Field tools for assessment and supervision
The tools below are proposed working templates for the methods developed in this series. They are not official lender forms, a complete survey instrument, or a substitute for specialist research and safeguarding arrangements. Adapt them to the project, national definitions, available evidence, and the decisions to be made.
Assessment brief
Record the decision the assessment will inform; project phase and alternatives; relevant facilities and contractors; population and service questions; initial geographic scope; applicable requirements; team competence; timetable; budget; data access; and expected outputs.
Specify which findings must be available before procurement, recruitment, land access, or mobilisation. An assessment delivered after a design choice becomes irreversible has less scope to prevent harm.
Household and livelihood module
Use an approved introduction explaining purpose, voluntary participation, expected duration, confidentiality and its limits, data use, and contact for questions. Refusal must not affect employment, compensation, or services. Pilot wording, translations, and interview conditions before collection.
| Topic | Example prompt | Analytical use and caution |
|---|---|---|
| Residence | Where do you usually live? Where did you stay last night? | Distinguishes usual residence and temporary presence; align definitions with the analysis |
| Arrival | When did you begin living here? Where did you live immediately before? | Establishes timing and prior residence; allow approximate dates |
| Movement | Have you lived elsewhere during the last year? For how long? | Identifies rotation and circular mobility; avoid double counting |
| Reasons | What influenced your decision to come here? Which reasons mattered most? | Allows multiple reasons; reported motivations do not alone establish causation |
| Livelihood | What activities provide income or essential goods? How have these changed? | Includes informal work and resource-based livelihoods |
| Housing | What is your housing arrangement? What do you pay? Has it changed? | Helps assess tenure and affordability; avoid unnecessary legal-status questions |
| Essential costs | What changed in food, transport, water, and housing expenditures? | Interpret against income, household composition, season, and quality |
| Water and care | How do you obtain water and necessary health care? What prevents access? | Captures time, cost, reliability, and other barriers |
| Resource use | Which land, routes, or resources do you use, and in which seasons? | Preserve reported use separately from ownership or legal determination |
| Expectations | Do you expect to stay, return, or move? What could change that decision? | Informs scenarios; intentions are not forecasts |
| Feedback | Which project-related change needs attention? How would you raise a concern? | Tests priorities and access to engagement routes |
Do not add personal sexual-violence questions or collect precise sensitive locations through this general module. Use the specialist arrangements described in health and protection.
Settlement and service walk-through
Observe with appropriate consent and local participation. Record the settlement identifier, date, team, route, season, and weather. Verify occupied and unoccupied housing; access roads and barriers; functioning water points; sanitation and drainage; waste disposal; transport interfaces; relevant service hours; and apparent expansion areas.
Distinguish observation from interpretation. “Twenty newly roofed structures visible” does not establish “twenty migrant households.” Record what requires interviews, service data, or further inspection. Photographs and coordinates need a purpose and sharing rule.
Impact and action record
| Field | What to record |
|---|---|
| Identifier and status | Unique ID, version, open/implemented/verified status |
| Pathway | Project decision → change → exposed group or resource → potential consequence |
| Place and time | Settlement/catchment, project phase, duration, season |
| Evidence | Source, date, coverage, method, competing accounts, confidence |
| Significance | Likelihood, consequence, distribution, reversibility, criteria used |
| Measure | Specific action and why it interrupts the pathway |
| Responsibility | Implementer, approval authority, verifier, government counterpart |
| Resources | Budget, source of funds, staffing, recurrent costs, dependencies |
| Deadline | Milestone and evidence required before the activity proceeds |
| Performance | Completion evidence and outcome indicator |
| Residual concern | Remaining risk, uncertainty, and assumptions |
| Escalation | Trigger, decision owner, response time, contingency |
Avoid closing an action solely because a document was submitted. Record whether the relevant system exists, operates, and produces the intended condition.
Indicator specification
For each indicator, record: name and decision purpose; numerator and denominator; units; inclusion/exclusion rules; geographic and population scope; observation period; source and method; sample and weighting; disaggregation; missing-value codes; baseline; target or trigger and its basis; frequency; owner; quality checks; disclosure restrictions; and version history.
For rent, specify dwelling type and whether the value includes utilities. For water, specify delivered volume, operating period, and users. For recruitment, distinguish an advertised vacancy, an applicant, a position, and a unique recruited person.
Evidence and interpretation ledger
| Observation | Initial interpretation | Alternative explanation | Verification needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| New roofs appear near a junction | Possible residential expansion | Warehouses or vacant speculative buildings | Field visit and occupancy inquiry |
| Clinic visits rise | Possible additional service demand | Improved staffing or outreach | Service-change log and population context |
| Complaints fall | Possible improvement | Fear, inaccessible channels, or changed recording | Safe consultation and process review |
| Food prices increase | Possible procurement pressure | Seasonal scarcity or national inflation | Comparable markets, supply volumes, price series |
| Contractor headcount declines | Possible demobilisation | Reclassification to a subcontractor | Reconciled payroll and contractor records |
Preserve unresolved alternatives. A qualified conclusion is more useful than false precision.
Supervision review
At each substantive review, ask whether forecasts remain credible, whether critical controls operate, whose conditions are worsening, whether public commitments are funded, and whether an intervention has created new harm. Record decisions, owners, deadlines, and the evidence needed for closure.
Use the management-plan article to structure responsibilities and the monitoring article to interpret change. The source guide provides the underlying methodological resources.