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Expanding the Scope of Humanitarian Program Evaluation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 June 2012

Paul Bolton ,
Judith Bass ,
Laura Murray ,
Katharine Lee ,
William Weiss  and
Sharon M. McDonnell
Paul Bolton*
Affiliation:
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Judith Bass
Affiliation:
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Laura Murray
Affiliation:
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Katharine Lee
Affiliation:
Harvard Business School, Allston, Massachusetts, USA
William Weiss
Affiliation:
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Sharon M. McDonnell
Affiliation:
Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
*
Paul Bolton, MBBS, MPH Center for Refugee and Disaster Studies, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N.Wolfe St., Room E8646 Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA E-mail pbolton@jhsph.edu
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Abstract

The effectiveness of humanitarian programs normally is evaluated according to a limited number of pre-defined objectives. These objectives typically represent only selected positive expected impacts of program interventions and as such, are inadequate benchmarks for understanding the overall effectiveness of aid.This is because programs also have unexpected impacts (both positive and negative) as well as expected negative impacts and expected positive impacts beyond the program objectives.The authors contend that these other categories of program impacts also should be assessed, and suggest a methodology for doing so that draws on input from the perspectives of beneficiaries. This paper includes examples of the use of this methodology in the field. Finally, the authors suggest future directions for improving this type of expanded assessment and advocate for its widespread use, both within and without the field of disaster response.

Keywords

disasterevaluationhumanitarianimpactmethodobjectiveprogramresponse
Type
Special Report
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 22 , Issue 5 , October 2007 , pp. 390 - 395
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2007

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