Delivering aid programs that effectively enhance the lives of the poor is the central goal of development organisations, donors and the public who support them. Since its inception development aid has saved countless lives and lifted millions of families out of extreme poverty, but are we learning effectively from what works and what doesn’t? How can we as NGOs be sure that the interventions we choose are the most appropriate and the most cost effective use of our funds? Building a well in the centre of a village and claiming that thousands of people were helped is not enough. We need to know how improved access to water has changed people’s lives. Are they healthier? Has school attendance increased because of healthier children? Is water access available to all that it was intended for? We need to ensure that we go beyond reporting of activities and critically reflect on the change that was leveraged.
This can be difficult; it can be easier to focus on our successes rather than our challenges, yet it is learning from our challenges that make us stronger.
Development agencies must above all else be learning organisations and this is central to Practical Action’s ethos. With hundreds of projects across several countries we need to make sure that we can learn from each other’s experiences. Ultimately it allows us to target the areas where gaps exist and where we can have the greatest impact.
A plan of action
Practical Action has learned the importance of developing coherent monitoring, evaluation and learning plans during the development stage of a project. Taking such an approach will allow us to clearly measure success and learn from our challenges in a more efficient way. We are working hard to understand our data needs and find ways to effectively use our evidence for future projects. Creating an open forum for dialogue across our country offices has been central to creating an organisational learning environment. The forum allows for experience sharing where country offices benefit from similar challenges faced by others.
Evidence based approaches are not the end all solution, no matter how reflective an organization, interventions do not always go as planned. However, it does offer the opportunity to test our approach, to use the findings to inform decisions as best we can and where necessary, change our direction.