Methodologies and tools

The context analysis includes the following methodologies: desk review, risk assessment, needs assessment, consultation with CAAFAG, gender analysis and stakeholder analysis. Each methodology includes tools such as key informant interviews (KII), household survey, focus group discussion questionnaires or workshop. You will select the relevant methodologies based on the research questions and the desk review.

Desk review

The objective of the desk review is to collect existing data that could feed into the context analysis. It is important to start with a desk review to know what information already exists and what additional information you will need to collect.

Data collection

The desk review includes research, monitoring and reporting mechanism (MRM) reports, needs assessments from selected location(s), CAAFAG projects evaluations, existing gender analysis, UN, government and NGO reports about the conflict/situation, movements of population, socio-economic context, the level of access to services, protection risks of civilians and of minority groups, and any other relevant information to the context.

A desk review report will organise the data collected around the research questions selected.

Risk assessment

The objective of the risk assessment is to assess the risks to implement CAAFAG programmes. Working with CAAFAG in a conflict setting can be highly sensitive and may expose organisations and beneficiaries to risks that should be identified and mitigated whenever possible.

The risk assessment is implemented through key informant interviews (KII) and focus group discussions (FGD) with adults in gender segregated groups.

Needs assessment

The objective of the needs assessment is to have an overview of recruitment and the needs of girls and boys at all levels of the socio-ecological framework. The socio-ecological framework includes the individual, family and peers, community and societal levels.

The needs assessment includes a rapid assessment and a comprehensive assessment. The rapid needs assessment is usually conducted at the onset of an emergency to get an overview of the protection risks children face in a given location. It includes a household survey (HHS) on multiple child protection risks, (not just on association with armed forces and armed groups), with adult community members. It can be included in a Child Protection Rapid Needs Assessment (CPRA). These additional questions for a standard CPRA are useful in a context where there is already suspicion of recruitment that needs to be confirmed.

The comprehensive needs assessment is implemented through KII with adults and gender segregated focus group discussions (FGD) with 15-17 years old children and adults. It is preferable to implement both KII and FGD, however, based on the sensitivity of the topic, you may prioritise KII over FGD to avoid tensions.

Consultation of former CAAFAG

The objective of the consultation of former CAAFAG is to get a deeper understanding of the needs of girls and boys CAAFAG, to give them an opportunity to express their views and to contribute to the design of programmes for CAAFAG and thus design better projects that respond to their needs.

The findings from the workshop with CAAFAG will inform project design and prevent further harm from program interventions. Prioritise this methodology if you do not have a lot of time and resources. It will allow you to collect very precise data quickly. Alternatively, you can use KII with former CAAFAG if the implementation of a workshop with CAAFAG is not feasible or may expose children to harm.

Gender analysis

The objective of the gender analysis is to collect qualitative information on women/girls and men/boys around four core areas of impact: access to and control of resources, social and cultural norms, and safety. The findings will be used to identify ways to adjust existing projects or design gender-sensitive or gender-transformative CAAFAG projects.

The gender analysis is implemented through FGD and KII. The KII is implemented in each location with men and women separately. The FGD is using the Girls Empowerment Star tool with boys and girls. This is a useful tool to understand adolescent’s perspectives about girls’ safety and inclusion in their community and in their home.

Stakeholder analysis

A stakeholder analysis is used to identify the actors and the relationships that will influence project outcomes. It helps to determine the actors to partner and collaborate with. It builds on existing information as well as on data collected through the various methodologies of the context analysis. The data collected will contribute to analyse the major power centres in the community, know who can influence recruitment, release, and reintegration and how to engage various stakeholders.

The stakeholder analysis is implemented through a half-day workshop during which field staff and data collectors organise the data collected to identify key stakeholders and strategies to engage them.

All the tools are embedded in the guidelines. Download the latest version of Acrobat reader. You can access the tools by clicking the arrow on the left of the pdf, and then the paper clip icon.

Each tool includes a script to get consent that should be contextualised in a manner that is most feasible and appropriate for the context (e.g., verbal vs. written). Consent is required from both children and caregivers when asking questions to children.