Evaluation of the European Union’s humanitarian interventions in the African Great Lakes, 2013-2017
Date: 2017-09-14
Institutions: Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO), European Commission
Subjects: humanitarian aid

EVALUATION AND FITNESS CHECK (FC) ROADMAP 

TITLE 
EVALUATION/FC 

OF 

THE 

Evaluation  of  the  European  Union’s  humanitarian  interventions  in 
the African Great Lakes, 2013-2017 

LEAD 
RESPONSIBLE UNIT 

DG 

– 

ECHO C3/A3 

TYPE OF EVALUATION 

Ex-post evaluation, Mixed 

DATE OF THIS 
ROADMAP 

PLANNED START 
DATE 

PLANNED 
COMPLETION DATE 

09/2017 

Q1 / 2018 

Q4 / 2018 

PLANNING 
CALENDAR 

http://ec.europa.eu/smart-
regulation/evaluation/index_en.htm 

This indicative roadmap is provided for information purposes only and is subject to change. 

A. Purpose   

(A.1) Purpose  

To provide an overall independent assessment of the European Union’s humanitarian interventions in the 
African Great Lakes, 2013-2017, which will inform future decision making. 

(A.2) Justification 
Art.  18  of  Regulation  1257/96  (the  Humanitarian  Aid  Regulation)  requires  a  regular  assessment  of 
humanitarian aid operations financed by the Union.  

Art. 30 (point 4) of the Financial Regulation requires evaluations of all programmes and activities which 
entail significant spending to be undertaken in order to support decision making. 

(B.1) Subject area 

B. Content and subject of the evaluation 

The African Great Lakes region comprises the countries of Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo 
(DRC), Rwanda, Tanzania, Republic of Congo and Uganda.  

The  region  has  witnessed  some  of  the  worst  conflicts  on  the  African  continent  over  the  last  decades, 
which  have  resulted  in  huge  population  displacements,  both  internal  and  cross-border,  with  severe 
humanitarian consequences.  

The 2013 crisis related to the civil war in Central African Republic resulted in a wave of refugee arrivals 
in the northern part of DRC and the Republic of Congo. 

At the end of April 2015,  the presidential elections in Burundi triggered a spiral of violence and unrest 
that provoked a massive flow of refugees towards neighbouring countries. In the current political context, 
it  is  likely  that  many  refugees  will  remain  in  the  camps  in  2017,  with  low  visibility  on  prospects  for 
returns. 

The humanitarian crisis in the DRC is among the world’s most complex emergencies, both protracted and 
new with for instance the Kasaï conflict, in one of the world’s poorest countries. The country has about 
3.8 million internally displaced people. Currently, there are more than 500 000 Congolese refugees in the 
neighbouring countries, mainly in Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi and Tanzania, the majority living in refugee 
camps  depending  on  humanitarian  aid  for  their  survival.  DRC  also  hosts  more  than  470  000  refugees 
(mostly from Rwanda, CAR and Burundi) with an ongoing influx of people fleeing the conflict in South 
Sudan. 

Protection of civilians  remains a primary concern in  most areas affected  by conflict. Exactions, looting 
accompanied by violence like rape,  abduction, and forced  recruitment  of children carried out  by  armed 

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groups continue to take place. 

(B.2) Original objectives of the intervention 

The overall objectives of EU humanitarian aid are outlined in Articles 1 and 2 of Regulation 1257/96, and 
could – for evaluation purposes – be paraphrased as follows:  

From a donor perspective and in coordination with other main humanitarian actors, to provide the right 
amount  and  type  of  aid,  at  the  right  time,  and  in  an  appropriate  way,  to  the  most  vulnerable  people 
affected  by  natural  and/or  manmade  disasters,  in  order  to  save  lives,  alleviate  suffering  and  maintain 
human  dignity.  Such  aid  shall  also  comprise  operations  to  prepare  for  risks  or  prevent  disasters  or 
comparable exceptional circumstances.  

(B.3) How the objectives were to be achieved 
The  EU  funds,  through  DG  ECHO,  humanitarian  aid  actions  which  are  implemented  by  Humanitarian 
Partners on the basis of Framework Partnerships Agreements. These actions include assistance, relief and 
protection operations to help people in third countries on a non-discriminatory basis, particularly the most 
vulnerable  among  them.  Priority  is  put  on  people  in  developing  countries,  victims  of  natural  disasters, 
man-made  crises,  such  as  wars  and  outbreaks  of  fighting,  or  exceptional  situations  or  circumstances 
comparable  to  natural  or  man-made  disasters.  The  actions  should  extend  the  time  needed  to  meet  the 
humanitarian  requirements  resulting  from  these  different  situations.  Furthermore,  the  actions  should 
comprise  preparations  for  risks  or  prevention  of  disasters  or  comparable  exceptional  circumstances.  A 
complementary component is Humanitarian Advocacy, by which ECHO strives to influence other actors 
on  topics  such  as  humanitarian  access,  respect  of  International  Humanitarian  Law,  adherence  to  the 
Humanitarian Principles and Good Humanitarian Donorship, and uptake of project results in the area of 
Disaster Risk Reduction (etc.). DG ECHO has a worldwide network of field offices that ensure adequate 
monitoring  of  projects  funded,  provide  up-to-date  analyses  of  existing  and  forecasted  needs  in  a  given 
country  or  region,  contribute  to  the  development  of  intervention  strategies  and  policy  development, 
provide technical support to EU funded operations, and facilitate donor coordination at field level. 

The  EU  has  funded  humanitarian  projects  in  the  African  Great  Lakes  since  1994  (at  the  time  of  the 
Rwandan  genocide),  and  is  continuing  with  its  efforts  to  tackle  the  consequences  of  the  conflicts  and 
unrest. The aid covers all sectors, with a focus on food security and livelihoods, health, and protection. 
The protection  activities,  such  as  treatment  and  counselling  for  survivors  of  sexual  and  gender-based 
violence, respond to the needs of those who have suffered directly and indirectly from displacement and 
violence.  

The  total  amount  spent  by  DG  ECHO  over  the  period  of  2013-2017  was  almost  EUR  300  million.  In 
addition,  the  Commission  spent  annually  about  EUR  7  million  for  aerial  transport  in  the  region.  An 
overwhelming  part  of  the  total  budget  was  spent  in  the  DRC,  followed  by  Tanzania,  and  with  minor 
amounts in Burundi and Rwanda. 

In  addition  to  the  refugees,  displaced  persons  and  returnees,  humanitarian  aid  is  also  provided  to  local 
populations who are caught up in the conflicts or are hosting refugees and displaced persons. 

The intervention logic is provided in annex. 

C. Scope of the evaluation/FC 

(C.1) Topics covered 
The  evaluation  will  examine  all  humanitarian  actions  taken  by  the  Commission  in  the  African  Great 
Lakes during the period of 2013 – 2017. 

(C.2) Issues to be examined 
The actions will be assessed according to five evaluation criteria: relevance, coherence, EU added value, 
effectiveness, efficiency.  

         2 

 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The main issues to consider will be: 
- on relevance: quality of needs assessments, involvement of target populations, fit between Humanitarian 
Implementation Plans (HIP) and needs assessments, fit between projects funded and HIPs; 
- on coherence: alignment with relevant DG ECHO and other Commission policies, drawing on lessons 
learned and good practice; 
- on EU added value: how DG ECHO has drawn on its specific role and mandate to create a specific EU 
added value, which could/would not be achieved by other actors; 
- on effectiveness: how  successfully DG ECHO  has implemented its strategy in  the region,  in  terms  of 
achieving required outputs and outcomes and contributing to change;  
- on efficiency: use of resources, management and monitoring processes. 

(C.3) Other tasks 
The Commission is planning to launch a parallel, thematic exercise focusing on the sector of Transport & 
Logistics  of  humanitarian  aid  operations.  Considering  that  the  spending  in  this  sector  (particularly  air 
transports) is considerable in the African Great Lakes region (DRC), the current evaluation will include a 
case study on Transport and Logistics that will be designed in a way that allows for appropriately feeding 
into the thematic exercise.  

D. Evidence base 

(D.1) Evidence from monitoring  

  Contractual project reports provided by ECHO’s implementing partners1; 
  Records from monitoring by ECHO field staff. 

(D.2) Previous evaluations and other reports 

  2016:  European  Court  of  Auditors  –  Did  the  Commission  effectively  manage  the  Humanitarian 

aid provided to populations affected by conflicts in the African Great Lakes Region? 

  2010: Evaluation of the DG ECHO interventions in the Democratic Republic of Congo (focus on 

Protection) 

(D.3)  Evidence  from  assessing  the  implementation  and  application  of  legislation    (complaints,  infringement 
procedures) 
N/A 
(D.4) Consultation 

The main objective of the consultation activities will be to ensure a sound evidence base for responding to 
the evaluation issues. 

Main stakeholders are as follows: 

  ECHO  implementing  partners:  UN  agencies  (OCHA,  WFP,  UNHCR,  UNICEF),  ICRC,  INGOs 

such as NRC, DRC, OXFAM, SOLIDARITES, ACF, PUI, MEDAIR, etc; 

  Final beneficiaries and/or their representatives.  
  Main donors in the Region, including Member States: UK/DFiD, US, Canada, Germany, Sweden, 

Belgium. 

A targeted consultation, using data gathering tools adapted to each group will be carried out.  
No  open  public  consultation  (OPC)  is  planned  for  this  evaluation:  it  is  deemed  that  it  would  have  a 
limited added value, as it could not effectively reach the various groups of stakeholders (as listed above), 
due  to  their  great  spread  in  terms  of  geography,  contexts  and  internet  access.  Regional/country  level 
evaluations  as  this  one  feed  into  comprehensive  humanitarian  aid  evaluations  that  are  carried  out  appr. 
once every five years, and for which OPCs are carried out. The next comprehensive evaluation is planned 
for 2022. 

(D.5) Further evidence to be gathered 

1 ECHO implementing partners website  

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Relevant reference and guiding documents, reports, etc. established by implementing partners, DEVCO, 
EU delegations and other humanitarian actors should be examined by the evaluator. 

E. Other relevant information/ remarks 

Considering  that  geographical  evaluations  like  this  feed  into  comprehensive  evaluations,  the  Better 
Regulation Guidelines will not be fully applied. Thus: 

 

Instead of a 12-week OPC, there will be targeted consultations as outlined in section D above; 

  At the end of the process, instead of a Staff Working Document, a summary will be provided in 

the Annual Report on Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection for 2018. 

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Evaluation of the European Union’s humanitarian interventions in the African Great 
Lakes, 2013-2017 – Intervention Logic

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