Cellule d’Analyse Intégrée (also known as the Integrated Analytics Cell or CAI) is an operational research and analytics cell created by UNICEF to provide local and national level actors (health, civil society), government leaders, United Nations (UN) staff, and associated partners with integrated and actionable evidence to respond to public health emergencies and contexts. It came about to support the response to the
tenth Ebola outbreak in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Relying on an analytical approach known as “Integrated Outbreak Analytics”
(IOA), the CAI has both local teams who collect data in communities through mixed methods and a team of national and international researchers who support study
designs, data collection and analysis and who produce insights on this data that can be used for public health decision-making at multiple levels. Based on its role in helping the DRC government bring an end to the tenth Ebola outbreak, the initiative
has expanded to support different public health concerns across the country, including cholera, polio, measles, malnutrition and gender-based violence. The CAI has also provided support to different countries including Guinea (Ebola outbreak in 2021); the Republic of Congo (COVID-19) and Ghana (Marburg outbreak 2022). The
CAI’s experiences demonstrate the RD4C principles of purpose-driven (the CAI team’s research has led to more tailored policy and communication responses), participatory (the CAI team includes stakeholders with a wide variety of expertise and perspectives), and proportional (the CAI team only collects data when we can be sure
it will be used and usable).tenth Ebola outbreak in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Relying on an analytical approach known as “Integrated Outbreak Analytics”
(IOA), the CAI has both local teams who collect data in communities through mixed methods and a team of national and international researchers who support study
designs, data collection and analysis and who produce insights on this data that can be used for public health decision-making at multiple levels. Based on its role in helping the DRC government bring an end to the tenth Ebola outbreak, the initiative
has expanded to support different public health concerns across the country, including cholera, polio, measles, malnutrition and gender-based violence. The CAI has also provided support to different countries including Guinea (Ebola outbreak in 2021); the Republic of Congo (COVID-19) and Ghana (Marburg outbreak 2022). The
CAI’s experiences demonstrate the RD4C principles of purpose-driven (the CAI team’s research has led to more tailored policy and communication responses), participatory (the CAI team includes stakeholders with a wide variety of expertise and perspectives), and proportional (the CAI team only collects data when we can be sure
it will be used and usable).