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Evaluating Capacity Strengthening for Social and Behavior Change Communication: A Systematic Review

Grace N. Awantang, Anna Helland, Sanjanthi Velu, Tilly Gurman

Health Promotion International, volume 37, issue 1: daab068 (2022), 16 pp.

"The current systematic review identified seven overall findings with distinct programmatic and research implications for capacity strengthening (CS) in social and behavior change communication (SBCC). First, there is a scarcity of literature about specific evaluation of CS for SBCC. Although CS has ... become a ‘buzz word’ in international development (Hawe et al., 2000), published evaluations of CS activities that aim to build SBCC capacity in LMICs are rare. Only 19 publications met the study’s eligibility criteria, and only three focused solely on CS findings. This review’s findings complement previous literature which has noted that evaluation of CS efforts for SBCC is rare (Lettenmaier et al., 2014). Future evaluations should publish their findings more widely in order to share lessons learned with others interested in implementing CS activities in SBCC and generate further knowledge about what works and what does not work. Second, the review found that among publications that described evaluation findings of CS for SBCC, most did not emphasize the assessment of CS activities. The details of how CS activities were evaluated was often lost in description of large multi-arm interventions that were not focused on SBCC or CS [...] Third, the current systematic review found that evaluation assessments of CS for SBCC generally employ non-experimental designs. Of the reviewed publications, only one described an experimental design [...] Fourth, in terms of the SBCC Capacity Ecosystem, while evaluations commonly addressed organization-level capacity and individual-level competencies, they rarely addressed system-level capacity [...] Fifth, publications highlighted several challenges regarding assessing sustainability of CS activities. Although CS is key to ensuring sustainable gains in development, most publications did not explicitly assess sustainability [...] Sixth, authors identified the shortcomings in terms of quality, both in terms of the writing as well as providing sufficient detail and documentation to support claims. Problems of clarity in the writing, particularly in gray literature, made it difficult to understand what kind of CS activities were most effective at strengthening capacity for SBCC [...] Finally, publications did not consistently support all of their recommendations and conclusions with evaluation findings." (Discussion, page 13-14) more

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Tools for M&E of Capacity Strenghtening

Nigel Simister, Lucy Morris, Rick James

INTRAC (2021), 6 pp.

"Changes arising from capacity strengthening work can sometimes be measured directly. A range of tools and methodologies can also be used to help assess capacity change. Most of these were not designed specifically with capacity strengthening in mind, but can easily be adapted for the purpose. CSOs ... more

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M&E of Capacity Strengthening

Nigel Simister, Lucy Morris, Rick James

INTRAC (2021), 6 pp.

"Capacity strengthening is a process in which people and/or organisations are provided with external support to enhance and maintain their capacity over time. It can be a complex process, involving multiple actors, methods and influences. Monitoring and evaluation should always be designed to suppor ... more

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Monitoring and Evaluation Capacity Assessment Toolkit: User Guide

Chapel Hill: Measure Evaluation PIMA; USAID (2017), v, 74 pp.

"The Monitoring and Evaluation Capacity Assessment Toolkit (MECAT) is a set of tools that guide organizations through a process to assess their current monitoring and evaluation (M&E) capacity, identify gaps, and plan ways to strengthen their M&E systems. MECAT uses four methods and supporting tools ... more

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Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation in Development Organisations: Sharing training and facilitation experiences

John DeConinck, Khilesh Chaturvedi, Ben Haagsma, Hans Griffioen, Mariecke van der Glas

New Delhi et al.: Sage; Interkerkelijke Organisatie voor Ontwikkelingssamenwerking (icco); Cordaid (2008), xv, 200 pp.

"Planning, monitoring and evaluation (PME) remains a challenge for many development organisations in spite of countless PME workshops, experts and manuals. Yet, we believe that effective PME is essential for organisational survival (and therefore for sustainable development) and that this can be nur ... tured through careful and sensitive PME training and facilitation. We do not propose here a PME manual: our aim in these pages is rather to share some of our real-life experiences as PME facilitators and to offer suggestions to support PME processes, with a focus on civil society organisations. As a group of facilitators who have worked on PME issues in different contexts, we realised that we confronted three common challenges: 1. First, a perception of PME as imposed, ‘technical’ and expensive [...] 2. Second, in terms of PME contents, there is a frequent focus on a particular project, or programme, rather than on the wider organisation, its reason for existence and the broader context in which it operates [...] 3. Third, we see PME support processes that emphasise training workshops which, however well delivered, seldom lead to successful PME application, let alone sustained use. This refl ects the limits of a one-shot method, as opposed to a more process-oriented approach, where PME is about day-to-day activities and attitudes, rather than ‘PME events’. So why this book? While we work in various countries, for different organisations and in different roles, we propose to share experiences that refl ect these common challenges and help to: 1. Embrace a ‘total organisation’ approach to PME, not only rooted in programmes, or projects, but with a wider perspective: that of the ‘total organisation’, with its financial dimension, its environment, its collaborators and competitors, in a context informed by local and national cultures [...] 2. Enhance custom-made PME. We have found that PME support is rarely effective if it is not customised to a particular organisation and its stakeholders [...] 3. Bring PME into daily learning practice so that it becomes part of mental processes within a partner organisation, changing mindsets and attitudes, while refl ecting contexts and capacities." (Pages 3-5) more

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Organisational Capacity Building Manuals

Michele Gaudrault

Geneva: World Vision (2008), 746 pp.

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Using Training to Build Capacity for Development: An Evaluation of the World Bank's Project-Based and WBI Training

Washington, DC: World Bank (2008), xxiv, 118 pp.

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Monitoring and Evaluation of ICT in Education Projects: A Handbook for Developing Countries

Daniel A. Wagner, Bob Day, Tina James, Robert B. Kozma, Jonathan Miller, Tim Unwin

Washington, DC: infoDev Information for Development Program (2005), viii, 88 pp.

"Th e present Handbook should be seen as a working document—rather than an academic study—that moves the field of ICT4E ahead in demonstrable ways. While it is more comprehensive than a manual, in that it provides conceptual and empirical approaches that are derived from the research and evidenc ... more

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Rising to the Challenges: Assessing the Impacts of Organisational Capacity Building

John Hailey, Rick James, Rebecca Wrigley

Oxford: INTRAC (2005), 29 pp.

"This Praxis Paper offers a brief overview of current thinking and practice in relation to the impact assessment of organisational capacity building interventions. The paper highlights some of the conceptual, methodological and practical challenges (issues of clarity, power and culture, among others ... more

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Practical Guidelines for the Monitoring and Evaluation of Capacity Building: Experiences from Africa

Rick James

Oxford: International NGO Training and Research Centre (INTRAC) (2001), 42 pp.