An Independent Joint Evaluation of the Haiti Earthquake Humanitarian Response
This report was commissioned by CARE International and Save the Children Federation, and supported by the Emergency Capacity Building Project : www.ecbproject.org . This report represents the analysis and findings of the author, and not necessarily those of CARE and Save the Children. Find the report attached or at this link: http://www.alnap.org/pool/files/1192.pdf.
Steering Committee:
CARE International, Haiti: Greg Brady, Emergency Team Leader; Yves Laurent Regis, Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator
Save the Children, Haiti: Jessica Alexander, Monitoring and Evaluation Senior Specialist; Lisa Laumann Director of Programs
Author Paul O’Hagan, an independent consultant, led the evaluation and served as the author of the evaluation report. He was joined in the evaluation by Katy Love, ECB Project Officer, and Angela Rouse, ECB Agency Manager, CARE.
Excerpts: "In September 2010, CARE International and Save the Children commissioned a joint independent evaluation of their humanitarian assistance. The evaluation used OECD?DAC criteria and crosscutting themes to assess the aid efforts to date. This evaluation presents a snapshot of the global humanitarian inter?agency response in areas of CARE and SCF intervention, as felt and perceived by a cross section of groups representative of Haitian society. It is important to emphasize that the findings reflect the views and sentiments of Haitians themselves in conversations led by and between Haitians."...
"Eight months after the disaster, the initial positively received humanitarian response is now receiving a very mixed reception, as felt by the random cross section of Haitians in the focus groups who were met. In spite of positive finding 1 [immediately after the earthquake], Haitians encountered and other stakeholders including within the humanitarian community, increasingly feel that the humanitarian community and Government are not meeting people?s expectations. They feel that humanitarian activities and programs are financially unsustainable and are not helping Haitians to achieve their own goals so that they can move forward from a state of emergency. While there was overall popular appreciation for free services and improvement in these for some groups; other people in Focus Group Discussions repeatedly expressed that their basic subsistence needs were not being met i.e. that they did not have shelter (street children), adequate food, poor quality water or security etc. These feelings of frustration will quickly turn to deep anger and violence if ignored." ...
"...In regards to shelter construction, Key Informants commented that they felt a lack of inclusion in the initial stages of local technical expertise and knowledge. Staff expressed that imported ?HousAlls? in some cases took months to arrive (and are inappropriate in the heat); Within the same time frame and comparable cost, they might explored constructing more appropriate ground level structures with materials available on the local market using local skills."