Islamic Relief- Cash for Work Project, Gaza

This report presents the findings of the final external evaluation for the Cash for Work project funded by the Disasters Emergency Committee and implemented by Islamic Relief. The evaluation work was carried out by external consultants over a one month period starting October 20, 2009.

The project was a response to the Gaza crisis. The social and economic infrastructure of Gaza sustained extensive physical damage. According to the Palestinian Authority, 4,036 housing units were destroyed and a further 11,514 were partially damaged, leaving tens of thousands of displaced persons. Government buildings, water, energy and communications infrastructure, educational establishments and hospitals all sustained significant damage.

The project was initiated, designed, and implemented with the goal of improving the living conditions of the target breadwinners in Gaza strip with delivery of the following outputs:
• Providing 219 unemployed labour forces with temporary job opportunities for a 2 month period
• Alleviating the hardship conditions of about 1533 people and to access the beneficiaries from the basic need
• Enabling the municipalities to carry out the repair and maintenance of some facilities

The aim of this evaluation is to assess the effectiveness of the project in achieving the stated goal and objectives and to examine the extent to which the projects' inputs have been converted into outputs and results. In addition to extracting lessons learnt which can be taken into consideration in design of future similar projects.

The evaluation process used mixed methods including interviewing individuals, holding focus group discussions, conducting surveys and site visits to partner organizations and project sites.