- During the programme design phase indicators that will be used during the monitoring and evaluation process must be clearly set out. Monitoring and evaluation answers the following questions:
- Are we doing what we said we were going to do?
- Are we achieving what we said we would achieve?
- Is the project design sound? How can it be improved?
- What were the unintended consequences?
- Is our program causing the observed changes?
Inputs: Were program inputs available, adequate, timely?
Activities: Were activities performed on schedule?
Outputs: Were outputs produced? Were they of acceptable quality?
Effect: Were effects observed?
Impact: Was impact achieved?
Source: Vann, B. 2004. “Training Manual, Facilitator’s Guide: Multisectoral and Interagency Prevention and Response to Gender-based Violence in Populations Affected by Armed Conflict,” Module 4, pg. 28. Arlington: Reproductive Health Response in Conflict Consortium, GBV Global Technical Support Project, JSI Research and Training Institute.
- Indicators are the measurement for these questions. They measure the progress made toward achieving an objective in a “specific, observable, and measurable” manner (Khan, 2011, pg. 29). Good indicators will typically be:
- Valid: an accurate measure of a behavior, practice or task
- Reliable: consistently measurable in the same way by different observers
- Precise: operationally defined in clear terms
- Measurable: quantifiable using available tools and methods
- Timely: provides a measurement at time intervals relevant and appropriate in terms of programme goals and activities
- Programmatically important: linked to the programme or to achieving the programe objectives (adapted from Khan, 2011, pg. 31).
- Some common methods used for measuring VAWG indicators are presented below:
Source: Khan M. E. 2011. Monitoring and Evaluating of Sexual and Reproductive Health services: Key Considerations and Challenges. Population Council. Presented in SVRI Forum 2011, Cape Town, pg. 32.
- VAWG indicators are often divided into three categories: output indicators, outcome indicators and impact indicators:
- Output indicators: illustrate the change related directly to the activities undertaken within the programme (e.g. percentage of traditional leaders in community x who completed the training on international human rights standards on VAWG)
- Outcome indicators: relate to change that is demonstrated as a result of the programme interventions in the medium-to-longer term (e.g. the number of decisions in the informal justice system of community x related to VAWG that reflects a human rights-based approach)
- Impact indicators: measure the long-term effect of programme interventions (e.g. the prevalence of VAWG in community x). (Excerpted from DFID, 2012a, pg. 19.)
- Often, output and effect indicators have proven most relevant for VAWG programmes operating in humanitarian settings because monitoring takes place over a relatively short time period. Some examples of sector specific indicators are presented in the table below.
Source: Vann, B. 2004. “Training Manual, Facilitator’s Guide: Multisectoral and Interagency Prevention and Response to Gender-based Violence in Populations Affected by Armed Conflict,” Module 4, pgs. 30-31. Arlington: Reproductive Health Response in Conflict Consortium, GBV Global Technical Support Project, JSI Research and Training Institute.
Additional Resources
Bloom, S.S. 2008. Violence Against Women and Girls: A Compendium of Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators. Measure Evaluation, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA.
UN Division for the Advancement of Women (UNDAW), UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and UN Statistical Division. 2008. Indicators to measure violence against women: Report of the Expert Group Meeting, 8 to 10 October 2007. Geneva, Switzerland.
UN Human Rights Council. 2008. Report of the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, its Causes and Consequences, Yertürk: indicators on violence against women and State response. A/HRC/7/6.
Also see Indicators on conflict/post-conflict in M&E module.