The Tsunami Evaluation Coalition (TEC) initiated five parallel evaluations of the international response to the tsunami, of which this is one. The purpose of this evaluation was to determine the impact of the tsunami response, primarily the role of international actors, on local and national capacities for relief and recovery, and risk reduction. The ToR identified the following six objectives. Assess how local and national capacities changed as a result of the tsunami response. Assess how well international actors engaged with local and national capacities in providing relief and recovery assistance. Assess the intended and unintended changes to local and national capacities as a result of the tsunami response by international actors. Assess the extent to which transition/risk reduction/recovery programming, planned and implemented, is likely to influence local and national capacities. Distil lessons learned for efforts to strengthen local and national capacities for future crisis response and recovery. Ensure that all the above assess and highlight gender differences and the varied experiences of women and men.