UK, 19 Sep – MapAction has signed a cooperation agreement with the Assessment Capacities Project (ACAPS) to strengthen both organisations’ humanitarian programmes.

ACAPS is a consortium project of the NGOs HelpAge International, Merlin and Norwegian Refugee Council. It aims to improve the assessment of needs in disasters and other humanitarian emergencies. It delivers a range of services including methods training, and deploys specialist personnel in protracted and sudden-onset crises.

One of ACAPS’ outputs is its Secondary Data Review (SDR) concept. These reports analyse existing assessment and baseline information to produce actionable humanitarian intelligence focused on key operational issues. Maps are a vital part of SDR publications, and MapAction will in future deliver required maps whenever required for new or updated SDRs. The first of these is the Yemen SDR, issued in September 2011.

MapAction and ACAPS will also seek opportunities to undertake joint training and field missions.

MapAction’s chief executive Nigel Woof said: “Much of the information that passes through our field mapping units comes from humanitarian assessments. The assessment methodology practised by ACAPS has real rigour and focuses on crucial questions that aid agencies need to answer.” 

The ACAPS website is at www.acaps.org