The overall purpose of the evaluation is to determine the impact of the tsunami response, notably the response of international actors, on local and national capacities for relief, recovery and risk reduction. Specifically, the purpose is to: 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/recovery/risk reduction programming, planned and implemented, is likely to influence local and national capacitiesDistil lessons learned for efforts to strengthen local and national capacities for future crisis response and recovery;Retain a gender perspective throughout and highlight the varied experiences and perspectives of women and men.