This final, summative evaluation took place three years after the floods began, and three years after I had been deployed as Recovery Coordinator – a modest conflict of interest that was recognised within the report. The timeline for the response, appeals, reporting and evaluation process is set out below.
Although I was working alone, I was able to draw on, and in some cases influence, a number of separate sectoral reviews and evaluations that fed into this meta-evaluation process.
The report covers a lot of ground – the TOR had over 50 questions to address – and is quite critical. Presenting the findings of the report to the PRCS and IFRC leadership in a manner that allowed them to be accepted and addressed was a substantial challenge. Presumably it went well, as I was invited back to manage the large-scale simulation exercise the following year