In addition to tracking where and to whom aid is distributed and at what cost, CIET-trained local researchers gather actionable evidence on aid recipients’ experience and opinions in ways that help build community involvement and allow planners not only to pinpoint problems but also to identify what is working effectively and why.

This approach has been applied to food aid in Bosnia, Ethiopia and Nicaragua, to mine action and mine awareness in Afghanistan, Angola, Bosnia, Cambodia and Mozambique, and to other forms of humanitarian assistance in Costa Rica, El Salvador, India, Liberia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Serbia and Somalia.