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Standards Under Conflict: International Evaluation Practice in Peace-Precarious Situations
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| Presenter(s):
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| Catherine Elkins,
Research Triangle Institute,
celkins@gmail.com
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| Abstract:
International assistance, reconstruction, and development have begun to occur routinely even in the most conflicted or fragile areas. Not only are such interventions often physically risky and under pressure to produce clear or dramatic humanitarian value, but volatile challenges in the situation also constantly push programs to innovate, sometimes in inconsistent directions. How can we accurately – or adequately – assess impact under these circumstances?
Projects scramble to keep up with their environment and find ways to "do good" regardless, and evaluators must ensure we continue to test hypotheses against evidence, in order to increase knowledge of how best to help most vulnerable populations effect self-sustaining improvements contributing to security and quality of life. Drawing on the author's experiences working in Iraq and Afghanistan, this paper examines AEA and other relevant principles for evaluation towards developing a model to help us understand how standards apply for international evaluation in peace-precarious situations.
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Contributing to Quality Education for Children in Conflict Affected Fragile States: Findings of Four Case Study Evaluations
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| Presenter(s):
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| Cynthia Koons,
International Save the Children Alliance,
cynthia@save-children-alliance.org
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| Abstract:
This paper examines effective ways of delivering quality education to children living in conflict affected fragile states. In 2008, the International Save the Children Alliance conducted the first phase of a case study evaluation to determine promising practices in delivering quality education to children in four conflict affected fragile states: Angola, Afghanistan, Nepal, and Southern Sudan. The approach to the evaluation was participatory, child friendly and mixed methods. The research questions answered were: 1) How have Save the Children’s project level interventions contributed to quality primary education for children affected by conflict; and 2) Which project level interventions have had what impact on the education quality of children affected by conflict. In addition, each country specific evaluation answered several contextually relevant sub-questions. Section one describes the research questions and methodology. Section two describes the findings.
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