DARA – Development Assistance Research Associates – is an independent, international, non-profit organisation, which works to improve the quality and impact of development and humanitarian interventions.  We do this through research, evaluations, promoting learning and knowledge sharing.

China, Natural disaster, Lu Chunnan, 22, with her 10 day old baby in a camp for people whose homes were destroyed in the Sichuan earthquake, UNHCR. ©2008 N. Behring

Evaluations & initiatives
Within the humanitarian and development sector, DARA has carried out evaluations in more than 40 countries across five continents for a variety of organisations, including United Nations (UN) and European Union (EU) agencies. The organisation also produces its own self-promoted independent initiatives, such as the Humanitarian Response Index (HRI), the world’s first independent instrument for measuring the individual performance of humanitarian donors, and the Disaster Risk Reduction Initiative (DRRI), which seeks to forge partnerships for risk mitigation and adaptation.

Our expertise
With its headquarters in Madrid and offices in Washington DC, DARA has an international staff with broad expertise in the coordination, planning and evaluation of aid. The organisation is also able to draw on a network of highly skilled professionals from around the world who have years of experience with UN and EU agencies, the International Red Cross Movement, donor agencies and leading non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

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Aid & development
The scale and breadth of DARA’s field research and evaluation work gives the organisation an unparalleled overview of what works well and what does not in aid and development.

Download the 2008 Annual Report