Context and background
In February 2023, a series of powerful earthquakes devastated southern Türkiye and northern Syria, compounding existing humanitarian crises, particularly in northwest Syria. The earthquakes, measuring 7.8, 7.6, and 6.4 in magnitude, resulted in nearly 50,000 deaths in Türkiye, 5,791 in Syria, and left over 3.3 million displaced across both regions. Already weakened by conflict, Syria faced intensified challenges with infrastructure damage, displacement, and the collapse of food and health systems.
Islamic Relief (IR), with funding from the UK’s Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), launched a two-phase response. Phase One (February–August 2023) focused on immediate humanitarian assistance, while Phase Two (August 2023–February 2025) aimed at early recovery in northwest Syria through agricultural and livestock interventions.
This final evaluation assesses the performance and quality of IR’s earthquake response using OECD DAC criteria. Covering both phases, the evaluation focuses heavily on Phase Two’s agriculture and livestock programming in Syria. It examines relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, sustainability, and adherence to humanitarian standards. Key goals include evaluating outcome achievement, identifying lessons learned, and guiding future programming.