Executive Summary
This evaluation was commissioned by Tearfund and funded by the European
Commission Humanitarian Aid department (ECHO). The purpose was to assess the
outcomes and impact of the ECHO funded Water, Sanitation, Schools Construction and
Health Project for conflict affected communities in Uvira Midlands and Highlands, South
Kivu province, Democratic Republic of Congo. The evaluation visit took place in June
2009 and the project period under assessment spanned the 11 months from August 2008
to June 2009.
The programme has essentially achieved its objectives in each of the three main areas of
water supply, health and hygiene promotion, and school construction including latrine
blocks and rainwater harvesting for hand washing. The practical recommendations
developed as a result of this evaluation should be straight forward in their application and
those which are considered essential are unlikely to require extended timeframes or
budgets. Therefore, it is considered likely that this programme’s objective and associated
indicators will be met.
Despite a few issues relating to design decisions and a lack of availability of design
documentation, the quality of the masonry construction was generally found to be very
high. Tearfund are to be commended for often being the only Non-Government
Organisation (NGO) working in some of these remote village locations. This has resulted
in the universal appreciation for their work from UN-OCHA and the various DRC
Government Departments down to village-level leadership, committees and general
population. Each of the above reported a very positive relationship with Tearfund staff
and sincere appreciation for the work accomplished. The main disappointment expressed
was that at the time of evaluation, no further funding had been secured to enable
Tearfund to expand their work to neighbouring communities or to address further
recognised needs within the current ones.
The programme as a whole scored well on its effectiveness, impact, and sustainability;
and very well on issues of relevance, efficiency and coordination & coherence. Areas of
concern were mostly limited to issues of technical detail and design which in themselves
could appear minor but, if unaddressed, the potential impact on long term sustainability
would be significant. However, where such details are tackled soon, the results should
benefit entire communities for many years to come. It should be appreciated that a
number of the recommendations noted under section 5 of this report may well have been
completed by the time that this report is submitted; they have been documented here as
being outstanding activities at the time of inspection. In contrast, a particular
commendation was received from a Department of Education staff member who
indicated that he was so impressed by the schools constructed under this programme that
he said if it were up to him he would like to give all future school construction projects to
Tearfund.