Data management and GIS support for SI
About
Description
Between 2018 and 2022, and following various needs assessments carried out, CartONG worked on strengthening the data management and GIS skills of Solidarités International (SI) teams in Bangladesh, Myanmar and Lebanon.
Firstly, in 2018 CartONG delivered a two-week face-to-face training course (interspersed with a week to put some learning into practice) in data management for SI Bangladesh. The training – for 7 people of the Monitoring & Evaluation team as well as Information Management Officers (data management specialists) from the program teams – covered Mobile Data Collection, responsible data management practices, cleaning and analysis as well as mapping, with many practical exercises based on the operational needs of the field mission.
At the end of 2020, CartONG then helped the Lebanese team to structure and refine its GIS outputs, with the drafting of standard procedures on map production to ensure that program teams could effectively frame their map requests. We also set up training, then coaching and a hotline to help resolve technical difficulties and ensure capacity building for the GIS team.
Finally, CartONG designed a dual training path for the SI team based in Myanmar in 2021. Firstly, for the Monitoring & Evaluation team, from the basics of Excel to the most advanced functionalities (dashboard, introduction to PowerQuery) and statistics. Over the course of 6 webinars, including exercises based on their regular activities, the training covered both the methodological aspects of analysis and the technical possibilities of Excel for 13 participants.
CartONG then strengthened the skills of the GIS team in Myanmar with a second dedicated training course. This training included the basic aspects of cartography and GIS (concepts, GIS basics, symbology, graphic semiology etc…) and the main aspects of managing a GIS database (how to fill, clean and organize a database). Participants also learned the basics of QGIS software for editing data and producing simple maps. The alternation of plenary sessions focusing on key concepts and exercises drawn from practical experience in the field ensured that participants took ownership of the content.
The value of all these training courses, over and above the changes in practices that they have brought about for several SI teams, is also that they have enabled the production of a large number of supports that have subsequently been made available for other SI field operations.
