Team Member Name
Job Title
Mid-term evaluation of SAIH international programme work
Mid-term evaluation of 17 partner programmes in the SAIH NORAD-funded international work in Myanmar, Nicaragua and Zimbabwe.
Partner/Client
SAIH - Norwegian Students' and Academics' International Assistance Fund
Focus
Higher Education I Gender, Diversity & Inclusion
Expertise
Evaluation & Monitoring I Human Rights I Decolonisation
Location
Myanmar, Nicaragua, Zimbabwe
Funding
Norad
Status
Concluded (2020)
Link
CHALLENGE
_ SAIH is a Norwegian solidarity organisation of and for students, teachers and academics, operating nationally and internationally with development cooperation, political advocacy and information work. Established in 1961 to support the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, SAIH has since collaborated with partners in the field of formal and informal higher education across seven countries in Latin America, Africa, and Asia.
_Funded by a comprehensive grant from Norad (Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation), SAIH’s focus lies on supporting human rights, equitable higher education, and academic freedom with special attention to indigenous people, young women and the LGBTQI+ community. r.
_ Paeradigms was brought in to evaluate programme achievements and progress towards objectives with a vision of supporting SAIH in renewing funding from Norad for the 2022-2026 programme phase.
APPROACH
_ Midterm evaluation to identify (un)expected results, quantify impact, assess the relevance and effectiveness of the programme.
_ Examined the coherence, plausibility, and consistency of the theory of change (ToC), the partnership selection process and model, related projects. The internal SAIH evaluation and reporting scheme was assessed as to how usable and effective it was.
_ Conducted in-depth study in three partner countries (Myanmar, Zimbabwe, and Nicaragua) with a desk review of over 400 documents and 80 interviews during the field-phase.
_ A hybrid approach working with local country consultants facilitated and enriched the field phase. This approach optimised local knowledge with international experience and included remote workshops and meetings for the desk and analysis phases which accommodated travel restrictions due to COVID-19.
RESULTS
_ Extended the midterm evaluation to go beyond the indicators and scheduled reporting to include a high degree of conceptual results, providing SAIH with explicit evidenced-based information on how it might address specific programme objectives. Including local perspectives in the evaluation reflected a granularity to the cultural particularities necessary to fully direct the components of the programme toward the common end goal.
_ Comprehensive evaluation report with conceptual framework and in-depth country-level assessments of SAIH's Norad-funded international programme work.
_ Validation of midterm evaluation results through a virtual workshop, facilitating input from local field agents and international stakeholders.
_ Recommendations (programme work, theory of change, results framework) for the next programme phase with specific country level detail to demonstrate SAIH’s contributions to Norad’s principles of civil society engagement.
PROJECT GALLERY
