Start Fund Second Independent Evaluation August 2015

The objectives for this second evaluation are as follows: i) To assess the extent to which the Start Fund’s responses have an influence onthe evolution of the crises in which it is activated; ii) To assess the performance of Start funded projects. However, even with the secondobjective, project-level good performance is expected to help achieve the first objective of influencing the evolution of the crises. Thus, thisaim remains central to the analysis of objective two findings too.

The data collection phase first included a review of key documents, interviews with Start stakeholders and agency staff. This was followed byfield visits to Sri Lanka and DRC to carry out interviews with external stakeholders and agency staff; and transect walks, FGDs and individualinterviews (separately with women) within communities. Triangulation, confidentiality, and thorough preparation helped reduce biases.However, non-random sampling and heavy administrative load on the evaluator remained as limitations.