Useful Impact Assessments in A Climate of Donor Driven Demand

Maureen O’Flynn

IA the way I see it..Monitoring Evaluation Impact Assessment

Measures ongoing activities

Measures performance against objectives

Assesses change in peoples lives: positive or negative, intended or not

Main work during implementation

Main work in middle or at end of project/programme cycle

Can be included at all stages and/or can be used specifically after the end of programme/project

Focus on interventions Focus on interventions Focus on affected populations

Focus on outputs Focus on outcomes Focus on impacts

“What is being done?”

“What has happened? Did we achieve what we set out to achieve?”

“What has changed? For Whom? How significant is it for them?”

Impact – So What?

Impact Assessment addresses the “So What” question...

Thousands of “successful” projects and programmes make no lasting difference to people’s lives

Make Impact Assessments more Useful: 4 Key Messages

• Be honest

• Be realistic

• Be clear

• Be practical

Be Honest

• When was the last time you told a lie, or were economical with the truth?

• Why did you do this?• So what’s this got to do with M&E and

Assessing Impact?

Conditions needed to enable honest impact assessments

•Trust • Understanding of what’s needed• Capacity and support• Time• Belief that the exercise will lead to positive

results

Be Realistic

• Two parts:• In terms of understanding contributions• In terms of scale and reach..

In terms of contributions....Danny

Who might claim contribution to Dan’s quality of life? Are they conflicting?

What does Dan think?

Transpose this thinking to Tanzania and a 14 year old male student, Bahati..

........................... And how realistic is attribution?

• So many “successful projects”.. So little change in people’s lives...

• How to realistically understand organisational efforts in relation to change?

• Understand your organisational Spheres of Influence and plan your assessment of impact accordingly

VSO Theory of Change for Education Programme ..

Assess impact for direct spheres of influence; illustrate impact for indirect spheres

Be Realistic in Terms of Reach

• Its no good claiming impressive scale and reach or

• giving too many figures in an attempt to please.. or to be seen to contributing to MDGs....

• Different orgs are using and therefore repeating nos ( e.g. HIV in Nepal)

Be Clear:

• Staff and partners need to understand difference and complementarities between M&E and impact

• Linking reasons for Impact to approaches..• Plan for impact from the start of interventions

Linking reasons for Impact to approaches

What’s the main driver?

• Demonstrate success? • Improve performance?• Be accountable to the people (stakeholders)

for whom we are working?• Use the findings from impact assessments to

advocate for changes in policy and legislation?

Three Possibilities: Approach 1

A retrospective study of a project which has, typically, been planned using a linear approach to change

The main purpose is to test or verify whether the logic of the project was correct: did it achieve the changes that it set out to?

Approach 2:• More process driven – and less judgemental –

than the first. • Stakeholders are involved in all stages• Makes use of the concept of emerging

change.• Purpose: – Work with stakeholders to visualise changes they

want to see in their lives and support them to track progress

– Empower stakeholders– Contribute to organisational learning.

Approach 3:• Similar to second but “turns the telescope round”. Takes

place some years after the completion of the project or programme

• Identifies changes that have taken place within the community, and then to consider to what extent they can have contributed to change in defined areas

• Purpose – understand to what extent organisational efforts are making a

difference to the lives of the people they claim to be working with and for.

All organisations need to consider carrying out from time to time.

Develop a Theory of Change (ToC)

What are they? • They differ from (but can complement) logical

framework thinking in that they:– describe a causal pathway by specifying what is

needed for goals to be achieved – require the articulation of underlying assumptions

which can be tested and measured. – change the way of thinking about implementation

strategies: the focus is not so much on what will be achieved, but rather what will change?.

• They can be set at different levels - organisation, programme and/or project

Climate Change and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) ToC Framework

Problems CDKN aims to address

Underlying causes of these problems Vision Principles of

engagementWho we work with(target groups)

How we work with them (strategies)

To achieve (medium and

long term outcomes)

CDKN Goal(s)

11 22 33 44 55 66 77 88

Dimensions of Change• Organisational ToCs can be further developed by identifying

“Dimensions of Change” (DoC) to which all of their efforts will contribute.

• These DoC form the backbone of their impact assessment process. – They are inter-related: any one project or programme may be supporting

changes in one or more of these dimensions. – All organisational interventions should be explicitly working towards changes

in one or more of these dimensions. – They are usually designed to be interpreted according to regional and national

contexts, but broad enough to be able to facilitate comparability across different regions and countries.

• Progress against these dimensions is assessed through monitoring, evaluation and impact assessment processes.

CDKN works in all of these areas in order to achieve:

Slide 23

Be Prepared

• Plan for impact at the start of the project/programme

• Be clear about who is responsible for what• Build IA processes into existing systems and

structures• Use a few tried and tested tools over complex

and clever ones• Use findings widely and creatively for

increased impact of impact assessments

Plan Impact from the start:CDKN Impact Assessment Plan

• Four distinct but complementary strategies, based on DoC:

• – Ongoing monitoring of impact built into many of the M&E

reporting formats, and impact data w gathered routinely alongside other M&E data.

– Part of the mid-term review and evaluation process – Tracing study carried out over the life span of the project.

This will focus on how identified sample groups are changing and developing as a result of on-going CDKN efforts, in relation to the dimensions of change.

– Retrospective study will take place some time after the completion of the project. Will assess the changes relation to the dimensions of change, and to what extent CDKN was able to contribute to these changes.

Be clear about who is responsible for what: Assessment? Or Illustration?

part

ner

part

ner

Build IA processes into existing systems and structures

Add this set of questions:• In relation to Dimensions of Change:– What’s changing– For whom– How significant is it?– Will it last?

Tools

Think time and capacity and resources:

• Use a few tried and tested methods (which allow for triangulation) over complex or innovative and untested ones that are not clearly understood at field level.

• Involve stakeholders in gathering information. Build their capacity to do this effectively

• Remember: – MSC takes time and can be used very inefficiently– Old favourites are good (FGD, SSI, Interviews)– Appreciative enquiry is empowering – PRA tools are good

Use findings widely and creatively for improved impact of impact assessments!

• For Planning ( based on findings) : scenario workshops, appreciative enquiry

• For reporting/ advocacy: variety of media and other communication tools - youtube, video etc

Make Impact Assessments more Useful: 4 Key Messages

• Be honest

• Be realistic

• Be clear

• Be practical

Last Tip.. Don’t give up or get cynical!

• Impact assessment can be rewarding and inspirational, especially when there is evidence that efforts have led to improved programmes and improved relationships with stakeholders.

• Depending on the approach, it can either be complex and frustrating exercise, or an essential part of organisational planning and learning.

• As development workers, we need to take the exploration of changes that we influence in people lives seriously.