Save the Children Emergency Response to the Ivorian Crisis in Liberia

Political insecurity, persecution and violence stemming from the disputed presidential elections in Cote d'Ivoire lead to a massive influx of up to 178,000 Ivoirians seeking refuge in the border counties of eastern Liberia in late 2010 and early 2011. Most of these refugees were women and children and 60% of whom were under 18 years of age. The largest numbers of refugees entered Nimba and Grand Gedeh counties. By April 2011, the Save the Children (SC) declared the situation in Liberia and Cote d'Ivoire a crisis and launched an Alliance-wide emergency appeal and response to "address the child protection and education needs of children and their families affected by [the] crisis.2". Save the Children Liberia was able to secure approximately $215,000 USD in SC Children's Emergency Funds, and almost $4.3 million USD in complementary funding from UNICEF, UNHCR, UK's DFID, and the US' BPRM in support of these general objectives. SC's emergency response (ER) targeted an estimated 50,000 refugee and host community children and their families across 26 communities and three refugee camps in Nimba and Grand Gedeh counties. SC's emergency response strategies focused on child protection and education and included the following interventions: . Child Protection - the identification and protection of separated/unaccompanied children, the provision of protective environments, the provision of non-food items, support to foster families for separated/ unaccompanied children, and the strengthening of community child protection systems and psycho-social support through the establishment of a referral system for vulnerable children and the capacity building of community based organizations and local authorities. Education - construction/rehabilitation and support to temporary and semipermanent learning spaces, the provision of education to refugee children ages 3-5 years of age, and grades K-6, teacher training, establishing and strengthening Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs), and the provision of educational and recreational materials and kits, incentives to caregivers, and life skills training for adolescents. The primary objective of the emergency response program evaluation was to assess and document the relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, impact, and sustainability 3 of SC's response to the Ivorian refugee crisis in Nimba and Grand Gedeh counties over the last year. More specifically, the evaluation sought to:

1. Assess the extent to which the emergency response program met the performance targets and objectives
2. Assess the technical strength of the ER program interventions
3. Measure the extent to which the program has been accountable to the affected population) and
4. Identify lessons learned and provide recommendations for improving program quality and accountability, and contribute to learning in a wider sense within the agency.