Guest Post: Monitoring Humanitarian Activities in Syria

Guest Post by Agron Ferati, Executive Director of International Advisory, Products and Systems (i-APS), aferati@i-aps.com

In its sixth year, the highly complex and intensive Syrian civil war has spread across the country. As the Syria humanitarian situation has continued to deteriorate, the protracted and ongoing war has left more than 13.5 million Syrians in need of assistance.[1] Humanitarian access remains constrained by shifting frontlines, administrative and bureaucratic hurdles, violence along access routes, and safety and security concerns. In this context, the use of remote management and monitoring of activities through mobile data collection tools is essential to the successful delivery of aid programs.

Using Magpi, International Advisory, Products and Systems (i-APS) provides third-party monitoring services to Global Communities for its Syrian Relief and Resiliency Program which will reach more than 125,000 beneficiaries to improve their living conditions through the provision of agricultural inputs, quality shelter solutions, and protection assistance. i-APS is undertaking third-party monitoring to ensure adherence to beneficiary selection criteria and implementation of activities in accordance to the project guidelines and Global Communities processes and procedures.

“Magpi makes this type of high volume data collection possible.”

– Agron Ferati, Executive Director, i-APS

Using Magpi for beneficiary survey in Syria (credit: i-APS)

The Syrian Relief and Resilience Program is implementing more than 20 activities in five governorates. Given the volume of data that is necessary to collect and the need for uniformity and accuracy, Magpi is an essential data collection tool for the i-APS field team. “Magpi makes this type of high-volume data collection possible,” said Agron Ferati, Executive Director, i-APS. “The data collected through Magpi is critical to data triangulation in a mixed-methods approach.”

Magpi allows i-APS to tailor tools to a client’s specific needs. The system allows i-APS to create survey tools in Arabic and English. Once the tools are tested by native Arabic speakers, the English is removed to facilitate data collection in the field.

During a survey period, data is uploaded daily to the system allowing real-time monitoring of data collection and quick detection of issues. The Magpi dashboard can be used to identify interviewers with problematic reporting, allowing for immediate action such as follow-up training and increased supervision to address concerns.

“Magpi allows me to provide my clients comprehensive reports, which they can use to inform and improve their programming,” said Tiana Tozer, Team Lead for the third-party monitoring and Senior Practice Advisor for i-APS. “It also allows me to look at cross-cutting issues such as gender and vulnerability and to provide additional analysis where requested by the client.”

For more information on this report, please contact:

Agron Ferati, International Advisory, Products and Systems (i-APS), aferati@i-aps.com

[1] UN OCHA, 2016 Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO) p.3

Originally published at Magpi.