Appeal Evaluations1

As part of our commitment to transparency at the DEC, we assess our members’ responses to a disaster through a system of independent reviews and evaluations for each one of our appeals. This helps us to ensure high standards are being met, as well as gathering knowledge for future emergency responses.

Response Reviews

These are conducted early enough to influence and improve the way a response is evolving. Independent consultants will visit the affected region within three to six months of the appeal launch, and offer advice and recommendations that enable changes and improvements to be made during the remainder of the relief effort. These reports are published in full by the DEC.

DEC milestone reporting

At key milestones during an emergency response, such as after 6 months, or a year, the DEC will publish in detail an update on the programmes - how our members are spending appeal funds, and what they have delivered in the disaster areas.

All milestone reports can be found under each appeal section. 

Member Agency evaluations

A requirement of DEC membership is that for each appeal, four or five of our members will commission an independent evaluation of their work. These membership evaluations are published in full or in summary form, and usually carried out within a year of an appeal.

Collective initiatives

These are broader more long term assessments that can often be conducted around a theme, such as what can be learnt about responding to a disaster in an urban environment, as was the case with the earthquake in Haiti in 2010.

The collective initiative report for typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines in 2013 looked at how aid agencies contribute to change, attempting to measure how the lives of those affected by the disaster changed as a result of the typhoon, and by the subsequent aid response.