​Evaluating the effectiveness of post-disaster interventions is an important but challenging task. Practitioners and donors alike have shared interest in being able to assess the outcomes and impact of projects and donated funds for recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction. However, there has been wide acknowledgement of the difficulties in assessing the benefits of interventions, and there is a need for guidance to assist agencies in undertaking evaluations that are robust but affordable.  The question of attribution and contribution has also been a conundrum for many agencies as they need to report results to donors but at the same time have a realistic overview of their own input. The efforts of other stakeholders especially those of the affected population themselves have often been overlooked.

The Contribution to Change Guide was produced to assist evaluators and those commissioning evaluations to measure the contribution that an agency makes to the changes to people's lives through humanitarian programmes. The guide has been field tested in three countries and has been peer reviewed by NGO staff and ALNAP.The Contribution to Change tool included in the guide is intended to aid an agency to extrapolate from the data their particular contribution to the overall change. It also allows for acknowledgement of the efforts of the community itself as well as other actors such as the government or community based groups.

During the event, a panel composed of the consultants, Oxfam and DFID representatives will discuss the difficulties faced by most agencies in assessing impact, the partnership between an academic institution and an international NGO and how the guide was conceived and field- tested. Afterwards there will be a chance to discuss the methodology and to hear about other experiences in assessing change.