Guiding Principles for Rapid Nutrition Assessments

The use of Rapid Assessments (RA) is not new to Ethiopia as governmental and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), including the Disaster Preparedness and Prevention Agency, have been conducting them for some time. RA is a useful tool when the situation is deemed critical based on information generated by Early Warning Systems, and when time and/or resources do not allow for a standard emergency nutrition assessment to take place. Rapid Nutrition Assessments can be undertaken as part of initial assessments to obtain an overview of the nutritional situation, and determine areas and population groups affected by an emergency. It is also reasonable to recommend and implement nutrition interventions temporarily based on RA results.