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 – based on direct experience and evidence from the field:
Thematic Study of the Paris Declaration, Aid and Development EffectivenessEvaluation of DIPECHO Actions Plans in Central AmericaEvaluation of DG ECHO’s Actions in the Saharawi Refugee CampsEvaluation of the ICRC policy on Internally Displaced PersonsInter-Agency Standing Committee Real-Time Evaluation in MozambiqueMid term Evaluation of the WFP Country Programme in MozambiqueTsunami Evaluation Coalition: phases one and two
Thematic Study of the Paris Declaration, Aid and Development Effectiveness
DARA's participation in the evaluation process of the Paris Declaration was a great opportunity to engage in one of the most important ongoing evaluation exercises in recent years. DARA provided the theoretical and conceptual evaluation framework for the second phase evaluation of the Paris Declaration.
Approved in 2005 by more than 100 countries and considered the international community’s main instrument to ensure the effectiveness of development aid, the Paris Declaration has now been subjected to evaluation. The aim of the thematic study was to define the evaluation framework in order to determine whether the Paris Declaration’s commitments have actually helped improve the effectiveness of development aid. Several studies were conducted in the first phase, among which were studies in partner countries, studies in donor headquarters and thematic studies with the purpose of strengthening aid effectiveness by assessing changes of behaviour and identifying better practices for partners and donors when implementing the Paris commitments. The study DARA carried out took place within the framework of an agreement with the Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS) which holds the OECD secretariat for the entire evaluation process. The thematic study analysed the appropriateness of the concepts laid out in the Paris Declaration; it also examined the degree to which the included commitments contributed to the effectiveness of development aid and the degree to which links to development effectiveness (a more comprehensive concept than aid effectiveness) could be established. The outcome was a methodological approach proposed for the second phase of the evaluation.
The synthesis report (ongoing)
Evaluations of DIPECHO Actions Plans in Central America
 DIPECHO Evaluation, Nicaragua ©2007 DARA |
DG ECHO selected DARA in 2007 to evaluate the DIPECHO Action Plans in Central America in order to analyse how their programmes have helped the at risk population and the institutions prepare and respond to subsequent Disasters. Since 1990, more than ten million people have been affected by natural hazards in Central America, one of the regions that suffers the most from all kinds of natural hazards. This situation, the result of both natural factors and disastrous environmental management, has caused the region to be considered one of the priority action zones of the Disaster Preparedness Programme (DIPECHO) of the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid Department (ECHO). Specifically, the evaluation conducted by DARA in September-November 2007 examined the coherence between the DIPECHO strategic imperatives and the five priorities of the Hyogo Framework for Action, established in 2005, in the World Conference on Disaster Reduction. The evaluation process used by DARA consisted of direct visits to the projects financed by the European Commission in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama, where popular evaluation processes were carried out. DARA’s team visited a total of 15 projects. Interviews were carried out with over 120 non-project stakeholders from national and local government, NGOs, international agencies, universities, DG ECHO and other EU services.
Download the complete report and findings here
Evaluations of DG ECHO’s Actions in the Saharawi Refugee Camps
 Saharawi Refugee Camp ©2006 DARA |
In 2009, DARA was selected by the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid department to evaluate its humanitarian assistance to Saharawi refugees displaced by the conflict over Western Sahara. The three-month study, between April and June 2009, was the first evaluation of DG ECHO’s support to the Saharawi camps in Tindouf, Algeria, since 2001. The evaluation team assessed the impact of funding decisions between 2006 and 2008, focusing on the validity, effectiveness and efficiency of the food and nutrition, health, shelter, water and sanitation aid provided to more than 150,000 refugees in the camps. The evaluation aimed to advise DG ECHO on priorities, as well as offering them recommendations for improving the impact of its humanitarian response, and to help orientating actions to be funded under the 2009 strategy onwards. The methodology chosen comprised a document review against a structured checklist, as well as semi-structured interviews with focus groups around topic-lists. A total of 157 interviews, both at HQ and field level, were carried out and triangulated with self-conducted as well as pre-existing survey results. The questionnaire covered household food insecurity and dietary diversity, whereas focus group and group interviews concerned health, food and WASH sectors. The Saharawi Refugee camps represent a unique protracted and forgotten crisis. They were established in 1976 in the wake of the conflict between the Polisario Front and Morocco. Since then, for over thirty years, between 90,000 and 200,000 people have remained heavily dependent on international aid.
Download the complete report and findings here
Evaluation of the ICRC policy on Internally Displaced Persons
 Internally Displaced Woman in the Metekhi settlement in the Gori Province, Georgia. ©2009 Riccardo Polastro, DARA |
DARA participated in the first evaluation of the International Committee of the Red Cross’ (ICRC) policy on internally displaced persons (IDPs). The evaluation was the first to look at the organization's operational position towards IDPs with the aim of improving the future protection and assistance provided to IDPs and victims of war.
As part of the 11 month study, a team of experts from DARA and regular partner organization Groupe URD conducted field visits to Colombia, Yemen, Chad, Sri Lanka and Georgia. The evaluators met with ICRC staff, UN agencies, NGOs, donors, government staff and displaced populations. DARA provided input on the methodological proposal. The organisation also conducted structured and semi-structured interviews and established workshops to validate findings.
Although there is currently no legally binding definition for an IDP, the ICRC has a specific mandate in the Geneva Conventions to protect and assist all civilians who have been affected by war, regardless of the category in which they are classified. DARA will extract lessons in political and operational terms in order to improve the ICRC’s response to the IDPs.
Inter-Agency Standing Committee Real-Time Evaluation in Mozambique
 People taking part in a focus group interview, Goli Goli accommodation, Mozambique, IASC RTE. ©2007 Riccardo Polastro, DARA |
A group of Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) agencies commissioned DARA to carry out a real-time evaluation (RTE) of the response to the Zambezi river floods and Cyclone Favio in February 2007. Being one of the first of its kind, this evaluation formed a pilot RTE for a broader programme of such evaluations. The aim of this evaluation was to assess the overall appropriateness, coherence, timeliness and effectiveness of the response in the context of humanitarian reform, and to provide real-time feedback to help strengthen effective coordination and response among partners. A team of five carried out the RTE in April 2007 and collected a set of over 700 documents relating to the floods and cyclone response. These were indexed and distributed to the team complete with a search engine to access the data. In addition, a basic chronology was prepared, as well as a summary of the lessons learned from previous evaluations. The desk review was complemented with focus group meetings with beneficiaries enquiring about their experience of the floods and cyclone and their views on the response. The team met with over 400 beneficiaries at 16 different sites to capture their views. DARA visited both flood affected and cyclone affected areas. DARA evaluated and offered recommendations on the use of the cluster approach in Mozambique, emergency funding mechanisms, the connectedness of the response with the longer term context, the extent to which the needs of the effected population were met, and support for local institutions. There is severe flooding on the Zambezi every five to ten years, contributing to the region’s poverty, which in turn makes people more vulnerable to disaster.
Download the complete report and findings here
Mid term Evaluation of the WFP Country Programme in Mozambique
 Following the Mozambique floods of February 2007 rural population from six Provinces was displaced. Women collecting water water point in the accomodation center in Caia, Sofala Province, IASC RTE. ©2007 Riccardo Polastro, DARA |
Members of DARA were commissioned to assess the WFP Country Programme in Mozambique. The purpose of the evaluation was to determine the degree to which objectives had been achieved according to UNEG’s evaluation criteria [link to UNEG site]. Mozambique remains among the world’s poorest countries. The country has one of the highest rates of child malnutrition in Africa: approximately 1.3 million children are chronically undernourished and chronic malnutrition among children under the age of five is, at 41 percent, still extremely high. The Country programme aims to:
The evaluation approach was based on identifying main issues related to programme performance that could help improve existing and future interventions. The evaluation followed WFP’s Evaluation Quality Assurance System (EQAS). Data collection was based on interviews and analysis of secondary data related to CP activities. The two-man evaluation team carried out its mission from 19 October to 1 November 2008. A list of recommendations targeting the implementation of activities in Mozambique and the need to apply more development-oriented and sustainable approaches, was provided. The evaluation results and recommendations were presented at the WFP’s board in June 2009, providing evidence that evaluations can be used as tools for policy and programme decision-making processes – and, eventually, for change.
Download the complete report and findings here
Tsunami Evaluation Coalition: phases one and two
Phase one
 The Maldives relies heavily on fishing for employment, food and exports. Humanitarian agencies and the government are working together to assist fishermen get back to work. ©2006 UNICEF |
On the 26th of December 2004, nearly 230,000 people died or disappeared and two million lost their homes in Asia and Africa, as a result of the worst natural hazard in recent times. Simultaneously, the largest humanitarian operation in history was initiated: the first system-wide study of a humanitarian response to be conducted since development of the approach following the Rwandan genocide. DARA’s experience in the project eventually led to its development of the Humanitarian Response Index. In February 2005, less than two months after the Tsunami, several humanitarian agencies decided to develop a joint evaluation of the international response to the Tsunami. The goal of the Tsunami Evaluation Coalition, in which DARA took part, was to take advantage of the experience of this unprecedented crisis in order to initiate a participatory learning process that would help improve the quality of humanitarian action, including the link between recovery and longer term development; accountability to the millions of people that made donations and to the citizens of the affected countries; and, finally, the consolidation of a joint evaluation model as a precedent for future evaluations. DARA developed a standardized questionnaire previous to the evaluation and in accordance to the TEC. The evaluation used case studies from 11 donor countries, including the European Commission. DARA was the only Spanish-speaking organisation to participate in this process and to disseminate TEC findings in Spanish.
Download the complete reports (7) and findings here
Phase two
In 2008, DARA was selected to participate in the Joint Follow-up Evaluation of the Tsunami Evaluation Coalition- Linking Relief Rehabilitation and Development (LRRD 2), and the organisation examined the long term effectiveness of the response to the 2004 Tsunami in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. A consortium led by Channel Research, including All India Disaster Mitigation Institute (AIDMI); DARA and Team C Voter carried out the Second TEC LRRD study. The five main themes that were covered during the evaluation were: the return of the state and civil society; poverty, livelihoods and economic recovery; rebuilding the social fabric and community development; reduction of risks from natural hazards and conflict; and capacity development. The objective of the follow-up evaluation was to identify linkages, both positive and negative, between relief, recovery and development activities, investigate results and consequences of those that have taken place during the more than three years after the disaster and formulate lessons to be learned and recommendations. The analysis was carried out for learning purposes. DARA carried out the evaluation in three steps: a documentary study, a field study, and a synthesis report and consultation.
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