Needs assessment and evaluation : service improvement and women Professor Gill Scott Director, Scottish Poverty Information Unit School of Law and Social Sciences, Glasgow Caledonian University

Context Competing expectations of needs assessment and evaluation Technical demands Aids economic allocation Increases accountability Policy/ Service enhancement Understanding how a situation arose and opportunities for change Understanding how a service/ policy works Basis of service development

Stages “If you don’t know where you’re going how will you know if you get there?” Outset - needs assessment( & ex ante evaluation?) Extent of problem for women and differences between men and women Reasons for existence - relationship and existing service analysis Scope for change To inform intervention logic, programme instruments & anticipated outcomes for women Outcomes and impact – evaluation Final and interim evaluations Indicators : inputs, outputs, results and impacts on women (nb race, disability)

Define issues and goals What is the policy trying to achieve Understand different problems and concerns for men and women Collect data Gather gender, race and disability disaggregated data Consult experts, women and men, BME groups, disability groups Develop options Determine impact for different groups Offer real choices Remove stereotypes Communicate Design of different strategies Use inclusive language Monitor Use the community Develop hard and soft indicators Examine differential impact Evaluate Assess equality impact Learn lessons Spread best practice Virtuous Circle Source: Women and Equality Unit 2001

Challenges Gendered breakdowns are seldom available at local level, often have gaps, are in an unusable form and not consistent Over-reliance on statistical data Lack of local voices means it becomes difficult to avoid passive approach or develop local trust Needs analysis and evaluation too often not connected Under-use of needs analysis and evaluation to provide evidence of what works for wider learning

Gendered indicators Disaggregated - gender, race and disability Key to usefulness Easily understood Credible Simple Communicable Relevant/ sensitive to the situation to be addressed and intervention Gender equality indicators for Northern Ireland - ‘ little clarity over which are key for evaluating equality’ Regeneration agencies in Scotland- disaggregated data in education and employment but little else - violence, gender stereotypes, decision making?

Over reliance on statistical data Value of different methods of collecting data Quality of info and way it is presented matter Photos, community walk, video (nb DEEP Welsh EQUAL DP) Models from development organisations can be useful source e.g. OXFAM

Local involvement Needs assessment and evaluation works best when local community, local services and women are involved. Respect and empowerment both important. Not just an issue of distribution ‘Women and Children’s Poverty - Making the Links’ (2005): Involved workshops across the country to identify the needs of women in relation to local and national policy Barr (1996)‘ Essential that basis for evaluation is negotiated with community’ Involvement and honesty are important for developing trust. Communication. Feedback at all stages helps the process of policy formulation, implementation, evaluation and further service development

Integration in planning cycle Prioritisation will always need to be undertaken but gender sensitive NA and Evaluation can help identify which issues to take forward and how. Plus if done effectively key stakeholders will support change Thurrock Gender Mainstreaming Project Questions to be addressed. Does planned or achieved intervention promote gender equality? Are/were activities designed to be appropriate for women and are/ were they adequate to achieve gender equality? Outputs fairly distributed between men and women? Adequate to achieve gender equality? Are the inputs adequate to achieve gender equality in service and outcomes? Identifying the potential and need for change

A local issue or lessons for all? Promise of needs assessment and evaluation Allows assessment of effectiveness of promising approaches Can help to distil their critical elements Can provide real basis for promoting gender focused change