Information management scaled up for crisis

While the humanitarian catastrophe in Afghanistan shows every sign of further deterioration with the approach of winter, over 130 international and local aid agencies are operating in the region to mitigate the damage. In order to maximise their effectiveness, key donors have funded the creation of a Humanitarian Information Centre (HIC) and supporting joint logistics cell, based in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

With the dramatic escalation of the crisis in the last two months, it was recognised that humanitarian information had to be better managed. Pablo Recalde, Head of Field Information Support at the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told IRIN on Tuesday that there had been a need to scale up the information management and sharing in the wake of the 11 September crisis.

"Crisis management information before then had been piped up vertically within organisations, and often it was not easily shared across the board, so we had a disconnect for people who wanted an overview," Recalde said.

Operational as of Monday, the HIC is designed to ensure that vital information is quickly accessible to all agencies, in order to improve international response to the humanitarian crisis.

Based on models tested in Mozambique and Kosovo, the HIC is not a UN structure, but an "honest broker for the humanitarian community", said Recalde. As such, it would be staffed by NGO and UN personnel. WFP, UNHCR, UNICEF and the NGO coordinating agency, ACBAR, would be seconding people to work in the centre.

Establishing common data and understanding about the Afghan crisis was seen as a critical first step. "For example, we have five different sources of information on internally displaced persons at the moment. We have NGO estimates, WFP estimates, those of other UN offices and the ICRC. One function of this office must be to 'de-conflict' information and identify what we consider is the most accurate and reliable data," said Recalde.

The HIC will gather and distribute humanitarian information that can facilitate relief operations, including, for example, the latest data on target populations and their requirements, or the quality of road surfaces in specific areas as winter approaches. The centre has the capacity to present data spatially, on detailed maps. It also serves as a venue for coordination and information-sharing meetings between agencies.

Andrew Wilder, head of Save the Children-US, told IRIN that the centre was a welcome and timely addition in light of the crisis. "The current situation [in Afghanistan] highlights the need for a more effective coordination of information. The HIC represents a central point for the sharing of information between UN , NGOs and donors.

Wilder said the enhancement of the mapping function could make a significant difference to the coordination of activities in Afghanistan. He said it could ultimately save agencies a lot of time, but warned that, if not managed properly, it could also create more work.

Recalde expected the improved information flow to ultimately release other operational agencies to concentrate on their own decision-making, as opposed to humanitarian information gathering activities. Once the humanitarian crisis had subsided, the centre could then function in support of reconstruction and rehabilitation activities, he added.