Information Management and Coordination is one of three DRC Support Sectors. It reflects the fact that DRC quite often is involved in collecting, managing and distributing information with the aim of facilitating efficient coordination and planning of assistance within the assistance community as a whole. Furthermore, DRC is an active participant in coordination, both within the NGO community, and also with regard to UN agencies and donors. At times, we even take upon ourselves the task of driving coordination when this is deemed to be too weak in a given setting.

Objectives
The overall objective of information management and coordination activities is to ensure that the humanitarian interventions targeting conflict-affected people are appropriate and relevant by building these upon reliable information about the target group and the situation.

DRC’s role is to ensure that relevant and reliable data is being collected, analyzed, disseminated and shared with relevant stakeholders, either through direct implementation or by facilitation of and collaboration with partner agencies.

The specific objective of information management and coordination activities is the collection, analysis, maintenance, and dissemination of data about the needs, priorities, aspirations and situation of a given population/group of people in order to facilitate planning and coordination of humanitarian assistance.

Principles

Collaboration and Partnership
A collaborative approach to information management has a number of advantages and may actually be regarded as an absolute necessity in most settings. There are a number of reasons for this, including:

• By ensuring a coordinated approach to planning of surveys and other information collection activities, there is a possibility of minimizing the risk of survey fatigue and other negative implications
  
  
• It allows for the pooling of available resources and capacities in response to the common needs of participating agencies, thus making information gathering and management more effective and inclusive
  
  
• It strengthens common ownership of design and formats and thereby enhanced relevance of data for all participating agencies
  
  
• It creates space for joint analysis of data and thereby provides a stronger basis for subsequent collaboration among stakeholders with regard to implementation of specific interventions, thus limiting the risk of duplication of activities

Complementarity
The operational principle of complementarity is closely related to that of collaboration and partnership. It is essential that efforts are made to ensure that we as agencies complement rather than duplicate each others work. Hence, it is important to make sure that the collection of data and information is done in a coordinated and complementary manner so as to ensure the direct usability of the information for all relevant users.

Participation
Data collection is often the first activity in a community, and it is important that this is done in a way that builds up a positive rapport with the community. Communities should be consulted and involved to the extent possible and the purpose and the process of the data collection be shared and discussed with the community.

Participatory survey methods may be applied but the experience also suggests that this can be complicated, partly due to time constraints. Instead, emphasis could be on bringing on board the community in other ways. Community participation can be increased by sharing the results of the data collection with the community and thereby get a deeper understanding of what interventions they would subsequently like to see. In this way, the community may develop an element of ownership over its own information.

Do-No-Harm
Ensuring consent and confidentiality is of crucial importance given the principle of Do No Harm. To ensure that no harm is done, permission and consent should always be sought prior to an interview or other methods of collecting information from an individual, group or community. Likewise, systems and mechanisms to ensure the confidentiality and security of the data should be in place and be clearly explained to the target group. To ensure confidentiality, sensitive data and personal details like names or ID numbers should be handled separately.

Advocacy
Advocacy is often the very purpose for which information is being collected. Hence, information is being collected, shared, disseminated and used for advocacy purposes both by DRC and the assistance community at large. This is particularly so in the case of monitoring and reporting activities where the data collected and reported can be a very strong advocacy tool. The mere fact that data collection in a particular area or on a particular problem is taking place can send a strong advocacy message.

Gender
For the information to be as precise as possible and for agencies to be able to use the information in the most efficient and effective manner, it is important to ensure that the data is sufficiently disaggregated, taking in to consideration differences in gender roles, responsibilities, resources and capacities, and vulnerabilities.