DARA (Development Assistance Research Associates, Ltd.)[1] is an independent, international organization based in Madrid, Spain.
DARA was established in 2003 by Silvia Hidalgo to assess the impact of humanitarian aid and to make specific recommendations for changes in policies and practices.
Some of the larger projects DARA has undertaken include participation in the Tsunami Evaluation Coalition, after the 2004 disaster in South East Asia; the creation of the Humanitarian Response Index; and the evaluation of the European Commission's Disaster preparedness Plans in Central America.
The HRI measures the individual performance of government donors against Good Humanitarian Donorship Principles drafted in recent years by various United Nations, public and private stakeholders [6] .
A former Chief Executive is Ed Schenkenberg[14][15] Former Board Members DARA receives funding from a variety of sources including the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP), the Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS), the Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo (AECID), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).