Technical: Rapid Qualitative Assessment for Health, Ethics & Training

Consultancy: Strengthening Capacity for Rapid Qualitative Assessment in Public Health Emergencies, commissioned by UNICEF South Africa (2025)

This consultancy supported the South African Department of Health (DoH) to enhance preparedness and response planning through improved capacity to apply rapid qualitative assessments (RQAs) during public health and other emergencies. The assignment included adaptation of RCCE Collective Service tools, development of a national research protocol, and securing a multi-year ethics clearance to enable community-level assessments, including with children under 18. Capacity development support was also provided through the contextualisation of SOPs, training materials, and RCCE evidence tracking frameworks. In parallel, strategic advocacy was undertaken with emergency response and research structures (e.g., IMT and Emergency Operational Centre) to promote the use of RQAs and other social data as operational evidence.

Outputs: Research protocol / Ethics submission / Adapted training and SOP materials / Advocacy brief and national response plan for operationalising RQAs