COBACORE · Community Based Comprehensive Recovery

The Community Based Comprehensive Recovery (COBACORE) project aims to support common needs assessment and recovery planning efforts in complex multi-sectorial, multi-stakeholder crisis environments by building upon the community as an important source of information and capabilities. COBACORE aims to help bridge the so-called collaboration gap: failure of collaboration through insufficient information sharing among partners, incompatible work practices and misaligned decision making processes. In the field of humanitarian needs assessment, this collaboration gap is ubiquitous and detrimental to the efficiency of many recent relief efforts. Closing this gap is the key to reduce the time needed for needs assessment, better needs monitoring, and planning.The COBACORE suite of tools will support common needs assessments efforts – damage recovery needs, economic needs, health and social needs, and other critical humanitarian needs. The COBACORE assets will stimulate community-wide involvement in information gathering, sensemaking, and needs assessment practices. The COBACORE will not replace but complement existing practices and tools, and will stimulate a community-based approach to needs assessment processes.COBACORE is a set of interconnected modules and mechanisms that maintain three state models: the community model, the context model, and the needs model. The information contained in these models are accessible for users through a collaborative workspace, customized to suit their needs and preferences. The models are built up post-crisis through collected data from the affected area, through collaborative manual completion and maintenance, and through use of existing information sources, and based upon generic frames that are developed in advance for different scenarios. Various supporting functions monitor and manage the models, and respond to demands from users.