The ‘project’ is intrinsic to modern international development – yet this basic form of organising our work is not something neutral or benign, says Caitlin Scott, but has real, often distorting, effects on the way development organisations think and act.
What worked, what didn’t – and what we need to change: looking back on a decade of Oxfam’s impact
Katrina Barnes introduces a new analysis that brings together over 100 impact evaluations of Oxfam projects between 2011 and 2021 – and sets out how we are reimagining the way we define and measure “impact” to better reflect the priorities of people we work with.
Podcast: Highlights of Oxfam’s Impact Evaluation of Cash for Work activities in the Za’atari camp in Jordan
[buzzsprout episode=’2664862′ player=’true’] For people living in the Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan there are few legally accessible work opportunities in and outside the camp. The Cash for Work activities currently being carried out in Za’atari provides income, increases household wealth, teaches skills and improves well-being. But how effective is the intervention? As part of our Real Geek Series, Franziska …
How we’ve put into practice GDPR and conducting impact evaluations
We have been thinking a lot about the right to privacy lately, in relation to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and our role in Oxfam as impact evaluation advisers. The incorporation of this right in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights reflects a broad recognition that privacy is fundamental to dignity and freedom. We know that when individuals are …
Sampling strategies for gendered impact evaluations
How can evaluators ensure that gendered power dimensions are accounted for in impact evaluations? Alexia Pretari reflects on the relative merits of two approaches. Oxfam’s approach to building resilience involves bringing about changes ‘in the very structures that cause and maintain poverty and injustice’ (transformative capacity), and building active citizenship involves addressing power imbalances, including building power within. While working …
Measuring indirect beneficiaries: Attempting to square the circle?
Marta Arranz introduces the challenging topic of measuring indirect beneficiaries as part of Oxfam’s efforts to better measure influencing work. s someone who works on M&E of influencing, I am interested in how programmes and campaigns can estimate who and how many people they actually benefit, particularly those who benefit indirectly, without being directly engaged with project activities. Don’t miss …
Rising to the challenge: Measuring an expanding concept of resilience in Oxfam’s impact evaluations
Resilience has become central to the development sector in recent years, but conceptually it is still in a state of flux. In this blog post, we explore some of the new challenges associated with measuring the expanding concept of resilience in Oxfam’s impact evaluations or ‘Effectiveness Reviews’. esilience keeps getting bigger. What started off as an ambitious attempt to meld …