Attachments
Background
The Needs Assessment Working Group (NAWG) has been operationalized in Bangladesh under the leadership of the Humanitarian Coordination Task Team (HCTT) to strengthen the Inter-Cluster Coordination Group (ICCG) to complement the government-led damage and needs assessment. The NAWG is co-led by the Department of Disaster Management (DDM) and CARE Bangladesh. Also, CARE Bangladesh has been providing secretariate support since its inception. The main aim of the NAWG is to unify and advance multi-sectoral efforts to assess the needs of diverse populations, categorized by sex, age, and disability, and provide consistent, dependable, and prompt data analysis on humanitarian requirements during climate-related and other natural hazards. This is done in order to enhance informed decision-making and supplement the response of the Government of Bangladesh.
The NAWG also convenes various humanitarian stakeholders, including clusters, working groups, RCRC,
UN agencies, INGOs, and N/LNGOs, under the direction of the UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh.
Together, they conduct comprehensive needs assessments following any disaster event. The tools, methodologies, and processes employed by NAWG adhere to and contextualize the Multi-sector Initial Rapid Assessment (MIRA) best practices adopted by the Inter-Agency Standing Group (IASC)
About NAWG Lesson Learned and Planning Workshop
The lesson learned and planning workshop was held on 27 March 2023 with the goal of a collaborative effort to make the needs assessment working group vibrant and enhance effectiveness. The objectives of the workshop were (see annex for detailed workshop agenda)– • To clarify the role and purpose of the NAWG as an ICCG working group that supports government-led efforts.
• To illustrate how the NAWG complements the government's disaster damage and needs assessment initiatives and identify areas where further complementarity is possible.
• To ensure that the joint needs assessment and analysis consider all affected community groups' information needs and communication preferences.
• To involve stakeholders in the participatory development of the NAWG strategy and work plan for 2023.
Proceedings of the Workshop
The co-lead of the Needs Assessment Working Group (NAWG), Kaiser Rejve, Director, Humanitarian and Resilience Program of CARE Bangladesh inaugurated the workshop. Later on Prabir Kumar Das, Programmer of the Department of Disaster Management (DDM) talked about the importance and value addition of the NAWG in GoB-led disaster damage and needs assessment processes. Then the workshop proceedings went by with a brief overview of the agenda, NAWG activities – purpose and process, analytical framework, and coordinated roles and responsibilities (NAWG and DNA), and a presentation from Netai Chandra Dey Sharker, Director (MIM), DDM on GoB’s Needs Assessments Process and Tools and the importance of complementary services by NAWG. After the presentation of Mr Netai Chandara Dey, there was a small discussion took place and the summary of that discussion is: Government is still working on capacity building for digital disaster loss and damage data collection (EOD); once major districts (flood and cyclone prone districts) will cover then Government will start using EOD. Besides Government is also working and initiating several discussions to revise SOS and D forms. Later the workshop proceeds with key presentations, group work and discussions on Strengthening Needs Assessments Collective Accountability to Affected Population (AAP) based on the Flash Flood 2022 experience and developing a strategy and work plan for NAWG 2023.