPMS), the Minimum Standards for Education (INEE), the Humanitarian Inclusion Standards for older people and people with disabilities (HIS), and the Sphere Handbook’s Food Security and Nutrition technical chapter. The CPMS covers how to integrate child protection assessments into broader assessment processes, while the Sphere Handbook’s Food Security and Nutrition chapter includes indicators related to assessments.
	Assessment is integrated into the standards in the Sphere Handbook’s Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion (WASH) and Health technical chapters; sometimes explicitly and sometimes implicitly, but with no standards or sections dedicated to assessment.

	The Minimum Standard for Market Assessment (MISMA) – as its name suggests – is focused on a particular form of assessment (market assessment), and two out of five of its key actions (which are comparable to standards in other HSP documents) are focused on the assessment phase of the humanitarian programme cycle (HPC).
	The Minimum Economic Recovery Standards (MERS) include a set of standards focused on each stage of assessment.
	The Livestock Emergency Guidelines and Standards (LEGS) include a core standard dedicated to assessment.
	The Sphere Handbook’s Shelter and Settlement technical chapter refers to assessments in Standard 1: Planning, while the Minimum Standards for Camp Management (MSCM) refer to this theme in Standard 4.2: Site service assessment, monitoring and reporting and many other standards.
	Assessment has a dedicated section within a standard in each of the following: the Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action (CPMS), the Minimum Standards for Education (INEE), the Humanitarian Inclusion Standards for older people and people with disabilities (HIS), and the Sphere Handbook’s Food Security and Nutrition technical chapter. The CPMS covers how to integrate child protection assessments into broader assessment processes, while the Sphere Handbook’s Food Security and Nutrition chapter includes indicators related to assessments.
	Assessment is integrated into the standards in the Sphere Handbook’s Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion (WASH) and Health technical chapters; sometimes explicitly and sometimes implicitly, but with no standards or sections dedicated to assessment.

Assessment in the handbooks: key points and useful tools

The table below starts with the handbooks and technical chapters with the most content on assessment and continues in descending order.

Handbook	Key reference points	Useful tools
Minimum Standard for Market Analysis (MISMA)	The MISMA draws attention to the different between market analysis and market assessment: assessment refers to the data collection process, while analysis is the process of “understanding the key features and characteristics of a market system based on the data collected during the assessment”. Key actions (KAs) 1 and 3 focus on the assessment process, with KA1 defining the scope and KA3 describing data collection methods. KA2 covers the overall market analysis team. KA4 focuses on the analysis process. KA5 covers the use of market monitoring to review assessment findings and how to use them to inform any necessary programme adaptations.	Annex 1: Market analysis checklist informs the market assessment part of the process Annex 2: Existing market analysis and assessment tools in emergencies
Minimum Economic Recovery Standards (MERS)	The MERS include a specific set of six Assessment and Analysis Standards which covers each stage of the assessment process from preparation through to use of results and the need for ongoing monitoring and evaluation.	Annex A: Market-linked tools and frameworks for assessments – tools include ICRC’s Rapid Assessment for Markets (RAM) and the Emergency Market Mapping & Assessment (EMMA) toolkit
Livestock Emergency Guidelines and Standards (LEGS)	Core standard 4: initial assessment and response identification Chapter 3: Initial assessment and identifying responses covers what information is necessary and how to obtain it. It also offers guidance on methods and approaches, with a focus on participatory methods.	The Assessment questions in Chapter 3 are arranged into three checklists: The role of livestock in livelihoods, The nature and impact of the emergency, and Situation analysis Chapters 4 to 9 include an assessment checklist as their first Appendix: Destocking Veterinary service provision (indicators and methods) Feed provision Rapid water point assessment Livestock shelter and settlement provision Provision of livestock
Minimum Standards for Camp Management (MSCM)	Standard 1.2: Site lifecycle planning refers to the need for site management action plans to be based on ongoing, inclusive assessments which consult host community and local authority representatives as well as a diverse range of stakeholders from the displaced population(s). The site management action plans must also incorporate findings from protection assessments and physical risk assessments. Standard 2.1: Community participation highlights the importance of participation during every stage of the programme cycle, starting with assessment. Standard 2.4: Governance structures cites the need to assess and understand existing governance structures and power dynamics when developing governance structures. This includes assessing the potential roles of host communities, women, youth and other often under-represented elements. The guidance notes suggest using community mapping exercises. Standard 3.1: A safe and secure environment emphasises the need for adequate safety and security assessment capacity. It also points out the need to carry out regular risk assessments and safety audits in collaboration with protection teams, with further information provided in the Safety audits guidance note. Standard 3.2: An appropriate environment refers to assessing changes in needs and capacities from the pre-crisis context and assessing technical capacities of displaced and host communities, with a view to involving them in planning, establishing and maintaining sites. Standard 4.2: Site service assessment, monitoring and reporting recommends developing a harmonised assessment tool for site profiles, and undertaking joint, multi-sectoral assessments when significant changes to camp populations or site conditions have occurred.	Annex 1 – Disability inclusion monitoring checklist is a tool for monitoring the inclusiveness of a site.
Sphere – Shelter and Settlement	Standard 1: Planning underlines the importance of planning based on assessment findings. Standard 4: Household items refers to assessing access to and monitoring the availability, quality and use of household items.	Appendix 1: Shelter and settlement assessment checklist
Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action (CPMS)	Pillar 1: Standards to ensure a quality child protection response covers assessment. Notably, Standard 4: Programme cycle management includes guidance for needs assessment and situational analysis.	Standard 4 includes a set of guidance notes which cover assessments, including child protection (CP) assessments, multisectoral assessments, and how to integrate CP assessments into individual-sector assessments, by adding questions and/or requesting disaggregation.
Minimum Standards for Education (INEE)	Domain 1 – Foundational Standards covers participation, coordination and analysis. Assessment comes under analysis (which also covers response strategies, monitoring and evaluation). The assessment entry in the INEE Index (on page 125 of the printed book but not online) guides the reader to the following places: Coordination Standard 1: Coordination – guidance notes (coordination) Analysis Standard 1: Assessment – guidance notes (collaboration, context analysis, tools, validity, analysis, etc.) Analysis Standard 2: Response Strategies – guidance notes (data, findings, education and psychosocial needs) Analysis Standard 3: Monitoring – guidance notes (learners) Teaching and Learning Standard 1: Curricula (learning outcomes) Teaching and Learning Standard 4: Assessment of Learning Outcomes	Search for “assessment” on the Resources page of the INEE website to access various tools.
Humanitarian Inclusion Standards for Older People and People with Disabilities	Key inclusion standard 1: Identification concerns assessment. It states that “Older people and people with disabilities are identified to ensure they access humanitarian assistance and protection that is participative, appropriate and relevant to their needs.” The associated key actions and guidance notes emphasise the need to undertake the data collection process in an inclusive way; to disaggregate data; and to map attitudinal, environmental and institutional barriers to inclusion, enablers of inclusion, and organisations of disabled people and older people’s associations.
Sphere – Food Security and Nutrition (FSN)	The FSN chapter starts with a section, FSN assessments, consisting of two standards: Standard 1.1: Food security assessment Standard 1.2: Nutrition assessment These standards cover different kinds of FSN assessments. They highlight the need for market analysis as part of the assessment process, with references to the MISMA and MERS.	Appendix 1: Food security and livelihoods assessment checklist
Sphere – Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion (WASH)	Assessment is integrated into the technical standards. For example: Standard 1.1: Hygiene promotion key actions include “identify the main public health risks and the current hygiene practices that contribute to these risks”.	Appendix 1: WASH initial needs assessment checklist
Sphere – Health	Assessment is integrated into the technical standards. For example: Standard 2.6: Care of non-communicable diseases key actions include “identify the NCD health needs and analyse the availability of services pre-crisis.”	Appendix 1: Health assessment checklist

HandbookMinimum Standard for Market Analysis (MISMA)	Key reference points The MISMA draws attention to the different between market analysis and market assessment: assessment refers to the data collection process, while analysis is the process of “understanding the key features and characteristics of a market system based on the data collected during the assessment”. Key actions (KAs) 1 and 3 focus on the assessment process, with KA1 defining the scope and KA3 describing data collection methods. KA2 covers the overall market analysis team. KA4 focuses on the analysis process. KA5 covers the use of market monitoring to review assessment findings and how to use them to inform any necessary programme adaptations.	Useful tools Annex 1: Market analysis checklist informs the market assessment part of the process Annex 2: Existing market analysis and assessment tools in emergencies
HandbookMinimum Economic Recovery Standards (MERS)	Key reference pointsThe MERS include a specific set of six Assessment and Analysis Standards which covers each stage of the assessment process from preparation through to use of results and the need for ongoing monitoring and evaluation.	Useful toolsAnnex A: Market-linked tools and frameworks for assessments – tools include ICRC’s Rapid Assessment for Markets (RAM) and the Emergency Market Mapping & Assessment (EMMA) toolkit
HandbookLivestock Emergency Guidelines and Standards (LEGS)	Key reference points Core standard 4: initial assessment and response identification Chapter 3: Initial assessment and identifying responses covers what information is necessary and how to obtain it. It also offers guidance on methods and approaches, with a focus on participatory methods.	Useful tools The Assessment questions in Chapter 3 are arranged into three checklists: The role of livestock in livelihoods, The nature and impact of the emergency, and Situation analysis Chapters 4 to 9 include an assessment checklist as their first Appendix: Destocking Veterinary service provision (indicators and methods) Feed provision Rapid water point assessment Livestock shelter and settlement provision Provision of livestock
HandbookMinimum Standards for Camp Management (MSCM)	Key reference points Standard 1.2: Site lifecycle planning refers to the need for site management action plans to be based on ongoing, inclusive assessments which consult host community and local authority representatives as well as a diverse range of stakeholders from the displaced population(s). The site management action plans must also incorporate findings from protection assessments and physical risk assessments. Standard 2.1: Community participation highlights the importance of participation during every stage of the programme cycle, starting with assessment. Standard 2.4: Governance structures cites the need to assess and understand existing governance structures and power dynamics when developing governance structures. This includes assessing the potential roles of host communities, women, youth and other often under-represented elements. The guidance notes suggest using community mapping exercises. Standard 3.1: A safe and secure environment emphasises the need for adequate safety and security assessment capacity. It also points out the need to carry out regular risk assessments and safety audits in collaboration with protection teams, with further information provided in the Safety audits guidance note. Standard 3.2: An appropriate environment refers to assessing changes in needs and capacities from the pre-crisis context and assessing technical capacities of displaced and host communities, with a view to involving them in planning, establishing and maintaining sites. Standard 4.2: Site service assessment, monitoring and reporting recommends developing a harmonised assessment tool for site profiles, and undertaking joint, multi-sectoral assessments when significant changes to camp populations or site conditions have occurred.	Useful toolsAnnex 1 – Disability inclusion monitoring checklist is a tool for monitoring the inclusiveness of a site.
HandbookSphere – Shelter and Settlement	Key reference points Standard 1: Planning underlines the importance of planning based on assessment findings. Standard 4: Household items refers to assessing access to and monitoring the availability, quality and use of household items.	Useful toolsAppendix 1: Shelter and settlement assessment checklist
HandbookMinimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action (CPMS)	Key reference pointsPillar 1: Standards to ensure a quality child protection response covers assessment. Notably, Standard 4: Programme cycle management includes guidance for needs assessment and situational analysis.	Useful toolsStandard 4 includes a set of guidance notes which cover assessments, including child protection (CP) assessments, multisectoral assessments, and how to integrate CP assessments into individual-sector assessments, by adding questions and/or requesting disaggregation.
HandbookMinimum Standards for Education (INEE)	Key reference points Domain 1 – Foundational Standards covers participation, coordination and analysis. Assessment comes under analysis (which also covers response strategies, monitoring and evaluation). The assessment entry in the INEE Index (on page 125 of the printed book but not online) guides the reader to the following places: Coordination Standard 1: Coordination – guidance notes (coordination) Analysis Standard 1: Assessment – guidance notes (collaboration, context analysis, tools, validity, analysis, etc.) Analysis Standard 2: Response Strategies – guidance notes (data, findings, education and psychosocial needs) Analysis Standard 3: Monitoring – guidance notes (learners) Teaching and Learning Standard 1: Curricula (learning outcomes) Teaching and Learning Standard 4: Assessment of Learning Outcomes	Useful toolsSearch for “assessment” on the Resources page of the INEE website to access various tools.
HandbookHumanitarian Inclusion Standards for Older People and People with Disabilities	Key reference points Key inclusion standard 1: Identification concerns assessment. It states that “Older people and people with disabilities are identified to ensure they access humanitarian assistance and protection that is participative, appropriate and relevant to their needs.” The associated key actions and guidance notes emphasise the need to undertake the data collection process in an inclusive way; to disaggregate data; and to map attitudinal, environmental and institutional barriers to inclusion, enablers of inclusion, and organisations of disabled people and older people’s associations.	Useful tools
HandbookSphere – Food Security and Nutrition (FSN)	Key reference points The FSN chapter starts with a section, FSN assessments, consisting of two standards: Standard 1.1: Food security assessment Standard 1.2: Nutrition assessment These standards cover different kinds of FSN assessments. They highlight the need for market analysis as part of the assessment process, with references to the MISMA and MERS.	Useful toolsAppendix 1: Food security and livelihoods assessment checklist
HandbookSphere – Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion (WASH)	Key reference points Assessment is integrated into the technical standards. For example: Standard 1.1: Hygiene promotion key actions include “identify the main public health risks and the current hygiene practices that contribute to these risks”.	Useful toolsAppendix 1: WASH initial needs assessment checklist
HandbookSphere – Health	Key reference points Assessment is integrated into the technical standards. For example: Standard 2.6: Care of non-communicable diseases key actions include “identify the NCD health needs and analyse the availability of services pre-crisis.”	Useful toolsAppendix 1: Health assessment checklist

Examples of guidance

Figure 4: a framework for market analysis in the MISMA and the accompany guidance notes emphasise that the process of market analysis is iterative: several steps can happen at the same time, and you may need to go back and forth between the different steps.

Mapped theme: Assessment