Strategic planning

Once the needs assessment phase is completed, all necessary data should have been collected and analysed to inform strategic planning allowing the Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) process to start. The HRP has become the main tool for intersectoral strategic planning in protracted or a stabilized context. It is a one-month duration OCHA-driven process done with the support of each sector, usually occurring once a year in a protracted emergency. Part of the HRP process, the development of the WASH Operational Response Plan (WORP) is an essential function of the WASH coordination platform, requiring joint efforts from Information Management Officer, WASH Cluster coordinator and WASH partners. The WORP includes:

• The WASH response analysis based on the needs assessment data;
• The strategic orientation of the WASH response;
• An estimation of the population targeted for the WASH response (caseload);
• A prioritization of activities and population groups to be covered by the WASH sector; and
• An estimation of the WASH response funding requirement.

In large sudden onset emergencies, the annual HNO + HRP documents can be replaced by a Flash Appeal, which follows the same logic but drafted over a very short period (3 to 5 days), and mostly based on secondary data. A Flash Appeal contain both needs assessment and response strategy information.

Beyond strategic planning and HRP development, the WASH cluster / sector is committed to deliver services to the beneficiaries with the highest possible quality. The WASH cluster partners must set up the response's Quality Assurance System, agreeing on quality target, monitoring modalities and collective ways of addressing quality issues. 

The WASH Operational response plan provides partners with a general framework to design and cost their projects, and sets overall targets against which the WASH response will be monitored. Its objective is inter-sectoral planning, so it contains only a a summary of the WASH strategy and implementation guidance.  More details about the WASH response implementation modalities they must be agreed by SAG and gathered in a document called the Strategic Operational Framework

WASH Operational Response Plan and WASH strategic Operating Framework contains targets against which response can be monitored. Once strategy has been defined, the WASH operational platform works on the WASH response Monitoring plan, containing the indicators that will be used, the monitoring modalities and the data analysis plan.  

• Focus response's activities and resources
• Ensure that organizations are working toward the same goals and using the same modalities
• Assess and adjust the humanitarian community’s response to a changing environment.