In 1999, Groupe URD launched an evaluation project which aimed to responsibilise and share lessons learned in the follow up to hurricane Mitch (October 1998).
The four main pillars of research were:
- The links between emergency relief, rehabilitation and development ;
- The question of partnerships
- From aid to self-reliance ;
- Humanitarian actors in the public sector and in the private sector.

Capitaliser sur l'évaluation des interventions liées à l'ouragan Mitch (Presentation of project : the capitalisation/pooling of knowledge from evaluations of aid operations in response to hurricane Mitch - Only available in French)
A tool for preparing the management of large scale natural disasters, Groupe URD, October 1999
Groupe URD’s work on post-Mitch emergency and rehabiliation programmes in Nicaragua and Honduras - An original and experimental collective approach to the evaluation-capitalisation-dissemination continuum, François Grunewald Groupe URD, January 2000
Hurricane Mitch – eight months on : assessment of operations and initial lessons learned –capitalisation/pooling of knowledge concerning the response to large scale natural disasters, Groupe URD, January 2000 - Part1 - Part2 (Only available in French)
Accumulation and sharing of knowledge concerning the management of natural disasters, post-Mitch meeting report 9 March 2000, Groupe URD, juin 2000

The work on the response to Hurricane Mitch in Central America took on new significance when earthquakes shook El Salvador on 13th January and 13th February 2000. The issues which had come to the surface with regard to Mitch remained relevant. This brought home the need to pursue efforts to promote collective learning.

In June 2001, a multi-disciplinary team from URD travelled to El Salvador to visit programmes by over thirty national and international NGOs. A workshop was then organised in San Salvador with representatives from over twenty organisations. The mission report was written in French and Spanish and was sent to all the Salvadorian and international actors who had been involved.

Capitalisation des expériences des ONG. Le cas du Salvador 4 mois après les séismes de 2001 (Pooling NGO experience. El Salvador 4 months after the earthquakes in 2001 - Only available in French)
Iterative evaluations with mini seminars : Mitch, 3 years on. El Salvador after the 2001 earthquakes . Summary of n°2 mission report, François Grünewald and Véronique de Geoffroy, Groupe URD, September 2001

Two further missions produced complementary information which made it possible to refine conclusions and key recommendations.
At the same time an evaluation of operations in response to Mitch three years on began with Fons Catalan (decentralised Catalan cooperation fund). A researcher was sent to Nicaragua to study the impact of reconstruction programmes by French NGOs and Fons Catalan.
All these missions were reconstructed and debated in the countries concerned and in France. Detailed reports were written about them and a summary of their content can be found in the book 'Evaluer l’action humanitaire', published by Karthala.