GHANA MONITORING AND EVALUATION FORUM(GMEF) Conference on “Impact Evaluation in Ghana” 16th March, 2017 True Vine hotel, Kumasi.

By: Jones Opoku-Ware, Lecturer, IDL- KNUST, Kumasi. ‘Genderising’ M&E – ensuring that gender issues are fully mainstreamed in Impact Evaluations By: Jones Opoku-Ware, Lecturer, IDL- KNUST, Kumasi.

Presentation Outline Session Objectives What is Impact M & E Why conduct M & E What is Gendered M & E Why Gendered M & E Criteria for Gendered M & E Gendered M & E measures/indicators Components of Gender sensitive M &E When Gendered M&E be carried out Checklist A quick check Some Terminologies

Session Objectives Identify critical considerations of a gender-sensitive monitoring and evaluation framework. Identify the necessary components of a gender-sensitive evaluation.

What is impact Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E)? An evaluation that assesses changes in the well-being of individuals, households, communities or firms that can be attributed to a particular project, program or policy. It is aimed at providing feedback to help improve the design of programs and policies. It provides for improved accountability, It is a tool for dynamic learning, allowing policymakers to improve ongoing programs and ultimately better allocate funds across programs

Why conduct an impact Monitoring & evaluation (M&E)? Information generated by impact evaluations informs decisions on whether to expand, modify, or eliminate a particular policy or program and can be used in prioritizing public actions. In addition, impact evaluations contribute to improve the effectiveness of policies and programs by addressing the following questions: -Does the program achieve the intended goal? -Can the changes in outcomes be explained by the program, or are they the result of some other factors occurring simultaneously? -Are there any unintended effects of the program, either positive or negative? -Is the program worth the resources it costs?

What is Gendered M &E Gender M & E is a type of gender analysis It analyses specific public policy It assesses effects of policies on individuals, not only on household or communities Gender impact M&E assessment is a tool for realizing Gender Mainstreaming It has the final goal of promoting positive change regarding gender inequality

Why Gender in Monitoring and Evaluation? Gender-sensitive monitoring & evaluation reveals the extent to which a project has addressed the different needs of men and women, and has made an impact on their lives and overall social and economic well-being It also improves project performance during implementation, allows for midterm corrections, and makes it possible to derive lessons for future projects

Why Gender Impact Evaluation cont’d Gender impact assessment is carried out to avoid unintended negative consequences and improve the quality and efficiency of policies. It is essential for understanding the relative role of alternative interventions in reducing poverty. Information generated by impact evaluations informs decisions on whether to expand, modify, or eliminate a particular policy or program and can be used in prioritizing public actions.

For Monitoring and Evaluation to be Gender-sensitive…….. Requires gender issues to be monitored at each stage of the project cycle Assess differences between women and men in terms of project performance and results Reflect the needs and experience of women and men Overall a Gender sensitive M&E Improves development outcomes by ensuring target populations are better served by projects

Criteria for gendered impact M &E WHAT TO ASSESS? AREAS OF IMPACT Participation: Are men and women participating in equal capacities? representation of women and men in decision-making positions Resources: Will the policy generate equal (access to) resources for women and men? time, space, information and money, political and economic power, education and training, job and professional career, new technologies, health care services, housing, means of transport, leisure

Criteria for gendered impact M &E cont’d Norms/values: Will stereotypes and norms be an obstacle? division of labour by gender, the attitudes and behaviour of women and men respectively, and inequalities in the value attached to men and women or to masculine and feminine characteristics Rights: Will the policy affect men’s or women’s rights? direct or indirect sex-discrimination, human rights (including freedom from sexual violence and degradation), and access to justice, in the legal, political or socio-economic environment

Gender Sensitive M&E Measures and Indicators… Not just the what, when and where, but Change in the division of labor Access to and control over resources Practical and strategic gender needs/interests Participation (within projects, and in household/community) Change in decision-making Changes in gender gap

Components of a gender-sensitive M&E system… STAGE I - IDENTIFICATION & PREPARATION Key issues to consider Are the project’s goals and objectives gender-sensitive: do they adequately reflect women’s and men’s needs? What is the level of input from men and women stakeholders, local women’s NGOs, community based organizations, etc., in setting goals and objectives? Is baseline information, against which results can be measured, being collected through gender analysis and/or social assessment (covering social-cultural, political and economic aspects)? Does the client (country, state, district) have the policy and institutional framework to promote gender equality in development activities?

Continue…. STAGE II - DESIGN & APPRAISAL Key issues to consider Do the activities planned reflect the project’s gender-sensitive goals and objectives? Is there a credible implementation plan that links courses of action and intermediate targets to expected final outcomes which benefit both men and women? Are gender-sensitive target and M&E indicators identified in consultation with female & male stakeholders? Have the male & female beneficiaries identified performance indicators they would like to monitor? Does the project design take into account how the information will be used and by whom, and are these needs being assessed in light of budgetary and time constraints?

Continue…….. STAGE III – IMPLEMENTATION Key Issues to consider Are gender-sensitive and sex-disaggregated data being collected to keep track of inputs and outputs, and to measure outcomes? From what sources? Is the same information as the baseline data being collected for the indicators at one or several times during the life of the project in order to measure and evaluate impact? Are there specific and adequately detailed references to gender in progress/supervision reports? Are the data fed back to project personnel and beneficiaries on a timely basis to allow for project adjustments?

Continue….. Are local women’s organizations, NGOs, research institutes, etc., involved in monitoring the progress of the project’s gender integration? Do the tools and methods reflect gender outcomes and impacts? Are there male and female data collectors, and have they received gender sensitivity training? Are standard data collection and analysis methods complemented with qualitative methods such as focus groups, etc? Is gender analysis being integrated into these?

Continue…. STAGE IV - IMPLEMENTATION COMPLETION Key issues to consider Assess impact of gender integration in the overall project context Assess impact of project interventions on men and women Derive and share lessons that can feed into the overall Rural Development goals and objectives

Monitoring Gender Sensitive Participation in Project Cycle Project management: Women <—> Men Identifi-cation Design Implemen- tation Evaluation Women <—> Men Project target groups * Monitor and evaluate ‘within’ processes at each stage, including evaluation (hence gender M&E)

When should Gendered Impact M & E be carried out? THE POTENTIAL OF EVALUATION RESULTS FOR LEARNING. Questions to ask here are: Is the policy or program considered to be of strategic relevance for poverty reduction? Interventions that are expected to have the highest poverty impacts may be evaluated to ensure that poverty reduction efforts are on the right track and allow for any necessary corrections.

When should Gendered Impact M & E be carried out? Cont’d Is there sufficient evidence that this type of intervention works well in a number of different contexts? If the answer to this question is yes, then the scarce resources may best be devoted to helping adapt this intervention to local conditions and paying close attention to monitoring and supervision. When do we expect outcomes to show an effect? Certain outcomes/impacts take time to materialize. In some cases this may mean that it is better to delay the final stage of the evaluation until these will show an effect

When should Gendered Impact M & E be carried out? Cont’d Is the intervention testing an innovative approach to poverty reduction? M & E can help to test pioneering approaches and decide whether they should be expanded and pursued at a larger scale. Hence, the innovative character of policies or programs also provides a strong reason to evaluate.

Checklist Do the goals of the project have gender dimensions- how will it impact men and women differently? What are the gender related issues related to the sectoral area of the project? What are the gender issues in the geographical context? Is all baseline data sex disaggregated? Based on the above three- has an analysis been conducted to judge weather there are any specific gender issues that have been discovered? What is the planned intervention- explain why? If no intervention is planned- explain why?

Checklist cont’d What are the managerial arrangements to make sure that gender concerns are taken into consideration over the course of the project? How will gender balance be assured through the stakeholder consultations and analysis? Are women’ groups and gender CSO’s consulted as a part of the process? How will gender balance be assured throughout the implementation phase of the project? How have the indicators to evaluate the outcome of the project been made gender sensitive?

A quick check… True or false? 1.Men and women have different development priorities, needs and constraints and are affected differently by development programs 2. Conventional M&E systems often capture gender differences in access and impact 3. Efficiency/ equity enhanced when gender differences are taken into account. 4. Most people assumed in “gender neutrality” of M&E methods & processes

Do you believe that …. Having a gender-neutral M&E (with no reference to any sex), including the use of gender-neutral language, is the correct way of conducting M&E? Gender-neutral M&E, in most societies ends up reflecting men’s priorities

Some terminologies Evaluation system: involves the development of a series of data over a time span starting before the project is implemented and continuing well beyond the implementation period. It requires a longer time span before even tentative conclusions can be drawn. A baseline study: reveals the situation in the project area before the intervention. Baseline data, against which progress and results can be measured, should be disaggregated by sex, socioeconomic and ethnic grouping, and age. Gender-sensitive indicators: they measure gender-related changes in society over time, point out how far and in what ways development programs and projects have met their gender objectives.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION! The End..