Evaluation of the Caritas Flood Relief 2013

At the end of May 2013, Germany was faced by heavy rainfalls, which caused significant flooding of the banks of the Elbe and the Donau rivers, as well as their tributaries. The flood had a devastating effect on the local population and the sum of the damages totalled around 6.7 million euro. Caritas international (CI) responded immediately in the initial days after the flood by providing the affected diocesan associations with donations and external funding amounting to 14 million euro, in order to assist those impacted by the flood with technical apparatus and budgetary support. The support was successively increased in the months following the flood to assist reconstruction measures and disaster preparedness.

These measures will be evaluated in the study "Evaluation of the Caritas Flood Relief 2013", conducted by adelphi. This will lead to an uncovering of knowledge gained from experience and lessons learned, as well as a derivation of recommendations for further development of the relief programme, with the goal of sustainably strengthening the areas of emergency relief, reconstruction, disaster preparedness, operational structures and cooperation. The assessment of the evaluation content will follow the criteria of the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC). At the core of the evaluation are the assessments of the relevance, efficacy, efficiency, impact and sustainability of the measures put in place. adelphi’s methodical approach includes a comprehensive documentation study, interviews with decision-makers from flood-relief organisations, online and personal surveys of beneficiaries, workshops with programme workers, as well as visits to the affected diocese.