In 2025, the team of the NGO Promotion of Intercultural Cooperation contributed to the independent final evaluation of two humanitarian projects: RISE (Resilience through Integrated Services for Social Empowerment) and CARE4U3 (Cash and Resilience for Ukraine – Phase 3) — funded by Swiss Solidarity and implemented by Caritas Switzerland in partnership with Caritas Spes Ukraine and Caritas Ukraine. The projects aimed to strengthen the resilience, safety, and well-being of people affected by the war by providing integrated support in the areas of shelter, protection, cash assistance, mental health, and psychosocial support.
The evaluation covered six regions of Ukraine: Odesa, Mykolaiv, and Kherson oblasts under the RISE project, and Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts under CARE4U3. Together, the two programmes were designed to reach more than 12,000 people: 6,736 through RISE and 5,428 through CARE4U3.
The evaluation aimed to assess how well the programmes responded to the needs of war-affected communities, how effective and sustainable the different forms of assistance were, what changes they brought about for participants, and what strengths, challenges, and lessons could inform the future development of Caritas humanitarian programming in Ukraine. The evaluation was guided by the OECD-DAC criteria of relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability.
The study followed a predominantly qualitative design and combined several methods, including a review of project documentation, key informant interviews, focus group discussions, in-depth interviews with people who had received assistance, and the Most Significant Change (MSC) approach. Particular attention was paid to the inclusion of vulnerable groups, including internally displaced people and returnees, older people, persons with disabilities, women, and members of Roma communities. This approach made it possible to bring together and compare the perspectives of people receiving assistance, teams directly involved in project implementation, and other relevant stakeholders.
The evaluation resulted in a comprehensive assessment of the implementation and outcomes of RISE and CARE4U3, together with evidence-based conclusions and practical recommendations aimed at strengthening the quality, effectiveness, and sustainability of future humanitarian programming in Ukraine.
