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About Evaluations | Evaluation Resources
The Humanitarian Accountability Framework (HAF) is a statement of CARE’s commitment to accountability at all stages of emergency preparedness and response, including when evaluating a project or program. CARE defines accountability as the means by which we fulfill our responsibilities to our stakeholders and the ways in which they may hold us to account for our decisions, actions and impacts.
An evaluation can be defined as ‘…a systematic and impartial examination of humanitarian action intended to draw lessons to improve policy and practice and practice and enhance accountability' (ALNAP, 2001). CARE's current evaluation policy states that external evaluations are optional but will usually be carried out in cases where at least one of the following conditions has been met:
There are several types of evaluations. The full list can be found in ALNAP's Training Manual, but the most common ones for CARE are:
An evaluation should be led by an external, independent Team Leader. The terms of reference for the evaluation should describe how the results will be used. The evaluation team often submits an inception report within a few days of starting the evaluation describing how they propose to satisfy the objectives in the TOR.
As with the AAR, the CO has the primary responsibility to identify funding, and organise and manage the evaluation. An external evaluation led by a professional evaluator can typically costs USD20,000-35,000. In some circumstances, a joint evaluation with partner agencies may be more appropriate. While an evaluation (with the exception of real-time evaluations) usually don't take place until several months after the emergency event, there are a few planning and budgeting steps that need to be taken during the early stages of an emergency response. For more details see the following annexes.
Bellow are listed a few examples of Evaluation Resources. For more resources, please visit ALNAP ERD, Minerva, ECB Evaluation Database or Evaluations Electronic Library.
When conducting an Evaluation, please consult the following sample cover sheet as it contains information CARE is looking to find within an Evaluation.