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When facing a disaster, people have different level severity of needs based on their location and type. Some communities and/or population groups are more affected than others, some are more resilient than others. They also face variable risks for human life (ex: acutely malnourished children are more at risk of dying from diarrhoea than healthy adults displaced by flood). Response Humanitarian response cannot reach all people in need , so needs must be prioritized, to know which areas and groups should be considered for response analysis and targetingof assistance: areas with the most severe needs should be identified and prioritized. This process is called needs severity mapping. Coordination platforms first undertake sectoral severity mapping, later consolidated by OCHA in an intersectoral severity mappingat the intersectoral level. There is no standard methodology to prioritize needs, although OCHA may propose one at country level. Some sectorial needs; two common approaches are however presented below:
- Use a severity scale based on one or several WASH indicators (ex: access to improve water ). Each administrative level are ranked from 1 to 6sources) and non-WASH indicators (ex. prevalence of malnutrition, etc.). Create a composite index and rank each administrative level from 1 to 5 (or 7), from “No problem” (ex: from 90 to 100% have access) to “catastrophic problem” (ex: from 0 to 15% have access)to “Catastrophic problem”. Indicators can be weighted, considering for example that access to water is more important than access to hygiene NFI. Keep in mind that multi-indicator weighting system can quickly become very complex and lose relevancy. OCHA usually provides a standard weighting system for the response to harmonize the process.
- Use a severity scale, including also non-WASH indicator, such as “risk to flood”, or “risk of malnutrition”, once again using an indicator weighting system.
- Classifying if some are considered more important than others, depending on the context.
- Classify administrative level from the lowest to highest WASH PIN number, or by the % percentage of PIN as compared to the whole population. Rank the needs severity of Identify thresholds and rank each administrative level by comparing PIN numbers with estimated risks for human life (ex: people at risk of outbreak are prioritized, as they may quickly die without intervention).Information regarding local capacities (example: in that region, there is a well-equipped hospital where people affected by cholera can be treated correctly) can also be factored-in in the analysis if they are availablefrom 1 to 5 (or 7), from “No problem” to “Catastrophic problem” based on PIN figures, or the percentage of PIN as compared to the whole population.
When there is a large geographical area to be mapped with many administrative levels, it quickly becomes impossible to cross several indicators with a qualitative approach. In this case, analytical tools to integrate several multiple indicators must be used. Two examples are presented below:
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A severity map can finally be designed, and used to show concentration severity of needs based on per geographic locationslocation. Regardless of the approach taken, the process and results of the exercise should be documented and available to other Clusters and WASH partnersto ensure full replicability of the process.
Refer to the 2015 IASC Humanitarian Needs comparison tools for more details on integrated severity mapping.