Inter-agency real-time evaluation (IA RTE) of the Humanitarian Response to [Disaster XYZ in Country XYZ] Terms of Reference

IA RTEs are an initiative of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee IASC). An IA RTE can be defined as an evaluation carried out at the early implementation stages of a humanitarian operation which almost simultaneously feeds back findings for immediate use by the broader humanitarian community, particularly at the field level. An IA RTE is primarily intended for sudden-onset disasters, or protracted crises undergoing a phase of rapid deterioration or escalating violence. These evaluations differ from other forms of humanitarian evaluation in their speed, coverage, methods, and outputs. IA RTEs are typified by their shared management and methodological oversight through global and national level inter-agency support, management groups [and in-country Advisory Groups]; speed of mobilization, feedback and follow-up; light, agile approaches; restricted scope; and participatory methods. Ideally, IA RTEs seek to unlock inter-agency coordination problems or operational bottlenecks and provide real-time learning to the field.