OCHA's Evaluation and Studies Section (ESS) was created in 2002 to provide increased accountability to its constituency as well as to promote organizational learning.

By emphasizing the evaluation function, OCHA seeks to achieve the following:

    * Document lessons learned of humanitarian coordination arrangements
    * Promote institutional learning and knowledge sharing
    * Achieve greater accountability in the use of resources
    * Focus on the achievement of results and the use of results information

To achieve these objectives, ESS commissions and undertakes external evaluations, external and internal reviews, desk reviews as well as internal lesson learning reviews.

In order to reflect the inter-agency nature of OCHA's mandate, ESS works closely with other partners, mostly through the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) mechanism, the United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG) and the Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance (ALNAP).

ESS Reports  (Electronic versions of all evaluations, reviews and studies undertaken by OCHA since 1996)

•  On-going Studies  (Workprogramme & Consulting Opportunities)

•  ESS Workplan 2008

•  ESS Annual Report 2006

•  OCHA Evaluation Framework and Strategy 2002 - 2005

•  Links to other Evaluation Sites

•  Monitoring and Evaluation Tools

•  Evaluation Vocabulary  - (link to Organization for Economic Co-operation & Development website)