Islamic Relief Worldwide: Independent Evaluation of Nepal Earthquake Response

The devastating earthquakes of April-May 2015 in Nepal triggered a massive humanitarian response under the leadership of the Government of Nepal (GoN). Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW) mobilised fast and launched relief operations within 24 hours of the disaster, with funding from its partners and the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC, UK). After the relief phase (first six months), IRW launched an 18-month recovery and reconstruction programme with funding from the DEC in one district, namely Rasuwa. The response during this phase focused on three outcomes, namely:

1. Increased access to disaster resilient permanent housing;
2. Increased access of affected households to safe water and proper sanitation;
3. Improved access to livelihoods opportunities for vulnerable women.

As the project came to an end in April 2017, IRW commissioned this independent evaluation to assess overall performance of the project with reference to the outcomes and outputs, as well as draw lessons for future programme. The evaluation used the internationally accepted (OECD/ DAC) evaluation criteria for evaluating humanitarian action, and examined the quality of interventions, as well as aspects of accountability as per Core Humanitarian Standards (CHS).