Independent Evaluation of the Ushahidi Haiti Project

"It was abundantly clear in the interviews that stakeholders strongly believe lives were saved as a result of Ushahidi Haiti Project"

Key findings:

• "The Ushahidi Haiti deployment received and processed over 40,000 reports in the first month
• “The UHP (Ushahidi Haiti Project) addressed key information gaps 
  • (1) in the very early period of the response during the first days and weeks post-quake before UN and other large organizations were operational
  • (2) by providing situational awareness and critical early information with a relatively high degree of geographic precision, 
  • (3) by providing situational information for smaller NGOs that did not have a field presence in Haiti, 
  • (4) by helping smaller, privately funded responses to more appropriately target needs and, 
  • (5) by facilitating private citizen actors.
•  The UHP also was relevant in the sense that it directly engaged affected Haitians and the Haitian Diaspora in the articulation of need and the organization of local capacity for response.” 
• “It was abundantly clear in the interviews that stakeholders strongly believe lives were saved as a result of UHP. For instance, many of those interviewed offered the case of the rescue of a trapped UN worker.” 
• "While the example of the UN worker is anecdotal, we constantly see needs, from food, to shelter, to medical assistance, gathered triaged, and responded to via Ushahidi. This clearly makes an impact for those people on the ground, and shows that the use of this software improves the effectiveness and efficiency of the humanitarian industry as a whole."