Typhoon Haiyan (locally known as Yolanda) was one of the strongest recorded typhoons to make landfall with sustained wind speeds of 250 km/hour and gusts of over 315 km/hour; The typhoon generated a global humanitarian response, where UN declared a L3 emergency activating the 2011 Transformative Agenda protocols, a set of parameters for improved collective action in humanitarian emergencies.

The evaluation was commissioned in October 2014 with a twofold purpose: to assist DFID policy and response teams to learn lessons to improve future responses, and to address issues of accountability. The three evaluation objectives are to review:

• The extent to which DFID response was effective in providing life-saving assistance and basic protection of affected populations, and to identify lessons for future rapid responses; this includes questions of value for money
• The extent to which the overall humanitarian response was effective, particularly in the early stages of the response – this addresses primarily lesson learning relating to the - - Transformative Agenda and its application to other humanitarian contexts
• The extent to which DFID and its partners were accountable to affected populations and how DFID and partners can improve performance and share lessons learned and best practice (in line with value for money and the effectiveness and impact of aid)

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