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2006 Resources
Mike Toole - The challenge of attribution in evaluating HIV programs
Matthew Clarke - The Other Role of NGOs
Willetts, Cheney, Crawford - Defining and refining effectiveness
Danielle Pedi - Effective responses to HIV-AIDS and food security
Patrick Kilby - The Strength of Networks
Bruce Parnell - Measuring effectiveness HIV prevention
Linda Kelly - Effectiveness from whose Perspective
Tim Large - 'Selling' emergencies
Ben Coghlan - Measuring mortality (coming soon)
Matthew Clarke - Understanding Aid Volatility
Chris Wardle - Barriers to effective impact assessment
Jamie Bedson - Microfinance
Anthony Zwi - Health system responses to adversity - East Timor (coming soon)
Evelyne de Leeuw - Framing Effectiveness
The challenge of attribution in evaluating HIV programs
Assoc. Prof. Michael J. Toole
Michael is Head of the Burnet Institute's Centre for International Health and Associate Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine at Monash University.
A medical epidemiologist and public health physician, he has worked in numerous rural and refugee public health programs overseas as the health coordinator of Oxfam,
and at the U.S Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. He is currently a board member of Medecins Sans Frontiers.
Michael spoke on ‘The challenge of attribution in evaluating HIV programs: linking inputs to outcomes within a multisectoral response’.
Download print version (PDF: 3.0 MB)
The Other Role of NGOs: The Marketing Response of World Vision Australia to the Asian Tsunami Disaster
Dr. Matthew Clarke, RMIT University
This presentation explored how World Vision Australia (WVA) was able to effectively
fundraise for the Asian Tsunami Disaster without resorting to traditional 'appeals to pity and compassion' through its partnership with various commercial entities.
The circumstances surrounding much of WVA’s fundraising were in effect a pay-off of its level of integrity and honesty built up over a long period of time with the Australian public.
The scope of direct solicitation of donations by WVA was extraordinary low in terms of funds raised. This changing approach to fundraising reflects a change in this other role of NGOs
not yet reflected in the literature.
Download print version (PDF: 99 KB)
Defining and refining effectiveness: a critique of narrative and dialogue methods
Juliet Willetts, Institute of Sustainable Futures, University of Technology, Sydney
Helen Cheney, Australian Institute of Family Studies
Paul Crawford, Aid-IT Solutions, Institute of Sustainable Futures, University of Technology, Sydney
Evaluators investigate the effectiveness of development aid in numerous ways. They may measure improvements using accepted scales and tools across large populations and/or use more open-ended and locally responsive methods. The latter are more appropriate for studying processes of meaning making, learning and negotiation of diverse perspectives at the local level.
This presentation examined two contexts in which open-ended methods of inquiry were used. The first is the use of an innovative assessment method in the evaluation of a World Vision project in Ecuador and Peru. The second is the use of the Most Significant Change (MSC) technique by Adventist Development Relief Agency (ADRA) in Laos.
Juliet Willetts is a researcher at the Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology, Sydney. She specialises in interdisciplinary research that supports improvements to international development aid and sustainable water management.
Helen Cheney is a researcher at the Australian Institute of Family Studies. She specialises in interdisciplinary, participatory and community based research. She is currently working on the national evaluation of the Australian Government’s Stronger Families and Communities Strategy.
Paul Crawford is a consultant with Aid-IT Solutions Pty Ltd and an adjunct research fellow of the Institute for Sustainable Futures,
University of Technology Sydney. He specialises in international aid monitoring & evaluation and planning.
Download print version (PDF: 868 KB)
HIV/AIDS and Food Insecurity: proposing a tool for understanding the Linkages and exploring the new variant famine hypothesis
Danielle Pedi, World Vision Australia
André M.N. Renzaho , World Vision Australia
This presentation looked at the setting out of a conceptual framework for understanding the linkages between HIV and AIDS and food security,
and presented a suite of options and examples from World Vision practice which may inform future program responses.
Discussion included proposing an analytical structure that can be used in two ways: 1) to map and deconstruct the impact of
Food and Nutrition Insecurity on the Spread of HIV and 2) to examine the contribution of HIV and AIDS to the Food and Nutrition
crisis prevalent in countries most hit by the epidemic. The presenters stipulated that understanding the negative
two-way relationship between HIV and AIDS and livelihoods security opens up opportunities for program and policy responses.
The presentation then concluded by proposing a series of recommendations to achieve best practice in HIV and AIDS response and programming.
Download print version (PDF: 327 KB)
The Strength of Networks: the local NGO response to the tsunami, in India
Patrick Kilby, Australian National University
This presentation examined the role a network of local NGOs, the East Coast Development Forum (ECDF) played in response the Asian tsunami that devastated the East Coast of India.
It examined ECDF’s response to the needs of the affected community through a direct relief program; a rehabilitation program based on restoring livelihoods; and finally, advocacy
for changes to Government programs so they were inclusive and based priority needs. The presentation also showed that it was the trust and capacity that evolved from existing
network activities that enabled the ECDF to be effective in its tsunami response, by using existing network members to meet to the needs of devastated communities;
and one lesson may be that similar networks could be used in other disaster situations.
Download print version (PDF: 413 KB)
Measuring effectiveness HIV prevention
Mr. Bruce Parnell
Bruce is a Senior Fellow of the Burnet Institute, specialising in HIV and Development, working to build capacity for improved responses to the HIV epidemic at national,
community and regional levels. Bruce has assisted ASEAN to develop the current the Work Programme on HIV and AIDS, been a consultant adviser for development of National HIV
and AIDS Strategies in Lao and Myanmar, and assisted UNAIDS, UNICEF and UNDP to integrate HIV with other development initiatives. Bruce gave a presentation on ‘Measuring the
effectiveness of HIV prevention programs in developing countries’.
Download print version (PDF: 239 KB)
Effectiveness from whose perspective?
Linda Kelly, Independent Consultant
This presentation explored the Australian and other research on program and organizational effectiveness, presenting some alternative and contrasting perspectives on how to assess the outcomes and qualities of aid.
The presentation concluded with the key questions which remain in this field.
Dr Kelly is an independent consultant specializing in areas of monitoring, evaluation and impact assessment. Dr Kelly works with Australian and international
NGOs and with the Australian government agency AusAID, across several areas of program design, management and assessment.
Download print version (PDF: 10 KB)
What editors want: "Selling" emergencies to the media.
Tim Large, Deputy Editor, Reuters AlertNet
Aid workers accuse the media of being simplistic, sensational or just not interested. Journalists complain that relief agencies are slow, mistrustful and don’t understand the news business.
Both sides need each other, but will they ever see eye to eye? Tim Large, deputy editor of Reuters AlertNet, explained the findings of the biggest survey yet of
relations between media and aid organisations, and offered practical tips on how charities can help get humanitarian stories in the news. He also reported on the progress of MediaBridge,
an ambitious project aimed at getting journalists and humanitarian workers on the same page.
Download print version (PDF: 1.56 MB)
Evaluating the entire effort: tracking mortality for monitoring, planning & policy
Ben Coghlan, Burnet Institute
Mortality is often used as the key indicator in humanitarian emergencies for determining when to respond and to evaluate how well we have responded.
Mortality is also an important barometer of the ultimate success of development programs, particularly those focused on improving population health.
Through a case study – a mortality survey in the Democratic Republic of Congo - this session achieved the following:
(1) examined the usefulness of (crude) mortality as an indicator for evaluating programs and assisting with planning appropriate responses; and
(2) explored strategies for getting such data “noticed” by agencies, donors, governments, media and the general public.
Presentation available soon.
Aid Allocation and Volatility to Small Island States
Matthew Clarke, RMIT University
Tim Fry, RMIT University
This presentation looked at the extent of year-on-year aid volatility to small island states, especially those in the Pacific region.
In the presentation the presenters looked at the development of advanced methods for looking at these issues by applying these methods to a far broader sample of countries.
Volatility in different types of aid (multilateral, bilateral, project, program, etc.) was discussed, along with volatility of aid from specific donors
(in particular the major donors to the countries under consideration). The sample of countries under consideration included all aid receiving countries in the South Pacific.
Results for different regions were analysed and contrasted. The presentation also looked at investigating the causes of under- or over-aiding and volatility.
It also took a particularly close look at volatility and institutional means by which it can be reduced.
Download print version (PDF: 116 KB)
Barriers to effective impact assessment - the World Population Foundation’s (WPF) experience with Most Significant Change (MSC) monitoring and evaluation technique in Pakistan.
Christopher Wardle, World Population Foundation
Christopher Wardle presented the results of the World Population Foundation’s (WPF) - an International Non-Government Organisation (INGO) based in The Netherlands - use of Most Significant Change
(MSC) monitoring and evaluation technique, to measure the impact of its programmes in Pakistan over the past twelve months.
Having trained over 500 volunteer teachers and five local NGO implementing partners to deliver their LSBE programme at the grass roots, the presentation took a practical focus by reflecting on
the challenges faced, successes to date, pitfalls in MSC implementation, lessons learnt and implementation adjustments taken.
Chris Wardle has held the post of the World Population Foundation's Country Representative for Pakistan since March of 2004. Mr Wardle’s background is in reproductive health management,
having spent the previous three years as the Executive Director of a state-wide Australian NGO – the Family Planning Welfare Association of the Northern Territory – and prior to that,
two years in Malaysia as the Resource Mobilisation Officer for the East and South East Asia and Oceania Regional Office of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF-ESEAOR),
in Kuala Lumpur. His experience in piloting the use of the MSC technique for the World Population Foundation brings a practical, field-based focus, as he strives to improve the quality
and determine the validity and effectiveness of WPF’s work in the development sector. In addition to impact assessment, his present research interests also include rights-based approaches
to reproductive health, gender equity and protective behaviour in relation to sexuality and disability.
Download print version (PDF: 3.90 MB)
Good Practice In Microfinance and World Vision-funded Programmes: The challenges of a poverty focus in an evolving industry
Jamie Bedson
André M.N. Renzaho, World Vision Australia
Despite the weight of expectation on the back of the ‘microfinance revolution’, it is increasingly evident that the benefits and costs of microfinance must not be assumed. Much of the
literature on microfinance is contradictory, with similar programmes having failed in different geographic regions, while succeeding in others.
A consequence of this is that the microfinance community has failed to provide a clear microfinance philosophy. The resultant debate, centred on the core principles
of the sustainability of microfinance versus the depth of poverty outreach, has informed perspectives on all key areas of microfinance such as definitions and understandings of ‘the poor’,
gender, financial and operational management, institutional best practice, lowering of operational costs, default payment and arrears, risk management, the forms of financial/non-financial
services offered. The microfinance strategies employed by WVA fall at various points along the ‘ commercialization – development spectrum’, from those operating like microbanks to
those that run concurrently with social programming. This presentation explored ways of resolving the tension between the sustainability and poverty perspectives, while building on
the positive lessons learned from previous programming, especially that which has combined both institutionally sound microfinance with traditional development objectives.
Download print version (PDF: 304 KB)
Health system responses to adversity - East Timor
Prof. Anthony Zwi
Anthony Zwi is Professor of Public Health and Community Medicine at The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. His research has focused on exploring
the impact of conflict on health and health systems; identifying and supporting the resilience of communities, health service providers, and health systems;
and researching around health, conflict and peacebuilding.
He has a particularly strong interest in international health policy and in enhancing policy accountability.
Most recently he and colleagues have been exploring the ethical challenges of research with refugee and forced migrant communities,
and have also been examining the resilience and vulnerabilities within the East Timorese health system during the 2006 period of instability and population displacement.
Anthony’s presentation was on ‘Health system responses to adversity: Experiences emerging from Timor Leste’.
Presentation available soon.
Framing Effectiveness
Prof. Evelyne de Leeuw
Evelyne is Chair and Head of School, Health and Social Development at Deakin University. Prior to this, she contributed to the establishment and development of Schools of
Public Health in environments as diverse as El Salvador, Kazakhstan and Denmark. Her own research looks at how networks of stakeholders frame the evidence of effectiveness of
(communicative, regulatory and facilitative) health interventions into policy options. Her closing address, Framing Effectiveness: Constructing the way forward summarised conference findings
and proposed pathways of action toward more integration between knowledge generation and implementation.
Download print version (PDF: 4.34 MB)
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