How our work helps the humanitarian community deliver more effective humanitarian action

We conduct evaluations, research and policy studies that focus on improving humanitarian aid performance, particularly in conflict situations and natural disasters, advocating for better humanitarian donorship, and strengthening the role and responsibility of host governments and local and regional actors in addressing humanitarian challenges.

Independent Evaluations & Technical Assistance

Through our evaluations we provide a body of evidence that demonstrates what works and what changes should be considered for humanitarian policies and programs to be more effective. DARA specializes in real-time, system-wide, impact, policy and program evaluations in complex emergencies.

Examples of our evaluations include;

• IOM Evaluation of the Regional Response to the flows of refugees and migrants from Venezuela
• Global Evaluation of UN Women’s Contribution to Humanitarian Action
• WFP’s Humanitarian Protection Policy
• WFP/UNHCR Regional Emergency operation-assistance to Refugees and Host Communities affected by Insecurity in Mali
• UNICEF’s Response and Recovery Efforts to Gorkha Earthquake in Nepal
• ECHO actions in coastal West Africa 2008-2014
• UNICEF’s Response and Programme Strategies to the Crisis in CAR
• Real-Time Evaluation of UNHCR’s response to the Syrian refugee emergency
• WFP Strategic Evaluation in Democratic Republic of Congo
• Synthesis of WFP Mixed Method Impact Evaluations of the Contribution of Food Assistance to Durable Solutions in Protracted Refugee Situations

Research & Policy Studies

Our investigation areas for research and policy studies include the following:

• Refugee Response Index: the Refugee Response Index (RRI) is an index that measures countries’ response to refugees in a global, independent and comprehensive manner, without establishing an overall ranking of individual countries. Across its six pillars the RRI covers all main components of the multi-dimensional refugee response. This is complemented by cross-cutting indicators on Age, Gender, Diversity and a Multi-Stakeholder Approach. The RRI will acknowledge different and complementary contributions of states as a necessary step towards fair responsibility-sharing. Pilot testing of the RRI methodology is expected to begin in 2020.
• Humanitarian Response: the Humanitarian Response Index (HRI) independently analyses whether donor governments follow through with their commitment to respect humanitarian principles when allocating financial resources to crises. With the group of donors becoming larger and more diverse, the HRI was updated and improved to continue to assess whether priorities are backed by humanitarian principles and evidence, and whether humanitarian aid funding addresses the immediate needs of the most vulnerable populations.
• Disaster Risk Reduction: the Disaster Risk Reduction Index (DRRI): The DRRI helps governments and civil society understand the risks that lead to disasters so that they can be fully addressed. In Central America and West Africa, the RRI has identified links between underlying risk factors and increased vulnerability, raising awareness around the need for greater risk management initiatives.