How the politicization of aid affects M&E

I attended the SIDW M&E workgroup event on Tuesday, December 13th.

My take away was a lot of what I had been reading about relating to the pushing and pulling of desires from development managers and public officials.

For example, there has recently been friction pertaining to the F-process and USAID, this article highlights:

"...Those involved with the administration of aid projects in Washington are under constant pressure to justify spending on international development to lawmakers, who are much less sympathetic to the idea of development for development's sake-a reality the current economic downturn might aggravate."

"...Critics worry, the F process has reinforced the primacy of politically strategic objectives, like combating terrorism and democratization, as opposed to long-term development goals favored by the country missions, such as education, health care and poverty alleviation."

"Field staff often feel that the type of data requested by the F Bureau does not reflect realities on the ground."

-from here

Capacity.org offers strategies for advancement to overcome the discord.

"However, the evaluation of capacity development can be improved by clarifying the focus and purpose of evaluations, expanding professional development and knowledge sharing among evaluators, drawing on systems thinking, and shifting attention from accountability to learning and programme improvement."

"Experience shows that learning from experience and using evaluation results to improve programmes are enhanced by the direct participation of programme stakeholders in all aspects of the evaluation. Consequently, professionally facilitated participatory evaluations are ideal for promoting learning and programme improvement."

The current state of practice in the evaluation of capacity development, and the challenges facing evaluators, suggest five priorities for improving practice in this area:

1. Expanding professional development
2. Applying concepts and tools from systems thinking and complexity
3. Conducting different types of evaluation for different user groups and needs
4. Enhancing knowledge sharing among evaluators
5. Shifting the emphasis of evaluation from accountability to learning and programme improvement

-from here

foreign assistance is a good investment - if transparency and accountability measures are upheld

"Results are fundamental to making the case that foreign assistance is a good investment. The evolution from aid inputs to development outcomes means improving technically rigorous, systematic and transparent methods for projecting, tracking, evaluating and communicating impact. This process must be inclusive and not overlook the poor, ensuring that economic growth improves the lives of the vulnerable and marginalised."

-from here

THE LONG WALK: A COLUMN ABOUT WASHINGTON

"Think about your morning today. Your radio wasn’t a jumbled mess thanks to the FCC. And those weather reports only occur due to the National Weather Service (under the umbrella of the Commerce Department—hope Texas doesn’t need any hurricane or tornado warnings). On the way to work from the house you might’ve bought with governmental help in the form of the mortgage interest tax deduction, you may have your life saved thanks to federal regulations mandating seat belts and child safety seats. OSHA has your back against unsafe work conditions. TheFDA labels food against manufacturers’ desires so you know what you’re actually eating. The EPA works to improve air and water quality. Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera... Your tax dollars, which pay my salary, don’t create benefits that you get immediately, and usually you can’t even touch them."

-from here

variables to consider: benefits from taxes; not directly "economical to the household" but provisional, offering intangible benefits - natural, human, physical, social (well-being)

What does this have to do with policy?

"With the increasing emphasis in many governments and international agencies on evidence-based policy advice, it is important to understand which programs actually 'work' - generating gains for participants that are large enough to justify their costs and which are less successful."

-Building in an Evaluation Component for Active Labor Market Programs: a Practitioner's Guide

With budget cuts and tightening on spending, deciding what gets cut depends on the data available!

an introduction to my mind

Hi!

I am making this blog to streamline all my thoughts - external influences from school texts, the media, philosophers, co-workers and from my own mind. I have the ultimate intention of better understanding "What do people value and why?" however, along the way I hope to incorporate other ideas - best practices within the development world (my Masters degree), the politics of understanding which programs work and do not, and most importantly, expanding the dialogue of how to use quantitative data (or quantifying qualitative data) for credible and reliable evidence.

Organizational culture is averse to scientific policymaking. Own it.

I believe in:

- Formal impact evaluations

- Focusing on the right set of statistical indicators

- Methodological foundations

- Investing in women

Applying my work to development
- Labor problems exist throughout the world
- Revamping certifications, education policies
- The need to know the impact of programs and how to improve them