Overview

Description

Mobility tracking assessment is the DTM tool designed to track mobility, determine numbers and locations of forcibly displaced people, reasons for displacement, places of origin, along with basic demographics of the group as well as vulnerabilities and priority needs. The information is mainly captured through interviews with key informants at the area, sub-area or location level, and cross-referenced with secondary sources where available.

The purpose of mobility tracking assessments is to provide regular, updated information on the needs of displaced and other mobile populations. Data should hence be collected with its operational application in mind and prompt resource mobilization along with operational response and resource programmatic adjustments. For the data to have an impact, findings need to be regularly disseminated within the organization to relevant units, and to partners and national authorities for their action/follow up.

Wherever possible, it is recommended to undertake mobility tracking assessments at three distinct levels which inform each other: the area, sub-area, and location.

Data collection methods include: Key Informant Interviews, Focus Group Discussions, Direct Observation, and Measurements/Calculations. For more details on data collection, see section "Operations – Implementation Stage".

Area-Level Assessment

The Area-Level Assessment is undertaken to systematically establish the areas and estimated numbers of IDPs and/or other mobile populations in a certain geographic area, and to collect information such as time of displacement, areas of origin, and reasons for displacement.

The unit of measurement is the administrative (short: admin) level. The appropriate admin level will vary from country to country, depending on available admin divisions and the programme scope. To determine the appropriate admin level, first create a list of all admin divisions. Keeping in mind that sub-area level assessments are usually conducted at the lowest manageable admin subdivision, the area-level assessment should usually target a higher-level admin division.

See some country examples below of where area- and sub-area level assessments are respectively targeted.

Area-Level Assessments need to cover, at a minimum:

• # of households / # of individuals in each area, disaggregated by type of mobile population
• Settlement type, disaggregated by type of mobile population
• Area of displacement
• Area of origin Reasons for displacement
• Time of displacement

Other information covered in the Area-Level assessments will depend upon requests by partners in any given context, but should be kept short to remain operational.

The key output of the Area-Level assessment is a master list of administrative areas where IDPs/ mobile populations are identified, which in turn informs where to conduct sub-area level assessments.

Sub-Area Level Assessment

The unit of measurement is the sub-admin level. The sub-area level assessments are usually conducted at the lowest manageable admin subdivision, comprising one or several locations (villages, neighbourhoods or IDP sites).

The sub-area level assessment is undertaken after the area-level assessment based on the list of sub-admin levels where displaced and other mobile populations have been identified. It is conducted to establish an updated list of locations where mobile populations are present, and to provide information on time of displacement, areas of origin, reasons for displacement, priority needs.

Sub-Area Level Assessments need to cover, at a minimum:

• # of households / # individuals in each area, disaggregated by type of mobile population
• Settlement type, disaggregated by type of mobile population
• Area of displacement
• Area of origin
• Reasons for displacement
• Time of displacement
• Sex-age groups
• Names of sites / communities
• Main unfulfilled need

To capture the main unfulfilled need, use at a minimum the following categories: Drinking/Potable water; Water for washing and cooking; NFI; Medical services; Shelter; Food; Sanitation and Hygiene; Security; None of the above. Other information can be included depending on the needs of the context.

The key output of the sub-area level assessment is a list of locations with presence of displaced and/or mobile populations per lowest possible sub-admin level.

Multi-Sectoral Location Assessment

Mutli-sectoral location assessments (MSLA) are usually conducted after the baseline area & sub-area level assessments have been undertaken. Multi-sectoral location assessments provide regular updates on the specific needs of displaced and other mobile populations and gaps in service provision in the locations to prompt an operational response.

Each location is usually identified through a SSID (unique ID assigned to a site) and the following information is collected: localization, demographic profile of the affected population, accessibility, and multi-sectoral needs (WASH, shelter, food, protection, livelihoods, etc.).

Sample MSLA forms from different countries are available in the reference section.

Contacts

For more information, please contact the DTM Support Team: DTMSupport@iom.int.