January
DARA has sent a team of experts to Haiti to provide technical assistance to the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID in its Spanish acronym) in its EU Presidency commitment to contribute to the coordination of the Union’s on the ground response with the rest of the humanitarian system and Haiti´s local government.
In the aftermath of the earthquake which struck Haiti on January 12, Ross Mountain, Silvia Hidalgo, Joel Boutroue, Ricardo Solé and Soledad Posada from DARA will contribute to the EU Presidency’s efforts to maximize the efficiency of aid.
 Haiti earthquake, January 2010 |
"We welcome the Spanish government's commitment to put humanitarian issues at the forefront of the EU's agenda, and ask that it exercise its leadership to make sure that the EU brings a common vision and approach to aid efforts in Haiti," said DARA Director Ross Mountain, who is heading the DARA team.
The objective of this mission is to contribute to the coordination of the EU response, supporting the leading role of the UN and local authorities. It will involve both human and material resources, alongside mechanisms to link with the coordination systems and stakeholders working in the field. The mission will carry out needs assessments, share information and point out gaps and bottlenecks.
"We will work to make sure that through cooperation among actors on the ground, and in consultation with Haitian authorities, we can help the EU be as effective as possible in its relief efforts," added Mountain.
In past evaluations, particularly during the Tsunami Evaluation Coalition (TEC) and in Humanitarian Response Index (HRI) missions to Haiti, DARA reported that a lack of coordination between donors caused confusion, delays in aid delivery as well as the duplication of efforts.
"Effective coordination will ensure an adequate, effective, equitable and flexible allocation of aid," stressed Mountain. "To achieve this, those who are allocating aid must apply a rigorous approach to needs assessments, both at the global and at the local level. "
Click here for DARA's statement
Click here for Haiti context and recommendations
Click here for Allan Lavell's interview
Read the HRI 2009 Haiti Crisis Report
December
DARA presented the HRI 2009 findings in a special and interactive debate with leading UN and NGO representatives, as well as journalists at Caixa Forum in Madrid on 3rd December.
The debate, which examined how best to overcome the barriers facing the humanitarian system when responding to crises and natural disasters, was opened by Silvia Hidalgo of DARA who called for donors to respond adequately to all crises "including those not covered by the media".
 Silvia Hidalgo during her presentation |
Last year 230 natural disasters and 39 conflicts affected more than 250 million people worldwide. Wealthy donor governments are fundamental in exerting influence to improve humanitarian response.
Hidalgo also stressed the need to unify efforts at a time when needs are outstripping capacity as well as available resources, "A number of international NGOS have seen themselves forced to let go over 100 humanitarian workers in just one week," she declared.
DARA sent teams to 13 humanitarian crises last year and found in 10 of them that limitations to the unhindered provision of aid continues to be at the forefront of factors jeopardizing the wellbeing of affected populations.
Only half of the donor countries are actively facilitating access to people in need. According to Hidalgo, governments should reinforce their efforts to address the problem of access in places like Somalia or Afghanistan more effectively, without it being conditioned by economic, political or military interests.
Another of this year’s HRI most important findings is the persisting lack of risk reduction measures even though disasters are expected to take their toll on a larger number of people in the near future. Haiti, this year’s most forgotten crisis, suffers continuous natural disasters. In terms of conflicts, improved contingency plans in Sri Lanka and Gaza could have prevented loss of lives.
Led by Cuatro TV journalist Olga RodrĂguez, an interactive debate followed in which the audience's opinions, expressed through an electronic voting system, marked the expert panel discussion which featured the participation of Ross Mountain, Former Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for the DRC and Incoming DARA Director General, Aldo Ajello, Former European Union Special Representative in the Great Lakes Region, Silvia Hidalgo, RamĂłn Lobo, El PaĂs journalist, and Marta Arias, UNICEF Spain Advocacy Director.
 Aldo Ajello during his presentation |
Lobo called for a reformation of the humanitarian system as a whole since many of "the efforts are short-term when reality is long term," he said. On the other hand, Ajello urged the international community to further target the root causes of crises and invest more in prevention measures and in assuring the security of humanitarian workers.
The appropriateness of the HRI’s ranking system to classify donors based on their commitments to improve the quality and efficiency of humanitarian aid was also discussed. Over 86% of the audience hailed the HRI as a fundamental tool for donor transparency.
During the event, Silvia Hidalgo announced Ross Mountain as DARA’s new Director General as of January 1st 2010. In his speech Ross Mountain expressed his pleasure "in joining DARA and in continuing the extraordinary work initiated by Silvia." He referred to the HRI as a "bold initiative", especially "when 9 million children died unnecessarily and 1 biillion people went to bed hungry" in what has been considered a "good year".
Click here to view the HRI 2009 presentation at Caixa Forum photos
December
Following the global launch of the 2009 Humanitarian Response Index in Washington DC on 10 November, DARA is organizing a special debate and interactive presentation of this year's ranking and findings in Madrid on December 3.
 ©DARA, 2009. |
Leading UN and NGO representatives, as well as journalists, will analyze how to best overcome the barriers the humanitarian system faces when responding to crises and natural disasters.
The event will consist of interactive audience contributions, led by Cuatro TV journalist Olga RodrĂguez, and a panel discussion featuring:
The debate will look at how humanitarian organisations can respond more effectively to disaster and conflict amidst increasingly limited humanitarian access, global financial turmoil and the proliferation of natural disasters and violent conflicts.
Last year 230 natural disasters and 39 conflicts affected more than 250 million people worldwide. That same year, 260 humanitarian workers were killed, kidnapped or seriously injured, the highest toll on record.
Place: Caixa Forum, Paseo del Prado 36, 28014 – Madrid
Date: Thursday December 3
Time: 11:30 am
November
DARA has launched its HRI 2010 field missions by sending a team on a pilot exercise to the Central African Republic (CAR).
The pilot mission, which ran from 18th to 26th November, was encompassed in DARA´s annual efforts to refine and improve the methodology and survey questionnaire based on feedback and lessons learnt from previous years.
It is the second time that DARA members visit the CAR, thus allowing an opportunity to assess how the international community’s response has evolved over time.
The CAR, considered a neglected humanitarian crisis despite the increase in humanitarian funds since 2007, ranks 178 out of 179 in terms of human development and has a recorded life expectancy of 43 years. While humanitarian response is concentrated in the north of the country, where banditry and fighting between rebel groups and the military have forced the displacement of more than 200.000 civilians in the past years, the south of the country’s population is afflicted by an extreme deterioration of living conditions.
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The freezing of the wood, diamond and gold industries, which in turn have led to dwindling incomes in the south, have not but aggravated an already precarious situation. Malnutrition levels have flared within a population struck by illness and epidemic, and with minimum or non-existent access to medical assistance.
International humanitarian response in the CAR faces the double challenge of efficiently responding the multiple humanitarian needs all over a country with access and security problems, and of placing this crisis in its corresponding place within the priority list of donor countries.
In the course of 9 days, DARA’s team managed to interview the majority of UN agencies and NGOs present in the country.
Over the three years that the HRI has been in existence, DARA has carried out field research in a total of 33 humanitarian crises and collected about four and half thousand survey responses.
For more information on the international humanitarian response in CAR, visit www.hdptcar.net
Now in its fourth year, the HRI was created in 2006 by DARA and is a commitment made at The Clinton Global Initiative. It ranks 23 of the wealthiest donors (OECD/ DAC members) by analysing their performance against the Principles of Good Humanitarian Donorship (GHD) that they themselves have signed up to.
In January, DARA sent a team to the Philippines and Indonesia to analyse the international response to two of the most relevant natural disasters in 2009. Information on these missions will soon follow. A team is currently in Nairobi, Kenya, looking into the response to the Somalian crisis.
DARA will soon upload a crisis report on CAR with the main findings.
Click here to view the HRI 2010 missions Page
Click here for the HRI 2009 findings
November
DARA has completed a regional training course for 14 Asia-Pacific Country Offices of UNICEF in the Philippines, from September to October this year.
After introducing an evaluation policy in 2008, UNICEF Country Offices in the Asia Pacific region organized a training course in order to reinforce monitoring and evaluation capacities of UNICEF CO's.
DARA, as the only external organisation to participate in the training, was invited to present the key note speech on new trends in evaluation in the context of aid effectiveness (Paris Declaration and Accra Agenda for Action), as well as the evaluation in humanitarian aid contexts and HRI modules. Additionally, the organisation also acted as discussant of the real-time evaluation module among others.
The training provided participants with an increased understanding of different types of evaluation and approaches, improving their capacity to use both quantitative and qualitative methods. It also enhanced their competencies for managing and contracting evaluations.
The course was based on first-hand experiences regarding lessons learned and good practices emanating from UNICEF and the UN system.
Like in this case, DARA encourages conducting needs assessments before carrying out training in order to guarantee these being demand driven and utilisation focused.
November
DARA will hold two events for the international launch of its global Humanitarian Response Index 2009 findings on Tuesday 10th November in Washington DC.
The first of these events will be a press conference at the National Press Club, which will then be followed by a special presentation at The Brookings Institute.
Endorsed by Kofi Annan, Jeffrey Sachs and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Humanitarian Response Index (HRI) is the only independent initiative that measures how well governments support humanitarian action around the world. Now in its third year, the HRI ranks 23 of the wealthiest donors (OECD/ DAC members) by analysing their performance against the Principles of Good Humanitarian Donorship (GHD) that they themselves have signed up to. The HRI is a collective effort that relies on the input of representatives from over 450 humanitarian agencies.
Humanitarian crises threaten the lives and livelihoods of over 250 million people every year. Increased threat of "natural" disasters and conflict, coupled with the compounded effects of climate change, global financial turmoil and limited access means that more and more people need assistance now and in the coming years.
An estimated US$ 10.4 billion was provided by the world's main government donors for humanitarian assistance in 2008. As both the main funders of humanitarian action and international governmental actors, these donors have a powerful and influential role to play in promoting positive changes in the way the humanitarian sector provides assistance to those who need it the most, when they need it the most.
The HRI was created in 2006 by DARA and is a commitment made at The Clinton Global Initiative. It aims to ensure that resources and funds are used as efficiently and effectively as possible to meet the needs of the millions of people affected by crises.
The 2009 launch will cover how well individual countries -including the US- performed in a year of economic downturn and change. The report includes analysis of the performance and policies of each donor country based on quantitative data, and on field research carried out in 13 major humanitarian crises during 2009.
The presentation at Brookings will include introductory remarks by Strobe Talbott, President of Brookings. HRI findings will be presented by Silvia Hidalgo and Philip Tamminga of DARA. The event will feature a debate by an expert panel made up of Jose Maria Figueres, Former President of Costa Rica; Maria Otero, US Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs (TBC); Ross Mountain, Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for the DRC; and Elizabeth Ferris, Senior Fellow, Brookings-BernProject on Internal Displacement, who has contributed an article in this year's edition of the HRI.
The HRI's findings of this year's Humanitarian Response Index will be available on this website following the launch.
November
Almost half of the world’s main donor governments are not doing enough to ensure that public funding for humanitarian assistance is reaching those most in need, when they need it most, according to DARA’s 2009 Humanitarian Response Index (HRI)(TM), launched in Washington DC on 10 November.
DARA has held two events to present the HRI 2009 findings: a press conference at Washington’s National Press Club followed by a special presentation at The Brookings Institution.
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Now in its third year, the HRI ranks 23 of the wealthiest donors (OECD/ DAC members) by analysing their performance against the Principles of Good Humanitarian Donorship (GHD) that they themselves have signed up to.
Key 2009 findings include:
| Donor | HRI 2007 | HRI 2008 | HRI 2009 |
| Norway | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Sweden | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Ireland | 6 | 4 | 3 |
| Denmark | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| European Commission | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Netherlands | 4 | 6 | 6 |
| Luxembourg | 12 | 7 | 7 |
| Switzerland | 10 | 9 | 8 |
| United Kingdom | 9 | 8 | 9 |
| Australia | 14 | 11 | 10 |
| New Zealand | 8 | 13 | 11 |
| Finland | 11 | 12 | 12 |
| Canada | 7 | 10 | 13 |
| United States | 16 | 15 | 14 |
| Spain | 17 | 16 | 15 |
| Germany | 13 | 17 | 16 |
| Belgium | 15 | 14 | 17 |
| Austria | 20 | 21 | 18 |
| Japan | 18 | 18 | 19 |
| France | 19 | 20 | 20 |
| Italy | 22 | 19 | 21 |
| Greece | 23 | 23 | 22 |
| Portugal | 21 | 22 | 23 |
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Endorsed by Kofi Annan, Jeffrey Sachs and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the HRI is the only independent initiative that measures how well governments support humanitarian action around the world. For the HRI 2009, DARA visited 13 humanitarian crises around the world including Afghanistan, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Georgia, Myanmar and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The report includes analysis of the performance of each donor country based on quantitative data, and on field research carried out in the aforementioned crises.
This year’s HRI report shows that the global economic crisis, along with the increasing frequency and severity of disasters and ongoing crises, are having a serious effect on the ability of humanitarian organisations to respond effectively to needs. Donor governments can do much more to focus and prioritise their aid budgets to have a greater impact.
Presenting the findings at the National Press Club, Silvia Hidalgo, DARA Executive Director and co-founder said:
“Given the global economic crisis, more effective use of public money and greater quality and impact in humanitarian aid has never been more important. In places like Pakistan, Sudan, or Somalia, countless human lives could be saved and suffering avoided if government donors applied basic good practice in the way they fund and support humanitarian organisations”.
Overall, the HRI 2009 also highlights some serious gaps in how the international community deals with crises:
The HRI 2009 report calls for donor governments to develop guidelines on how to best facilitate access and to significantly boost funding to support a more harmonised approach to conflict and disaster prevention and risk-reduction efforts.
Huge expectation for the HRI 2009 findings at Brookings
The HRI 2009 findings presentation at the Brookings Institute took place in a very packed Murray Room. Various representatives of the most important NGO's, government agencies and World Bank members assisted the highly awaited presentation of this year's report.
The event was opened with introductory remarks by Strobe Talbott, President of Brookings. HRI findings were presented by Silvia Hidalgo and Philip Tamminga of DARA. The event also featured a debate by an expert panel made up of Jose MarĂa Figueres, Former President of Costa Rica; Ross Mountain, Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for the DRC; and Elizabeth Ferris, Senior Fellow, Brookings-BernProject on Internal Displacement, who has contributed an article in this year’s edition of the HRI.
Introduction video of the HRI 2009
Humanitarian crises threaten the lives and livelihoods of over 250 million people every year. Increased threat of “natural” disasters and conflict, coupled with the compounded effects of climate change, global financial turmoil and limited access means that more and more people need assistance now and in the coming years.
Introduction video of the HRI 2009
The HRI was created in 2006 by DARA and is a commitment made at The Clinton Global Initiative. It aims to ensure that resources and funds are used as efficiently and effectively as possible to meet the needs of the millions of people affected by crises. The HRI is a collective effort that relies on the input of 450 representatives from 250 humanitarian agencies.
Click here to view the HRI 2009 launch press conference photos
Click here to view the HRI 2009 presentation at Brookings photos
The HRI 2009 will be launched in Madrid, Spain on December 3rd. More information will added shortly.
Related Pages
Order your copy of the 2009 Humanitarian Response Index here
See how each individual donor has performed
Read more on each of the crises visited
For Media
Read the full News Release
See the Overview Facts and Figures sheet
Click here for individual donor fact sheets
September
As part of research for the 2009 edition of the Humanitarian Response Index, DARA field teams have visited a total of 13 crises countries across four continents. Interviews have been conducted with over 450 field representatives of humanitarian organisations, local authorities and NGOs and a total of over 2000 survey responses on donor behaviour in these crises have been collected.
 HRI mission to Sri Lanka. ©2009 DARA |
The visits are part of DARA’s research for the 2009 edition of the Humanitarian Response Index (HRI), which will be launched on 10 November in Washington DC. The index assesses and ranks 23 of the world’s wealthiest donors on their response to humanitarian crises around the world.
Missions carried out this year have included Afghanistan, Chad, China, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Georgia, Myanmar, Occupied Palestinian Territories, Somalia, Sri Lanka and Timor Leste.
For example, during a field visit to the West Bank and Gaza in March and April, DARA researchers assessed the humanitarian situation and interviewed more than 50 aid organisations about the support they have received from their international donors.
Humanitarian Response in the Occupied Palestinian Territories
The response of donors to the humanitarian emergency following Israel’s offensive in Gaza last December and January has been generous. However, DARA’s initial findings also suggest an undermining of the humanitarian principles of impartiality, neutrality and independence in donorship.
In Gaza, denial of access to those affected by the crisis was a particular problem as was the failure of donors to respond more precisely to their needs. The provision of unsolicited donations suggests that efforts to achieve better donor and operational coordination still have some way to go.
During its mission, DARA visited some the worst effected areas of Gaza and the West Bank including Gaza City, Rafah, Hebron, Nablus and the district of Qalqilya.
For a look back at the 2008 HRI, please click here
November
Evaluation of ICRC
DARA is currently participating in the first evaluation of the International Committee of the Red Cross's (ICRC) policy on internally displaced persons (IDPs). The evaluation is the first to look at the organizations operational position towards IDPs and the results will seek to influence 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 and Georgia. The evaluators met with ICRC staff, UN agencies, NGOs, donors, government staff and displaced populations.
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.
Download the ToR of this evaluation here
September
DARA’s Humanitarian Response Index was featured in a session of the CGI Annual Meeting in New York as one of four outstanding commitments from previous years.
As a preview of its HRI 2009, DARA called for a major reform of the humanitarian donorship system at the Clinton Global Initiative held in New York September 22nd-25th.
Silvia Hidalgo, DARA’s Executive Director, and JosĂ© MarĂa Figueres, DARA Board Member and Former President of Costa Rica, revealed that the initial HRI findings, which will be made known on November 10th in Washington D.C., show a humanitarian system that is not fully equipped to respond to existing needs, especially with disasters expected to take their toll on a larger number of people in the advent of climate change.
With more than 250 million people annually affected by natural disasters and over 39 major conflicts in 2008 alone, Silvia Hidalgo called for a reform of the humanitarian system as a whole and an increase in annual expenditure: “$8 billion may sound like a lot but it’s very little to meet even existing needs. We are concerned and trying to get the system to reform itself in order to be prepared for the increased needs in the immediate future.” Making sure that the right kind of aid reaches those in need is the HRI’s driving force. DARA has found that limited humanitarian access to people in need continues to be the greatest challenge faced in humanitarian assistance. Silvia Hidalgo insisted on the need to increase and unify efforts to open up spaces for the unhindered provision of aid, “with the number of international staff in places like Somalia having dropped to zero.” Developed in 2006, after DARA identified a gap during its participation in the Tsunami Evaluation Coalition (TEC), the HRI is an independent initiative that annually assesses and ranks donor countries against their commitment to improve the quality and effectiveness of humanitarian efforts.
Now in its third year, the HRI is a five-year Clinton Global Initiative commitment. President Figueres stressed that the cost of the project was easily justified by the influence it had. “Through a $1.5 million per year investment we are moving the needle towards better humanitarian donorship and the $8 billion that go into this field.” Based on quantitative and qualitative data, to compile the HRI 2009 DARA visited 13 crises and obatained over 2000 responses. The report will be launched on November 10th in Washington D.C.
July
Evaluation of DG ECHO's Actions in the Saharawi Refugee Camps
The results of DARA's recent evaluation indicate that, after more than thirty years, basic needs have yet to be met in the Saharawi Refugee camps.
The organisation was selected this year by the European Commission's Humanitarian Office department (ECHO) to evaluate its humanitarian assistance to Saharawi refugees displaced by the conflict over Western Sahara.
DARA's findings indicate that there is an overall static humanitarian situation in the camps with minimal prospects for linking relief, rehabilitation and development. The evaluation concludes that additional coordination and collaboration at the international and local level is crucial to resolve this situation.
The three-month study, between April and June 2009 was the first evaluation of DG ECHO's support to the Saharawis living in refugee camps near 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 around 150,000 refugees in the camps.
The evaluation aimed to advise DG ECHO on priorities, recommendations for improving the impact of the humanitarian response and help orientate future actions to be funded.
The methodology chosen included a document review, an ad-hoc questionnaire and semi-structured interviews with key informants. 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 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
March
Guide to Real-time Evaluations of Humanitarian Action
The guide to real-time evaluations (RTEs) published in March by the Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance in Humanitarian Action (ALNAP), deals with one of the most demanding yet increasingly popular types of evaluation practice. It is intended to help both evaluation managers and team leaders in commissioning, overseeing and conducting evaluations that are carried out during rather than after an emergency operation.
In recent years, RTEs have become increasingly vital in improving the quality of response to humanitarian crises by helping to solve operational problems as they occur. However, although several organisations have produced their own internal guides to the practice, the ALNAP guide is the first aimed at the humanitarian sector as a whole.
DARA was selected to participate in the guide's peer review committee following its experience in the real-time evaluation of the inter-agency response to the 2007 floods and cyclone in Mozambique.
Download Real-time Evaluations of Humanitarian Action - An ALNAP Guide March 2009 here
February
Mid term Evaluation of the WFP Country Programme in Mozambique
DARA's evaluation of the WFP Country Programme in Mozambique has found that the school feeding programme has been effective in terms of access to and retention in education. However, although it accelerates already positive tendencies, the programme is not enough of an incentive to reverse high drop out or low enrolment levels.
Members of DARA were commissioned to assess the degree to which the WFP Country Programme's objectives in Mozambique pursued between 2007 and 2009 had been achieved.
The WFP Country programme aims to:
The findings indicate that the programme has provided families or caregivers with incentives for sending girls, orphans and other vulnerable children (OVCs) to school and ensuring that they do not drop out. However, the design of the School Feeding programme has had negative effects on efficiency. Logistics support is costly, requiring substantial human and financial resources and coordination. This is mainly due to countrywide distribution, which involves the transport of small amounts of food over large distances.
The report highlighted the need for identifying a more replicable model for school feeding that would facilitate the inclusion of such into the Government's sector strategic framework. It concludes that sustainability will depend on the Ministry of Education and Culture's political and financial commitment.
DARA's evaluation approach was based on identifying the main issues related to programme performance that could help improve existing and future interventions. The evaluation followed the WFP's Evaluation Quality Assurance System (EQAS) and UNEG's evaluation criteria focusing on relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability. 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.
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 still extremely high, at 41 percent.
Download Summary Evaluation Report Mozambique Country Programme here
Download Full Report of the Evaluation of the Mozambique Country Programme (2007-2009) here
February
Who Helps Who and Who Decides
The governments of disaster prone countries should do more to define their own priorities and not let the foreign aid system do it for them. This is just one of the findings of a new study co-authored by DARA that examines the long term effectiveness of the response to the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami.
 Painting of Tsunami wave on the walls of Meulaboh football stadium, Aceh Province, Indonesia. ©Riccardo Polastro, DARA. |
A ripple in development? Long term perspectives on the response to the Indian Ocean tsunami 2004 is the result of a joint evaluation analysing the situation in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Maldives during the period 2004 - 2008. It concludes that effective transition from relief to rehabilitation and development depends on local capacity building and the appropriate use of international assistance. This means involving local governments and NGOs at the earliest opportunity to ensure that development is sustainable while defining the role of international organisations according to their capacity rather than the availability of funds.
The evaluation consortium of All India Disaster Mitigation Institute (AIDMI), Channel Research, DARA and Team C Voter also offers a series of recommendations including:
 Tsunami survivor living near the buffer zone in Kalutara. ©Riccardo Polastro, DARA. |
The consortium's study was commissioned by seven major aid donors led by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), the governments of Indonesia and Sri Lanka and a group of international aid organisations.
This latest evaluation is the second to examine the links between immediate relief, rehabilitation (or reconstruction) and development (LRRD) in the response to the 2004 Tsunami.
As part of the Tsunami Evaluation Coalition (TEC), DARA also participated in the first system wide evaluations in 2005-06, producing a series of reports on funding of the response to the Tsunami:
The 2005-06 evaluation was 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.
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