Impact evaluation in the post-disaster setting: a case study of the 2005 Pakistan earthquake

There is growing interest in impact evaluation in the humanitarian and development sectors. Several recent reports have identified post-disaster impact evaluation (PDIE) as a particular challenge and galvanised interest in pushing the field forward. This paper reviews existing work, synthesises a set of guiding principles and analytic frameworks for PDIE, and applies those to a design for the evaluation of recovery programmes following the 2005 Pakistan earthquake. The paper contributes to ongoing discussions of impact assessment within the humanitarian sector while also introducing impact evaluation practitioners to the challenges of conducting quality impact evaluations in post-disaster settings.