Title of project: Mid-Term Evaluation of Contribution Agreement with UNHCR – ACA/2020/420-111 “Addressing the needs of Afghan refugees and host communities affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan”
Country or Region: Pakistan
Sector: Human Rights, Democracy and Peace
Client: European Commission
Date: August 2020 – July 2023
Background and context: Pakistan has been a crucial host country for Afghan refugees for over four decades, making it the largest host country of Afghan refugees and the second largest refugee hosting country worldwide. As of today, Pakistan hosts more than 1.5 million Afghan refugees, the number has increased since the project was designed.
Afghan refugees in Pakistan face numerous vulnerabilities, including issues with health, education, and their legal status. A majority of them live outside refugee villages in urban and rural areas, relying on national services and local labour market.
Project objectives: The mid-evaluation covers one intervention financed by the EU. The overall objective of this Action is to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Afghan refugees and their communities in Pakistan. This is achieved by three specific objectives:
1. Increased access to health services for Afghan refugees and host communities;
2. Increased access to WASH facilities for Afghan refugees and host communities;
3. Increased social protection measures for vulnerable Afghan refugees and host communities.
The main objectives of this evaluation are to:
- Provide an independent assessment of the performance of intervention No. ACA/2020/420-111, focusing on its results in relation to its expected objectives and the reasons for these results.
- Identify key lessons learned, conclusions, and recommendations to improve current and future interventions.
The evaluation aims to understand the intervention’s performance to maximize its potential during the remaining implementation time. It will primarily benefit relevant EU services and stakeholders involved in the intervention’s implementation. The evaluation will utilize the six standard DAC evaluation criteria (relevance, coherence, efficiency, effectiveness, sustainability, and early signs of impact) and an EU-specific criterion (EU added value). It will also assess the intervention’s consideration of gender equality, women’s empowerment, environmental and climate change aspects, SDGs, the “Leave No One Behind” principle, and the rights-based approach methodology during identification, formulation, and implementation.