Exercise for the UNHCR Emergency Management Training

Exercise 7.3. Wasaville Camp Assessment

Read the case below and the assessment data in the table that follows. Be prepared to answer some basic assessment questions about this situation.

Adjacent to the small town of Wasaville, Suremia, there is a refugee camp with a population of some 13,000 "old caseload" refugees from the country of Tulera. There has been an ongoing "care and maintenance" program for these refugees for the past several years, as the conflict in Tulera has not yet been resolved.

Your headquarters has just received news that due to a large influx of new refugees fleeing the renewed violence in Tulera and sorely limited local resources, a new emergency may be in the making. You have been asked to travel immediately to Suremia Island to determine the extent of the problem and report back to headquarters whether or not there is an emergency in Wasaville.

You will join one of the following teams:Public Health

Food & Nutrition

Water

Environmental Sanitation

Sites & Shelter

1. As a team, select the three rows from the chart that are of most concern to your group. You must reach consensus on this point. Analyse the information to determine whether or not the circumstances pertaining to your particular sector indicate emergency conditions or not.

2. What would be your next steps in conducting further assessment in your team's sectoral area? What assessment tools would you need to carry out these steps?

3. Be prepared to explain your findings and analyses to the plenary.

Results Of Initial Assessment Mission

Wasaville Camp Assessment Information
Type of information / Qualitative Aspects / Quantitative Aspects / Source
Population / Adults and children appear healthy from windshield survey and brief tour around the central administrative block and schools
Refugee leaders seem to be well organized and capable. / Local office official population figures show 16,450 Tulerans presently registered in the camp as refugees
Refugee leaders say that there are at least 20,000 Tuleran refugees currently in the camp due to new influxes. / UNHCR registration data – compiled from previous 10 years history in the camp.
Refugee leadership
Deaths / Some deaths in children reported to be due to measles/complications / 200 people have died in the last two months. / Clinics, correlated with requests for burial shrouds.
Illness / Measles outbreak reported last month. / Local public health NGO reports 50% of all medical complaints relate to diarrhea. / Local Public Health NGO doctor and staff.
Water / Water sources are small local river and shallow wells. River source is not controlled, but wells are well-made and protected with a concrete apron and hand-pump. There are always long lines waiting to use the hand-pumps. / Estimated 30,000 liters of water from hand-pumps available per day.
River source provides potential 500 cu. m. of water per hour, actual consumption from this source not measured / Local NGO hand-pump programme director
Sanitation / Site looks clean, although numerous public latrines stink badly / 650 public pit latrines have been constructed under a local programme / Sanitation/shelter NGO programme director and refugee sanitation team leader
Site area / Site looks very bare. Large areas of standing water in and around the camp, especially near water taps and washing areas. / One square kilometer provided by Government from National Park property. Roughly one half of this is unusable due to low lying swampy areas / Ministry of Interior and aerial photography
Shelter / Most shelters are self-built with plastic sheeting used for additional protection on the roof. / Analysis of aerial photography reveals approximately 2,000 separate shelters, each about 12 sq. m. / Air photography, verified through on-site correlation of sample areas
Nutrition / People on the street look thin, but healthy / There has not been a recent nutritional survey, but the total food aid provided amounts to the equivalent of 1800 kcal/person/day / WFP logistician, Distribution center officials, warehouse records