1. Working towards an inclusive society for all
CBM’s Monitoring on Inclusion tool
Why a Monitoring on Inclusion tool?
What does it measure?
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The tool can measure changes and improvements in 5 areas:
...in the quality of life and resilience of individuals
their self-worth
their autonomy
their social, cultural and economic participation
and their participation in political life
...in the quality of life and resilience of their families
the acceptance of disability within the family
the family’s economic situation
the family’s social participation in their community
and the family’s hope for the future
...in communities that people with disability live in
their view about whether people with a disability participate in community life
their access to development programs
their access to public services (health, education, employment, legal)
...in the broader society
changes in government policies, practice and budget for the inclusion of persons with disabilities
changes in organisations - systems, policies and practices
and in CBM, its partners and in any development organisation
changes towards inclusive policies and practices
and inclusive programs or services.
CBM’s Monitoring on Inclusion tool aims to assess the progress of disability inclusion in our development programs. It has been developed so that CBM and its partners can better understand the situation of people with disability in their community and monitor the changes that our programs contribute to – in improving the quality of life of persons with disabilities and achieving an inclusive society for all.
How are changes measured?
The CBM Monitoring on Inclusion tool provides a pool of statements for each of the 5 areas of change: individual, family, community, society and organisation.
Statements are chosen and contextualised jointly with representatives of the target groups. A survey approach is then used to collect data using a simple tool where people (with disabilities, family members, community people) rate statements using a smiley scale. The survey process provides a prompt with participants for further discussion about inclusion.
The first round of surveys is used to take a baseline on inclusion, and then this is repeated at the mid-term point of a project, or at the project’s end. Analysing changes in responses gives an understanding of changes in inclusion.
Organisations doing the Monitoring on Inclusion approach can choose to survey on just one domain (eg individual) or multiple domains (eg. individual, community and organisation).
Results?
As a highly participatory tool, Monitoring on Inclusion supports partners, project staff and target groups to better understand how inclusive their work is and where they need to adjust. Many partners are using the results as indicators to measure project outcomes.
It helps define and adjust project goals, develop stronger objectives aimed at inclusion, corresponding indicators and activities that are useful for themselves and the target groups.
Results prompt consideration of whether there are areas that require more focus, or whether, for example, people with a certain disablity type are being overlooked in programs, what barriers exist, or whether particular government sectors or services have responded well (or not) to advocacy on inclusion.
More info from Julie Smith, Senior Quality Advisor at CBMA