“Information itself is very directly about 
saving lives. If we take the wrong 
decisions, make the wrong choices 
about where we put our money and our 
effort because our knowledge is poor, 
we are condemning some of the most 
deserving to death or destitution.”

John Holmes, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator

Time

Informa

tion

Developed from a paper given at RUSI by Peter Power, Visor Consultants, July 2004

Su

pp

ly

Su

pp

ly

Desired Future Situation

Dem

and

Dem

and

Pakistan Earthquake

Command Center,

Muzaffarabad Ͳ Pakistan.

The tasking board summed up a

frustrating day for rescue crews
in Pakistan. One helicopter on
an aid mission crashed killing
all aboard while all other badly
needed medical evacuation. All
other flights where cancelled.

© Edward Parsons/IRIN/2005

Information Management Cycle

1. Collection

2. Processing & 

Management

3. Analysis

4. Dissemination

Decisions

The ‘Virtuous Cycle’

1. Convince 

partner to share

2. Add value to 

information

3. Disseminate 

quickly

4. Partner sees 

net benefit

Operational Guidance on Responsibilities

of Cluster/Sector Leads and OCHA in

Information Management

Cluster Leads:

• Responsible for IM needs

within their cluster

• Are to ensure that adequate IM Capacity exists in their

cluster

OCHA:

• Responsible for ensuring effective IM

between

clusters and support operational analysis

• Convene an IM Network of IM cluster focal points

Uncoordinated Response

Weak Information

Management

Coordinated Response

Strong Information

Management

Total of all Humanitarian Needs

IM Preparedness Indicators

1. General Preparedness

Humanitarian reform, IASC cluster guidance, situation analysis, coordination,
contingency planning

2. Capacity

Government, clusters & sectors, OCHA

3. Data Standards, Datasets & Tools

Common operational data, pcodes, 3W, web platform, operational analysis,

cluster analysis

4. Needs Assessment

Methodology, capacity, data management

UNDAC IM Course, Aug. 2009

Quick Review

•

Phases…

Pcodes

Pcodes

Pcodes

Pcodes

Pcodes

Population & Households

Population

Population

Social Infrastructure: Health

Social Infrastructure

Social Infrastructure

Infrastructure: Transport

Social

Social

Infrastruture

Infrastruture

Monitoring: long term (historical averages)

Information Management (in Fiji)

• Provide multiple stakeholder with relevant and

timely and consistent baseline data for disaster
preparedness and response

• Develop and agreed methodology and capacity

for rapid multiͲcluster needs assessment and inͲ
depth cluster needs assessment following
natural disasters

• Develop tools and procedures that guide the

management of information during response
operations and for the planning of disaster
reduction measures

From Data to Knowledge

TYPE

EXAMPLE

FUNCTION

Facts/Events

Deaths

Data

Number of deaths

Collect and Count

Indicator

Mortality Rate

Calculation

Information

Rates by sex, age, location

Analysis

Knowledge

Time trends, comparison
with other areas

Interpretation

Decision
Making

Decisions (impact, severity)

Assessing options