History of SMART
SMART was initiated as a new tool to improve the monitoring, reporting and evaluation of humanitarian interventions. It has been designed to address issues of common interest to many organizations working in humanitarian assistance including the need to: i) standardize survey methodologies among organizations conducing nutrition surveys; ii) strengthen the technical capacity of all partners with user-friendly tools; and iii) establish comprehensive, collaborative systems to ensure reliable and timely data is used for decision making and reporting.
SMART Timeline & Milestones
2002
First SMART workshop Initiated by USAID, State/PRM, and CIDA (July 2002): “Standardized Monitoring and Assessment of Relief and Transitions (SMART)”
Technical Working Session (July 23 – 25, 2002): “Standardizing Survey Methodology”
Policy Session (July 26, 2002): “Promoting Policy & Program Priorities Based on Data”
2002–2004
SMART methodology developed over 2 years by a core of expert panel drawn from CDC, universities, NGOs and UN partners, with leading experts in emergency epidemiology and nutrition, food security, early warning systems, and demography.
2003
PVO/Donor Meeting (May 08, 2003): “SMART Community Support Proposal”
2004
SMART Expert Panel Meeting: Brussels (July 13 – 15, 2004): Review of the methodology before drafting started
2005
Draft of first manual written, SMART roll-out meeting in New York (June 23 – 24, 2005): “Saving Lives: the Right Information for the Right Decision”
2005–2006
Pilot-tests of manual and Nutrisurvey (later named ENA) software – ACF, FAO, MSF:
- ACF pilot tested the methodology in Chad; Niger; Mali (Nutrition and Mortality).
- FSAU (FAO) pilot tested methodology in Somalia (Nutrition and Mortality).
- UNICEF pilot tested methodology in Madagascar (Nutrition and Mortality).
- MSF pilot tested methodology in Nigeria (Food security).
2006
Publication of manual: “Measuring Mortality, Nutritional status and Food Security in Crisis Situations: SMART METHODOLOGY Version 1, April 2006”
SMART website launched: http://www.smartindicators.org/
Manual and software available for free download
2006–2008
Nutrition and mortality modules of SMART and ENA software used by: Local ministries of health & institutes of statistics, ACFIN, Concern, GOAL, IRC, MSF, Save the Children, UNICEF, WFP, World Vision, Etc.
Food Security Module used by: FAO, MSF, etc.
2007
Global Nutrition Cluster meeting in Geneva (Nov 13 – 15, 2007):
- Announcement that funding was available to work on SMART Version 2
- Assessment working group to organize a meeting on SMART in 2008
2008
Global Nutrition Cluster Assessment Working Group (AWG) Meeting on Standardized Monitoring and Assessment in Relief and Transition (SMART) in Rome (April 7 – 9, 2008):
Organized by The IASC Global Nutrition Cluster and hosted by the FAO, this meeting brought together thirty five experts, developers and users of the SMART tool. It aimed to discuss gaps, opportunities and the next steps for operationalizing the SMART tool in Cluster-related work at the country level, as well as to have an input into development of the next version of the manual, software and training materials, particularly where such work is supported by the cluster. To achieve the broad goal of moving SMART forward, the meeting had four specific objectives:
- Resolve outstanding technical issues or identify a process to resolve these issues in SMART
- Clarify sections of the manual identified by users as unclear or incomplete;
- Determine revisions needed to the ENA software (both ENA and EpiInfo/ENA); and
- Identify a way forward to develop a consolidated and standardized set of training materials.
Organized by USAID, the goal of this workshop was to improve the understanding of the body of knowledge and elements underpinning the SMART methodology, and the importance of using them for assessments. The workshop was attended by 39 participants, representing 22 organizations that included both domestic ad international government agencies, NGO’s and academic institutions. The broad objectives, falling into 2 categories were:
- Anthropometry & Mortality: All participants should be able to review a survey report and understand how the data was derived and interpreted
- Food Security: All participants will have a better knowledge base of the Household Economy Approach (HEA), but will need to be part of an experienced field team before applying it.
Download DC meeting documents
2009
Version 2 of the SMART methodology will be written in 2009 taking into consideration the lessons learnt from the use of Version 1 between 2006 and 2008. The analytical software is a dynamic tool and therefore will also be updated based on feedback from users.