Abstract
BackgroundProgram evaluation is widely recognized in the international humanitarian sector as a means to make interventions and policies more evidence based, equitable, and accountable. Yet, little is known about the way humanitarian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) actually use evaluations.MethodsThe current qualitative evaluation employed an instrumental case study design to examine evaluation use (EU) by a humanitarian NGO based in Burkina Faso. This organization developed an evaluation strategy in 2008 to document the implementation and effects of its maternal and child healthcare user fee exemption program. Program evaluations have been undertaken ever since, and the present study examined the discourses of evaluation partners in 2009 (n = 15) and 2011 (n = 17). Semi-structured individual interviews and one group interview were conducted to identify instances of EU over time. Alkin and Taut’s (Stud Educ Eval 29:1–12, 2003) conceptualization of EU was used as the basis for thematic qualitative analyses of the different forms of EU identified by stakeholders of the exemption program in the two data collection periods.ResultsResults demonstrated that stakeholders began to understand and value the utility of program evaluations once they were exposed to evaluation findings and then progressively used evaluations over time. EU was manifested in a variety of ways, including instrumental and conceptual use of evaluation processes and findings, as well as the persuasive use of findings. Such EU supported planning, decision-making, program practices, evaluation capacity, and advocacy.ConclusionsThe study sheds light on the many ways evaluations can be used by different actors in the humanitarian sector. Conceptualizations of EU are also critically discussed.
Highlights
Program evaluation is widely recognized in the international humanitarian sector as a means to make interventions and policies more evidence based, equitable, and accountable
Results are summarized in Table 2; it should be noted that the column on the left lists respondents speaking about use by intended users; when external evaluators (EE) are indicated, it refers to themes discussed by evaluators about intended users’ evaluation use (EU), and not their own
A Non-governmental organization Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe e.V (HELP) staff member corroborated this affirmation and described how they used evaluation findings to plan the exemption in Burkina Faso, paying specific attention to avoiding mistakes underscored in the previous evaluation report [51]
Summary
Program evaluation is widely recognized in the international humanitarian sector as a means to make interventions and policies more evidence based, equitable, and accountable. Similar user fee subsidies or exemption programs had been attempted in different West African countries [18], but planning, implementation, and evaluation were frequently insufficient and often only partial [19, 20], and in general the measured impacts were smaller than expected [21] While such exemption programs innovated upon previous practices in West Africa [22] and in some instances seemed promising [21], for a complex array of reasons, health sector deficiencies persisted and health indicators remained worrisome [21, 23, 24]. West African decision-makers and practitioners have required empirical documentation on the processes and effects of user fee exemptions to ground their reflections, decisions and actions [18, 22, 23, 25, 26]
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