Before beginning a project, Internews does one of two types of assessments to fully understand the context of the information environment where the project will take place: the Information Needs Assessment (INAs) and the Information Ecosystem Assessment (IEAs).
“This is an incredibly valuable tool that the entire humanitarian community in Cox’s Bazar has been waiting for.”
— IOM CWC Working Group Coordinator about the Internews Information Needs Assessment, November 2017, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh
Information Needs Assessments are standard assessments conducted at the beginning of a humanitarian project to inform project design and activities. INAs aim to understand the information needs of the affected population; how they source, exchange and use information; their trust mechanisms and proxies; and their preferred methods of communication.
Information Ecosystem Assessments are designed to identify how information flows through communities. Whether it be by word of mouth, through trusted community leaders, local media, social media and/or other “info-mediaries”, the point of doing such assessments is to identify the most effective formats and channels to use when designing two-way communication strategies and feedback loops to meet the information needs identified in the Information Needs Assessment.