Real-time Evaluation of UNHCR's IDP Operation in the Democratic Republic of Congo

In January 2007 UNHCR issued a document entitled ‘Policy Framework and
Implementation Strategy: UNHCR’s role in support of an enhanced humanitarian
response to situations of internal displacement’. The primary purpose of this
document was to set out the key considerations and principles guiding UNHCR’s
engagement with IDPs in the context of the UN’s humanitarian reform process, and
in particular, within the new institutional arrangements known as the ‘cluster
approach’. This evaluation report is one of a series which seeks to analyse UNHCR’s
initial experience in the implementation of the cluster approach as part of the
humanitarian reform process, with the aim of identifying lessons learned and
effective practices which may be drawn upon as the cluster approach is rolled out to
other operations. The evaluation process also provided an early opportunity to
review field operations in the light of the IDP policy framework referred to above,
together with UNHCR’s paper on 'The Protection of IDPs and the Role of UNHCR',
issued in February 2007. The countries selected for evaluation were those in which
the cluster approach was initially rolled out (Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC),
Liberia, Somalia and Uganda), together with Chad, where a ‘cluster-like’
arrangement was already in place at the time the evaluation was undertaken.