One Year of Harnessing Data and Technology to Improve the Humanitarian Response in Ukraine

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Since April 2022, IMMAP Inc. has provided information management (IM) and capacity-building support to humanitarian clusters and UN agencies in Ukraine within the project 'Provision of Information Management Support to Ukraine Crisis Response Clusters', funded by USAID Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance (BHA).

Ever since the beginning of the humanitarian emergency in Ukraine, iMMAP Inc. has been at the forefront, leading a project to enhance the coordination of information management mechanisms for activated clusters. Throughout the year, 23 national and international IM professionals have provided invaluable support to humanitarian partners responding to the war in Ukraine.  Their expertise in the information management cycle has resulted in substantial improvements in the quality of information generated by the supported clusters, leading to seamless, informed decision-making, and improved planning of operations.

As the response context evolves, iMMAP Inc. IM specialists continue to support the partners, focusing on developing more comprehensive automated IM products. These solutions reduce the production cycle, and effectively minimize human errors in the fast-paced humanitarian environment.

Year on Year, the iMMAP Inc. team created 795 IM products, ranging from custom analytics, dashboards and maps to IM strategies and web development solutions. These products were designed to strengthen coordination, planning, as well as giving humanitarian partners public visibility.

 

 

 

 

Out of these 23 IM specialists, 11 were seconded directly to the UN clusters and sub-clusters, including Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), Health, Food Security and Livelihoods (FSL), Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM), Child Protection and Gender-Base Violence (GBV) as well as United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). These officers provided holistic IM services to the clusters on data cleaning, analysis and visualization, assessments, Geographic Information System (GIS), automation, and tools development. Their significant involvement extended to the implementation of new standardized inter-cluster reporting solution for all clusters and their partners in Ukraine.

iMMAP Inc. Ukraine team also was working to strengthen the information management capacity of the cluster partners through various training programs. During the year, 32 training sessions for  631 participants from 145 organizations were conducted. To support the empowerment of local NGOs and aid workers and facilitate the localization of response, most training sessions were delivered in the Ukrainian language and realigned to the Ukrainian context.

In addition to the capacity-building sessions, iMMAP Inc. enables knowledge retention by offering offline training materials through its digital platform. Following each training session, participants have access to presentations, step-by-step guidelines, training video.

In June 2023, iMMAP Inc. Ukraine team gathered at the IM Workshop in Kyiv to reflect and assess the first year's progresses of the 'Provision of Information Management Support to Ukraine Crisis Response Clusters' project and strategize for future implementations.

The workshop aimed to share and analyze the best IM practices, adapt production outcomes to the evolving needs of the Humanitarian Cluster and Partners in the context of ongoing conflict. Additionally, it aimed to explore the use of advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), while ensuring compliance with data protection standards. Noting the ever-evolving needs on the ground, the team also identified ways to reinforce its capacity-building development strategy.

As the humanitarian needs in Ukraine remain immense, iMMAP Inc. will continue to support humanitarian partners in the country, prioritizing the localization of the humanitarian response. By equipping local NGOs with skills, knowledge, and resources, iMMAP Inc. aims to empower them to lead the design and implementation of contextually relevant and culturally appropriate programs.