Human Rights-Based Approach to Programming - UNFPA - SESSION 3: Applying a HRBA to Monitoring and Evaluation

Session Overview Discussion of process and outputs (results) Addressing participation, non-discrimination and accountability Discussion of how to measure a HRBA Working with mini-indicators

Monitoring and Evaluation A comprehensive M&E plan sensitive to human rights concerns addresses: process outputs (results) Why? monitoring process helps ensure the most marginalized groups get involved and contribute to programme final outcomes and impacts of programme as it relates to realization of human rights may only be visible in the long term, therefore ‘checking’ short-term effectiveness of the programme depends on evaluating process and ensuring that it is human rights-friendly Monitoring and evaluation of activities are essential for tracking whether activities are being carried out as planned and whether they are having the anticipated impact. A coherent and coordinated monitoring and evaluation system can ensure that: relevant, timely and accurate data are made available to programme leaders and managers at each level of the programme; selected quality data are reported to national programme leaders; and the national programme is able to meet donor and international reporting requirements. A comprehensive monitoring and evaluation plan sensitive to human rights concerns will address process, outcome and impact data as a means of assessing programme progress and effectiveness. A human rights-based monitoring and evaluation plan will also be culturally sensitive, because it requires some introspection on your part as to how and why you are supporting this national programme and whether it is an appropriate programme for the context in which you are working. Continuous monitoring and evaluation can help you determine if the programme is taking on the cultural nuances that may be necessary in order to ensure success in the long term. Why does a HRBA focus so much on process? because it helps to ensure that the most marginalized people are getting involved and contributing to the programme; because in development, the effectiveness of a programme is seen not only in its outputs, but also in its processes; because the final outcomes of a programme as it relates to realization of human rights may only be visible in the long term, a good way of checking the effectiveness of the programme is to ensure the process is human rights-friendly.

Some Fundamental Questions… What to measure? Who to involve? How to measure? AND How is M&E process ensuring attention to participation, non-discrimination and accountability? (See checklist of questions) A M&E system can be designed around a number of fundamental questions: What to measure? How to measure? Who to involve? As a UNFPA staff member you are probably already aware of UNFPA’s Programming Guidelines found in The Programme Manager’s Planning, Monitoring, and Evaluation Toolkit (http://www.unfpa.org/monitoring/toolkit.htm). The guidelines in this Manual are not intended to replace any of your current M&E guidelines, but just to point out the added importance of applying human rights principles to your M&E methodology.

What to Measure? Programme process Outputs Ideally: Programme process Outputs Outcomes and impacts (where feasible/possible, although these are harder to measure) A HRBA gives importance not only to the intended results of a programme, but also to the processes by which the programme is implemented. Therefore, a HRBA and RBM call for monitoring the implementation process as well as the outputs. Ideally, a HRBA should be implemented when measuring outcomes and impacts as well - although understandably, these are much harder to measure.

Who to Involve? Another way of thinking about how to apply principles of ‘participation and inclusion’ to M&E process A HRBA calls for ensuring that both rights-holders and duty-bearers are involved in M&E, as well as individuals or groups, such as NGOs, who are external to the project and can give an objective perspective Who to involve? This refers to the principle of participation. A HRBA calls for ensuring that both rights-holders and duty-bearers are involved in monitoring and evaluation, as well as individuals or groups, such as NGOs, who are external to the project and can give an objective perspective. Reaching disadvantaged groups may require partnering with local groups or adopting specific techniques for reaching the marginalized and excluded. All of these stakeholders should be actively involved in the processes of monitoring and evaluation; they should also be part of workshops where the findings of such work are disseminated.

Example of Participation Gender case study: ‘Jalampore Gender Programme’ To incorporate the principle of participation into its M&E activities diverse group of stakeholders met every six months to review M&E findings group included relevant ministers, the UN gender thematic group, members of parliament, local government officials, representatives of local women’s NGOs, gender experts, etc. For example: In the gender case study, we describe the ‘Jalampore Gender Programme’. As part of the attempt to incorporate the principle of participation into its M&E activities, a diverse group of stakeholders met every six months to review M&E findings. This group included relevant ministers, the UN gender thematic group, members of parliament, local government officials, representatives of local women’s NGOs, gender experts, etc.

How to Measure? Use human rights principles and standards to guide the selection of indicators (this means ensure participation, non-discrimination and accountability) Indicators should be chosen that: capture the extent to which human rights principles have been incorporated into all stages of the programme demonstrate how incorporating rights has contributed to overall programme effectiveness Also, make sure your process is non-discriminatory, participatory and accountable The best indicators are those that are clear and simple. Examples of UNFPA indicators include some of the MDG indicators, such as ratios of girls to boys in primary, secondary and tertiary education; maternal mortality ratio; contraceptive prevalence rate; HIV prevalence rate; and so forth. Other UNFPA indicators, such as those used in programmes focusing on maternal mortality, include: proportion of all births in basic and comprehensive emergency obstetric care facilities; Caesarean sections as a proportion (%) of all births; obstetric case fatality rate; and amount of basic and comprehensive emergency obstetric care facilities available per population, etc. Indicators should be chosen that capture the extent to which human rights have been incorporated into all stages of the programme (from the situation assessment and analysis to the monitoring and evaluation), and demonstrate how incorporating rights has contributed to overall programme effectiveness. However, you must also ensure that your process of monitoring and evaluation is participatory, non-discriminatory, and open and transparent for the purposes of accountability.

Example of Non-discrimination SRH programme in Country X agreed that one way to ensure non-discriminatory programming process would be to keep track of all rights-holders and duty-bearers who attended programme meetings. M&E revealed that one group of rights-holders (adolescents living in poverty) stopped attending programme meetings early on. Further qualitative surveys of this group were carried out, and it was discovered that programme meetings were ending late in the evening, and the adolescents had to travel too far to get back to their villages at night. A SRH programme in Country X agreed that one of the ways it would ensure a non-discriminatory programming process would be by keeping track of all the rights-holders and duty-bearers who attended programme meetings. M&E revealed that one group of rights-holders (adolescents living in poverty) stopped attending programme meetings early on. Further qualitative surveys of this group were carried out, and it was discovered that programme meetings were ending late in the evening, and the adolescents had to travel too far to get back to their villages at night.

Example of Accountability SRH programme in Country Y wishes to ensure that M&E activities are carried out in a manner that fulfils the principle of accountability. As a result, all decisions made around M&E process, including decisions regarding which indicators to use, are carefully documented and then shared with all stakeholders, as well as with the local community.

Indicators (1) Use indicators that will provide: evidence of involving marginalized groups at all stages of your programme evidence of fair and equal representation of rights-holders and duty-bearers evidence that technical support has been provided to excluded or margianlized groups in building their capacity to participate in decision-making percentage of resources spent on making information accessible to excluded groups, e.g. money spent on translation Human rights principles and standards should guide the selection of indicators. Both quantitative and qualitative indicators should be set to monitor the realization of human rights through development programmes. Indicator selection and monitoring should be participatory, allowing stakeholders to assess progress. In order to capture the extent to which human rights principles have been incorporated into all stages of the programme, use indicators that will capture: evidence of involving marginalized groups at all stages of your programme; evidence of fair and equal representation of rights-holders and duty-bearers; evidence that technical support has been provided to women (and other excluded groups) in building their capacity to participate in decision-making; and percentage of resources spent on making information accessible to excluded groups, e.g. money spent on translation.

Indicators (2) In order to demonstrate how incorporating rights has contributed to overall programme effectiveness, use indicators that will capture: evidence of strengthened capacities of rights-holders to claim their rights, and evidence of them actually claiming their rights evidence of strengthened capacities of duty-bearers to fulfil their duties, as well as evidence of them actually fulfilling their duties

Example (1) UNFPA is supporting a programme in Country A that aims to combat violence against women One indicator used for M&E purposes is the number of gender-sensitive training programmes that have been carried out for police officers This is not a bad indicator. Adding a human rights-based approach does not necessarily require you to change or get rid of this indicator. Instead, it asks you to ‘strengthen’ or ‘tweak’ the indicator to reflect more human rights principles.

Example (2) One way to capture more human rights elements is to ‘disaggregate’ the indicator and include information, such as: percentage of gender-sensitive training programmes that were carried out in poor, rural police stations percentage that were carried out in minority languages qualitative feedback from police officers as to the quality of these training programmes

Example (3) Instead of counting how many police units introduced new ‘gender-sensitive protocols’ to respond to violence against women, gather evidence that shows duty-bearers can continue to provide gender-responsive services to women. How many police units implemented action plan to continuously train new recruits in gender-sensitive protocols? What action plan does government have to prove it will continue making resources available to police units for purpose of promoting gender sensitivity? 1. Instead of just counting how many police units have introduced new ‘gender-sensitive protocols’ to respond to violence against women, gather evidence that shows that duty-bearers can continue to provide gender-responsive services to women. For instance, how many police units have implemented an action plan to continuously train new recruits in gender-sensitive protocols? What action plan does the government have in place to prove that it will continue making resources available to police units for the purpose of promoting gender sensitivity?

Example (4) Indicator: Total change in the number of survivors of violence receiving gender-sensitive support services Disaggregate data! Examine proportion of women who access the police and receive gender-sensitive services and are: living in poverty? migrants? minorities? What is the quality of the gender-sensitive support being provided? Is it acceptable to women? 1. Instead of looking at the total change in the number of survivors of violence receiving gender-sensitive support services: Disaggregate data. Examine proportion of women who access the police and receive gender-sensitive services and are: Living in poverty? Migrants? Minorities? What is the quality of the gender-sensitive support being provided? Is it acceptable to women?

Mini-Indicators Exercise Consider the following indicators for a UNFPA maternal mortality intervention: contraceptive prevalence rate proportion of all births attended by skilled birth attendants met need for emergency obstetric care Which human rights principles and standards are reflected in these indicators (if any)? Which human rights principles and standards should be reflected in these indicators, but are not? INSTRUCTIONS: Give two minutes to consider Solicit examples. For example, doesn’t it make sense that the human rights standards of availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality should be reflected in these indicators? Otherwise, we don’t know ‘how’ contraceptive prevalence rate has changed. A higher contraceptive prevalence may indicate an increase in forced sterilization, for example. What about the principles of equality or non-discrimination? How do we know whether the proportion of births attended by skilled birth attendants is including the most marginalized groups in the country? And so on…

Mini-Indicators Exercise M&E results reveal that in Country X: contraceptive prevalence rate has increased proportion of all births attended by skilled birth attendants has increased met need for emergency obstetric care has increased What additional indicators, focusing on process, might be relevant to understanding these outcomes? What human rights principles are relevant and should be reflected in these process indicators? INSTRUCTIONS: Give two minutes to consider each question. Solicit examples. May want qualitative indicators: we don’t know if the skilled birth attendants are culturally acceptable in different populations, for example. We want to know how emergency obstetric care has increased. Is it because the city centers got better qualified physicians? Which groups participated in the programmes that led to these changes? Who is being left out? And so on…

Conclusion Use human rights principles and standards to guide the selection of indicators (this means ensure participation, non-discrimination and accountability) Indicators should be chosen that: capture the extent to which human rights principles have been incorporated into all stages of the programme demonstrate how incorporating rights has contributed to overall programme effectiveness