The ‘Good Enough Context Analysis for Rapid Response’ (GECARR) tool
The Good Enough Context Analysis for Rapid Response (GECARR) is a World Vision context analysis tool that provides a macro-level analysis of a country or a specific region during or in anticipation of a crisis. GECARR is designed to be an inter-agency tool and it’s flexible, so that it can be used in unpredictable and conflict-prone contexts.
GECARR draws together the views of a wide variety of internal and external stakeholders, including local community members and produces a snapshot of the current situation and likely future scenarios.
It generates actionable and practical recommendations for key stakeholders involved in humanitarian responses. Between 2014 and 2019, World Vision has conducted 30 GECARR analyses including the Central African Republic, Syria, Jordan, Kurdish Region of Iraq, Sierra Leone/Ebola, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mali.
The Process
In the context of the Venezuelan migration crisis, World Vision conducted a GECARR analysis in Colombia in June 2018. Colombia is the country most affected by the migrant crisis due to its long border with Venezuela. The GECARR tool aimed to understand the local context and capacities in order to better respond to the needs of affected people. The GECARR was swiftly put together within two weeks of the initial request. Once the exercise began, in less than 10 days the GECARR international and local team of eight consulted 209 people (201 community members and 8 individuals from NGOs, UN agencies, government and churches) in three different areas of the city of Cúcuta, the capital of the department of Norte de Santander, the main border point with Venezuela.
Data collection was conducted through 15 focus group discussions and 13 key informant interviews. A scenario planning workshop was also convened within this same time period with 22 participants, including representatives of World Vision, government, teachers, NGOs, OCHA and churches. They worked to identify and outline 3 key scenarios that were likely to occur in relation to the Venezuelan migration crisis in Colombia in the next 6-12 months. These scenarios consequently played out (the borders were closed, the political and armed incidents at the border occurred and the number of migrants increased). The team also analysed the data, debriefed the senior leadership on the findings and wrote up the first draft of report during their time in-country.