How to run a rapid needs assessment

What is a rapid needs assessment?

A disaster or conflict event happens. Your director asks, "What do people need, and where?" You cannot wait three months for a survey. A rapid needs assessment is the tool for this moment.

The Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) describes its Multi-Sector Initial Rapid Assessment (MIRA) as a light, fast process that gives an initial common understanding of the most pressing needs, affected areas and groups. It also gives a voice to the affected population and helps plan more detailed assessments. The same guidance is clear about limits: a rapid assessment does not give statistically representative data and does not replace in-depth sector assessments.

Use the same logic at organisation level. Move quickly, be honest about what you know, and plan the next assessment.

How do you run one? Seven steps

1. Set the purpose and the decision. Write one sentence: "We need to decide X by date Y." For example, which townships get the first distribution.
2. Review existing data. The IASC method starts with a review of pre-crisis and in-crisis secondary data, then lists the information gaps by sector. Check government reports, cluster updates, partner reports and local news. Do not ask communities what is already known.
3. Agree a short form. Build a form that covers only the gaps. Keep it to what can be asked in 30–45 minutes. Test it with two colleagues.
4. Choose who to ask. The IASC guidance calls for appropriate sampling and for mainstreaming age, gender and diversity into the method. Mix community leaders, women's groups, older people, people with disabilities, displaced people and host families. Leaders alone give a partial view.
5. Collect data safely. Brief teams on conduct, consent and safety. Do not record names or exact locations on shared files in insecure areas. See do no harm.
6. Analyse together. Meet partners and compare findings. Sort needs by sector and place, and note which groups are most affected. Mark each finding as confirmed, partly confirmed or unverified.
7. Share and give feedback. Send a short report to partners and decision makers. The IASC guidance also asks teams to communicate findings to the affected population through the most accessible channel, and to look for ways of receiving feedback.

What should the form cover?

The IASC framework groups its questions under four themes: scope and scale of the crisis, conditions of the affected population, capacities and response, and humanitarian access. You can borrow this structure for a small assessment.

Add a question about how people prefer to receive information and give feedback. It will help your later accountability work, including your complaints and feedback mechanism.

Myanmar context

Access is often limited, mobile networks may be unstable, and trust is local. Plan for these facts.

• Use trusted local partners. They may reach places your staff cannot, and communities may speak more freely to them.
• Use remote methods with care. Phone interviews can work, but people may not speak freely if they fear being overheard. Ask only what you need, and do not record sensitive details.
• Write in the language people use. Test your Burmese and ethnic-language wording before the field team uses it.
• Record the limits. If you could not reach a township, write it in the first page, not in an annex.

Common mistakes

• Starting in the field. You waste community time and repeat what others already know.
• Asking too much. Long forms reduce answer quality and tire people who are already in crisis.
• Hearing only leaders. Add women, young people and marginalised groups.
• Presenting rapid findings as precise numbers. Say "estimate" and give the source.
• Not sharing back. If people hear nothing after being asked, trust falls.

How EMPO can help

EMPO is a trusted, Myanmar-based training and consultancy provider and one of the country's leading names in practical NGO training, with 1,200+ people trained and 15 partner organisations. We teach assessment, data collection and MEAL skills in English and Burmese, online or in person across Myanmar. We can also design a session around your own forms. See our training services or contact us.

Sources

• Multi-Sector Initial Rapid Assessment (MIRA) guidance — IASC Needs Assessment Task Force, 2015