Real-time Evaluation of CRS' Flood Response in Pakistan (Jacobabad and Kashmore, Sindh)

At the end of July 2010, heavy rains caused catastrophic floods across large sections of Pakistan. Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and its implementing partners are currently responding to the needs of affected communities by providing non-food item (NFI) kits to meet household basic needs, locally appropriate transitional shelter, vouchers and cash grants to restart livelihoods and hand pump repair and hygiene promotion trainings to improve access to clean water and improve community sanitation. The real time evaluation (RTE) was held approximately eight weeks after CRS' flood response began in Kashmore and Jacobabad to allow staff to learn from progress and achievements to date and to identify ways to apply this learning to improve the quality of on-going implementation. The terms of reference and methodology were the same as the RTE CRS conducted for its flood response in the Balochistan and KPK provinces in October 2010. The RTE used standard evaluation criteria of appropriateness/relevance, effectiveness, connectedness/sustainability, coverage, coherence/coordination, and impact to formulate evaluation questions, develop data collection tools, and structure team reflection. The five basic elements of accountability included in the Good Enough Guide were incorporated as an overlay to complement the evaluation criteria.