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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