The Nutrition Cluster has been operational in Somalia since 2006, with membership composed of government, national NGOs, international NGOs, UN agencies, civil society, donors and observers – and is used to effectively coordinate the humanitarian crisis. Due to the 2011 famine response, the Nutritional Cluster rapidly increased and launched a rapid scale-up of integrated management of acute malnutrition services, including inpatient therapeutic care via stabilization centres, Outpatient Therapeutic Programmes and targeted supplementary feeding programmes. Since this 2011 increase of services, no level of assessment had been conducted on the Nutritional Cluster operations as a whole.
Emergency Nutrition Geo-Tagging Services
The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund
August 2016 - May 2017
What Forcier Did:
The Somalia Nutrition Cluster commissioned Forcier to geo-tag nutrition service delivery sites and assess their capacity across Somaliland, Puntland and South Central Somalia. The main objective was to validate the operational status of the sites and identify gaps in service delivery to strengthen the existing capacity of emergency nutrition units and improve their emergency response preparedness. With approximately 2,200 nutrition facilities scattered throughout Somalia, Forcier developed a three-pronged methodological approach to locate, geo-tag, and verify existing facilities. Forcier conducted preliminary network mapping using computer-assisted telephonic interviewing (CATI) via our call center in Hargeisa. The survey will function as a foundation for the service plan that will be rolled out by the cluster lead agencies and the Ministry of Health.
Population Interviewed:
A team of Forcier’s national researchers conducted telephonic interviews with nutrition stakeholders and local contacts to locate nutrition facilities and gauge their accessibility. Based on accessibility, either a Forcier researcher was deployed for face-to-face site verification/geo-tagging or a local contact provided remote verifications. In some instances, facilities were deemed unverifiable as they were the most difficult to locate. Upon completion of data cleaning and analysis, Forcier provided a comprehensive final report with key findings and recommendations.
Methodological Summary
2,200
Nutrition facilities located
918
Outreach sites visited
21
Regions assessed
3
Zones reviewed across Somaliland, Puntland, and South Central Somalia
