United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs www.unocha.org Overview This document provides guidance on the use of the Response Planning and Monitoring Platform (RPMP), the underlying cloud-based service, ActivityInfo, the roles and responsibilities of the relevant stakeholders, and the standard procedures for the implementation of the platform and ongoing management of data. ActivityInfo (AI) is a web-based platform used for regular reporting by humanitarian partners working on the Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP, coordinated by OCHA) for Ukraine. ActivityInfo has been adopted for this purpose and will continue to be used for tracking the ongoing humanitarian response. The primary purpose is to collect and manage information relating to both the planning and monitoring of activities under the 2024 HNRP, however, it may be used by Clusters to collect complementary information. The platform will comprise: 1) An Activity Plan Module (APM) to define the operational details of planned and implemented activities, including details relating to funding and accountability. 2) A Response Monitoring Module (RMM) for reporting the progress and achievements of activities. 3) Link between the APM records and FTS based on the Flow ID field provided in FTS. The key stakeholders for the planning and monitoring system are: • Sector / Cluster Coordinators / Co-Coordinators • Field Coordinators / Field Officers • Information Management Working Group (IMWG) members: Cluster IMOs • Super Administrator for HPC Response: OCHA IMU [Subscription manager: OCHA] • Partners: Information Management Officer and/or Reporting Officer of agencies/NGOs Ukraine 2024 Response Planning & Monitoring Guidance on the RPMP and Related IM Practices Updated 10 March 2024
HNRP 2024 Response Planning & Monitoring Guidance on ActivityInfo and Related IM Practices | 2 United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs www.unocha.org Cluster IMOs or focal points form the ActivityInfo Cell, which is led by the OCHA IMU, and is a sub-group of the Information Management Working Group. Platform Requirements This section details the information requirements for the APM and RMM and provides the basic information about the ActivityInfo service. The ActivityInfo platform has been adopted to streamline and simplify the reporting for partners, offering a single reporting platform for all humanitarian partners. As such, the intention is to avoid the use of any parallel system to ActivityInfo platform. Information Objectives The objectives of the platform are to: 1) Provide the link between what we are doing and our understanding of the needs (strategy). 2) Determine gaps between the HNRP targets, project caseloads, and the actual response. 3) Provide a forward view of activities that have been committed (based on projects), which informs: • The intended location of where partners are (or will be) positioned. • The type of activities to be (or will be) implemented. • The number of people to be reached and who they are. 4) Provide a hromada-level understanding of the response, and site level for Collective Sites, which informs: • The operational location of partners. • The type of activities being undertaken. • The number of people who have been reached and who they are. 5) Provide the link with funding as reported to the Financial Tracking Service (FTS). 6) Provide a thematic understanding of the response (e.g. winter response, Kakhovka dam destruction). System Objectives The features of the system are to facilitate and enable: • Integrated activity planning and response monitoring: For analysis of response gaps. • Accessible reporting for partners: Common platform and shared processes. • Bespoke data collection forms for Clusters: Tailored forms for sector coordination needs. • Timely and accurate data: Technology to validate, transform & visualize data. • The operation to Report at Scale: Solution to accommodate the scale of the response. Strategic Dimensions The planning and monitoring framework comprises the following strategic dimensions: 1) Intervention type: Cluster, Activity [+ Response theme e.g. winter, etc.] 2) Population group: Internally Displaced, Returnees, Non-displaced 3) Vulnerability: Sex, Age and Disability 4) Minimum geographical level: • Planning records: National (Admin 0) • Monitoring records: Hromada (Admin 3), Collective Site (Admin 5), Optional: Settlement (Admin 4) 5) Frequency of reporting: • Planning records: As required, with quarterly reviews • Monitoring records: Monthly [ability to increase the frequency as needed]
HNRP 2024 Response Planning & Monitoring Guidance on ActivityInfo and Related IM Practices | 3 United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs www.unocha.org Reference Datasets The OCHA IMU will maintain the reference datasets (as described in Table 1), which may be used for either the APM or RMM. The ActivityInfo Cell and the IMWG are collectively responsible for determining the composition and procedures for maintaining the datasets, which are then to be managed by the OCHA IMU. Once the composition of the dataset has been agreed upon, only new values can be added to the dataset and, as such, values may not be altered. Any update to a reference dataset will only be reflected in ActivityInfo at the end of the reporting cycle, i.e. on the 14th of the month, ready for the following cycle. N.B. Excel templates used for bulk uploads will have to be updated at the same time to reflect changes in the reference datasets. Table 1: Reference datasets Dataset Source(s) Update Frequency Description Partner List OCHA / Clusters Monthly and upon request Based on partner registration Location Profile Ukraine AB CODs CCCM Master List of Collective Sites Education Cluster's Master List of Educational Facilities Annual Monthly The location profile will only be updated based on the master lists provided by CCCM or the Education Cluster, which will be done once a month start of the next reporting cycle (i.e. on the 14th of the month). Any Cluster templates will also need to be updated to reflect the change in Collective Sites. Donor List OCHA / Clusters Monthly and upon request Based on list of donors submitted by Clusters in 2022. A request for an update to the Partner List or Donor List are to be submitted via email to
[email protected]. Activity Plan Module The purpose of the Activity Plan Module (APM) is to provide a central repository of ‘baseline’ or operational information to plan, coordinate and track the implementation of activities. The ICCG agreement was for all Clusters to adopt the APM and implement a standardized form with the fields listed in Table 2. The APM is a dynamic or ‘open’ database that provides current operational details of planned activities, such as the period of implementation, funding status and amount, etc. It includes a set of fields for all Clusters, which are outlined in Table 2, for the consistent collection of baseline (project) data about activities. However, Clusters may complement their Cluster-specific form with additional fields. As such, Clusters are to manage their own discrete APM forms, and directly facilitate data collection with their partners. The APM makes provision for the FTS Flow ID, which then enables an activity to be linked to funding flow for the purpose of qualitative association only. Hence, the funding received for an activity in the APM does not necessarily have to match what has been reported in FTS, as it is likely to be a lesser amount. The financial requirement may be developed through a bottom-up calculation based on detailed budget items (preferred), or it may be calculated using the standard activity unit cost.
HNRP 2024 Response Planning & Monitoring Guidance on ActivityInfo and Related IM Practices | 4 United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs www.unocha.org Table 2: Fields for registering and tracking activities [Activity Planning Module] Field Name Type Description / Guidance Main form: Plan record and accountability Activity Plan Code UID (autogenerated) Partner Name * Dropdown List List of partners managed by OCHA Implementing Partner(s) Dropdown List Optional: Specify up to 10 implementing partners Start Date AND End Date * Date Period of implementation (start and end of interventions); may relate to an activity or group of activities; may relate the start and end of a project being implemented by the partner Plan or Project Name [free text] * Text Concise, meaningful name for the activity or group of activities, which could be the same as the donor or FTS project name. Donor / Source Text Donor name or source matching the related flow in FTS Project Code Text Donor project code Project Status * Dropdown List Values: Planned; Confirmed; Implementing; Completed Funding Requirement Integer To be specified in US$ Amount of funding received Integer To be specified in US$ FTS Flow ID Text FTS Flow ID as generated by FTS (6-digit ID e.g. #230419), include the “#” symbol with each entry Plan Type * Dropdown List Values: 2024 HNRP; 2023 HRP; Non-HNRP Activities * Multi-Select One or more activities may be selected Total Target [by Population Group] Integer Total unique beneficiaries to be reached with all activities Multi-Cluster Project? Multi-Select Selection of Clusters relating to other activities in the project Response Theme Single-Select Reference field with “event” values declared and activated by the ICCG, e.g. “Winter response”, “Inter-agency convoy” Gender with Age Marker Multi-Select Standard question (see Table 3) under Cluster’s guidance Disability Inclusion Single-Select Standard question (see Table 3) under Cluster’s guidance [Optional] Sub-form: Activity, Location and Caseload Sub-form is optional and allows activities to be mapped to a raion level, noting that the group of activities and locations must all be related to the details in the main form. Each sub-form record must be unique to an activity or group of activities and location. Target Location Dropdown List Oblast, raion, hromada, settlement or site may also be selected Activity Dropdown List One or multiple activities may be selected Caseload [by population group] Integer # individuals for IDPs, non-displaced people & returnees
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