Ask an Advisor Answers

Question: We are working on community improvement projects in remote parts of West Africa (health, medical, sanitation and hygiene, agriculture, clean water, economic development, etc) and I have a few questions about your toolbox:
1. Is the toolbox useful in my context or is there a resource that would be better?
2. What specific sections of the tool box are the most appropriate for my context?
3. Is there a generic needs based assessment questionnaire in the tool box that untrained volunteers can use to collect information in the field for review by a professional?
4. Are there online training videos for volunteers who want to use the questionnaire or toolbox?

Answer:

Hi Dale,

I am happy to hear about the work that you are doing in West Africa, and it sounds really important! I have compiled some of my thoughts related to your questions.

The Community Tool Box (CTB) is designed to help with community improvement projects such as you are describing, although a great deal of the contributors come from a North American context, and their experiences will be informed by conditions quite different from yours. As I thought about the brief description of your work, it seemed aligned with the mission of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP): https://www.undp.org/about-us/faqs.
- Have you already reviewed this toolkit? https://sdgintegration.undp.org/sdg-acceleration-toolkit
As you’ve noted, the Community Tool Box compiles a wide variety of resources, which are organized into chapters and sections. There is a lot of content covered! Although I hope that many key concepts and practical tools will be relevant to your work, it’s hard for me to provide specific direction to you. My best recommendation is that you explore and dig to choose what resources will work best for you. You can start here: /en/using-tool-box
Unfortunately, there is not a generic needs assessment template in the CTB. There is, however, a lot of information about how to conduct needs and resource/assets assessments in chapter 3: /en/table-of-contents/assessment/assessing-community-needs-and-resources
- For each of the 24 sections included in chapter 3, there are tabs labeled “Examples” and “Tools” that have some questions that you could adapt, but it will take some work. Here’s an example of that: /en/table-of-contents/assessment/assessing-community-needs-and-resources/describe-the-community/tools
Finally, the CTB has made some pre-recorded, online trainings available to volunteers, after you register for a free account from www.train.org. Modules 3 and 4 here: /en/online-courses might be the closest match to your situation.

Thank you for reaching out —I send best wishes for progress in your community.

Sharon M. Wasco

CTB’s Ask An Advisor

July, 2021

Question Date: Wed, 07/07/2021