Inter-Agency Humanitarian Evaluation of the drought response in Ethiopia 2015 - 2018

This report presents the results of an Inter-Agency Humanitarian Evaluation (IAHE) of the drought response in Ethiopia between 2015 and 2018; primarily the El Niño drought starting in 2015, and the Indian Ocean Dipole drought in 2017. It is an independent assessment of the collective humanitarian response of Inter-Agency Standing Committee member organizations.

It focuses on contributions of the international system and does not aim to evaluate the response of the Government of Ethiopia.

The evaluation sought to answer the following main questions: 1) Relevance: Do the planning documents reflect the needs and priorities of people affected by the droughts? 2 )Effectiveness: Did the response reach its intended results? 3) Sustainability: Did the response help build resilience? 4) Partnerships & Localization: Did the response adequately build partnerships and involve local capacities? 5) Coordination: Was the response well coordinated?

The evaluation provides country-level as well as global and systemic recommendations. At the country level, the Humanitarian Coordinator leads the development of a formal management response plan, which is monitored on an annual basis. At the global level, the Inter-Agency Standing Committee Principals seek to ensure that global and systemic recommendations are addressed and that follow-up is monitored.

The evaluation used mixed qualitative and quantitative research methods to triangulate results derived from different sources, including aid workers, government officials, donors, and affected people: Key stakeholder interviews, a survey and focus group discussions with affected people, quantitative analysis, document analysis, and an aid worker and donor survey. The evaluation was conducted between December 2018 and October 2019. The evaluation team considered gender issues throughout the evaluation process, and sought to implement the evaluation in a conflict-sensitive way.