Evaluating Progress of a Social Venture in Wakiso District Uganda

Abstract

Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of funded projects is discussed. The goal is to determine an effective process with which IEEE Smart Village (ISV) can most easily collect the most valuable project data. The presentation begins with an operational definition of sustainable community development (SCD). The dichotomy between economic sustainability and charity is pointed out. A general model of SCD is discussed. Social Return on Investment (SRoI) is a number that is expected to reflect project efficacy. The process to determine SRoI scrutinizes a project under evaluation. The scrutiny uncovers data that becomes re-hidden in the single SRoI number. The authors of this paper took part in a SRoI process applied to an IEEE Smart Village funded non-profit, non-governmental organization, Africa Development Promise (ADP). The focus was to inform the ISV M&E process. Some salient features of the location (Wakiso District, Central Region, Uganda) are elucidated. Some detail of the sub-projects that are under valuation are given. Data collected from the SRoI process are used to determine what parts of the SRoI process are most relevant to M&E of the type of SCD projects that ISV is monitoring. An M&E process and its implementation are proposed and discussed.