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Analyzing the Situation

Situation analysis has been defined as "a process of gathering and analysing information to guide planning and action". It is a key step in starting activities aimed at supporting orphans and other vulnerable children. Other important elements of starting activities are community mobilisation and registration of vulnerable children in projects. These elements are inter-linked. For example, situation analysis should be much more than a technical exercise. It should form a key part of community mobilisation, particularly if it uses participatory approaches. A national situation analysis is a key component in planning a coherent national response for orphans and other vulnerable children in a particular country. Key points about situation analysis are:

1. It is defined as a process of gathering and analysing information to guide planning and action.

2. It should not be seen simply as a technical exercise. Rather, it should be seen as part of community mobilisation. For this reason, it is most effective when it involves participation of a wide range of people and organisations.

3. There are six key steps to conducting a situation analysis. These are setting objectives to be achieved; identifying the technical skills needed; deciding the geographical area to be covered; ensuring particularly vulnerable children are included; deciding on a timeframe and deciding what resources will be needed.

4. A situation analysis will gather different types of information. This is likely to include information about the HIV/AIDS epidemic; the nature of the population; social, cultural and religious characteristics; knowledge about and attitudes to HIV/AIDS; economic activities; access to services and laws and policies.

5. Information can be gathered from a variety of different sources including previous reports and statistics; interviews; questionnaires; case studies; surveys; group discussions; mapping and other participatory exercises.

Key steps

A number of key steps have been identified in carrying out a situation analysis. These include:

1. Defining what the situation analysis is intended to achieve in the form of specific objectives. These may include describing and quantifying the way HIV/AIDS is affecting children and their families; documentation of current responses; identification and prioritisation of possible actions and establishing a baseline for monitoring of any future activities.

2. Identifying the technical skills needed. A situation analysis of this nature requires people with different skills. Skills are needed in a number of subject areas, such as public health, child welfare and community development. Skills are also needed in research processes, such as conducting surveys, focus groups etc.

3. Defining the geographic scope of the situation analysis. Many of the documents in this section focus on conducting a national situation analysis. However, it is also possible to conduct a situation analysis in a smaller, local geographical area.

4. Ensuring that children and young people living outside regular family/community structures receive special attention. Unless this is done deliberately, there is a risk that they may be overlooked. Such children may include street children, abandoned infants, children in institutions, children of women who sell sex and children/young people who sell sex themselves.

5. Deciding on a timeframe for the situation analysis. This will depend on two groups of factors. The first of these is the situation being assessed. This includes the size of the area, the nature of HIV/AIDS in the area and the diversity of the populations affected. The second is the nature of the response being planned. This includes the urgency to start activities, the number of organisations involved, whether previous analyses have been done and the level of resources available.

6. Deciding on the resources needed. These include money and staff time. If more than one organisation is involved, they will need to agree who can provide which resources. If volunteers are to be involved in collecting information, training will be needed. A policy may be required on benefits to be provided to volunteers and people participating in the situation analysis activity.

Types of information

A situation analysis is likely to collect different types of information. For example, it will be helpful to know information about the HIV/AIDS epidemic in an area. This is called "epidemiological" information. This may be extended to include attitudes to and knowledge about HIV/AIDS. In addition, it may be helpful to know basic information about the population of the area. This is called "demographic" information. More detailed information about the population's culture, religion, social and economic activities is also useful. It is also helpful to know about the population's access to basic services, such as health and education. It is important to know what laws and policies are in force that have an effect on orphans and other vulnerable children.

Sources of information

Information can be gathered from a variety of different sources including:

• Existing documents which may include statistics, reports of previous situation analyses and reports of previous activities.
• Interviews with people who know about the situation ("key informants"). These may include community leaders, religious leaders, government officials, school teachers and staff of NGOs working in the area. Interviews can be conducted with the use of questionnaires or in a more "open" way with a list of topics to be covered during the discussion.
• Case studies , for example of individual children, families and communities can be useful to illustrate particular issues and to increase understanding of them. Care is needed to ensure that confidentiality is maintained and that people are treated in a respectful and ethical way.
• Surveys of children and their families may be carried out as a "stand-alone" activity within the situation analysis or it may "ride" on the back of a survey being carried out for other purposes, such as a Demographic and Health Survey (DHS). In some cases, it may be possible to carry out a census of all the members of a particular group, such as children living in institutions. If it is not possible to survey all members of a group, the survey is conducted with a sample of the group. Steps need to be taken, such as random selection of the sample, to try to ensure that the members of the sample are representative of the members of the group as a whole.
• Focus group discussions involving people from a similar background. These groups can be used to explore issues in more depth.
• Mapping and other participatory tools to build up a clear picture about an area and how information is understood by different parts of the community.

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