Category: Finance and Planning
Client: Humanitarian Country Team (HCT), UN Resident Coordinator’s Office
Although we are now more prepared for natural and man-made disasters as a nation, Sri Lanka lacked a mechanism that allowed for effective relief coordination to be carried out in a streamlined and timely manner. In an attempt to address this issue, Citra started engaging relevant stakeholders, conducting research and focus group discussions to begin designing a prototype disaster relief coordination platform.
Following multiple iterations, ‘ShaRe Hub’ was developed with the technical skills brought in by the Sahana Software Foundation, working closely with the “HCT Community of Practice” – a reference and working group of humanitarian agencies. Throughout 2018, Citra worked closely with the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) and the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office on the development of the platform and to facilitate user insights during one-on-one office discussions and group testing sessions with relevant partners to identify how ShaRe Hub could best meet user requirements.
ShaRe Hub is currently used as a response coordination tool for the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office and the HCT. The system allows HCT members to enter and access information on the various hazards that Sri Lanka’s humanitarian agencies respond to.
ShaRe Hub allows its users to enter humanitarian response needs, and record the agency’s responses or activities as a 4W. 4W is a global coordination tool used by humanitarian agencies and stands for ‘Who does What, Where, and When’. For instance, when a disaster occurs, teams on the ground can enter the immediate and long terms needs of those affected, and the agencies coordinating relief can respond either in part or totality. The system also ensures that overlaps are reduced and relief efforts reach those who need it the most.
The first prototype of the platform was launched in August 2018, and has been in use since, to update existing data on disasters and responses coordinated by HCT teams in the recent past. Phase II of the project looked to open up the platform to other humanitarian agencies and work as a collaborator network, as and when disaster relief management is required.
