Rwanda: A Model for Multi-Donor Evaluation?

The Joint Evaluation of Emergency Assistance to Rwanda represents an unprecedented attempt by the international community to draw lessons from the recent experience of humanitarian assistance efforts in and around Rwanda. Based on an examination of the roles of all the groups and agencies involved in the response, the evaluation is being funded by 20 donor organisations and UN agencies, and is being coordinated by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The evaluation comprises four discrete studies, which are being managed by the development assistance departments of Sweden, Norway, the UK and the US respectively. Study I covers the historical background to the conflict in Rwandan society: Study II focuses upon conflict prevention; Study III is on the effectiveness of emergency assistance in Rwanda and neighbouring countries; Study IV tackles the effectiveness of repatriation, rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts. The evaluation began in January 1995 and draft reports of the four studies will be finalised by the beginning of December 1995.

This evaluation is significant not only because of the scale of the international response to the crisis in Rwanda, but because it may represent the beginnings of a coordinated approach to evaluation in complex emergencies. The Overseas Development Institute is responsible for Study III, and we therefore hope to disseminate some of the findings of the evaluation in future mailings of the Network.