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Every Voice Counts Somalia Midterm Review

Overall, Forcier’s research showed CARE to have maintained a healthy program implementation during the first half of the Every Voice Counts (EVC) program, resulting in gains within the domains of the EVC program’s theory of change. More specifically, CARE’s programmatic efforts between 2016-2018 focused entirely on Domains 1-3 relating to the empowerment of women and youth, capable civil society organizations (CSOs), and responsive public authorities and power holders. Nevertheless, the intertwined nature of the four domains of change allowed for results to organically occur within the fourth domain, which aims to establish effective spaces for dialogue and negotiations, as well. [64 pages] Read More...

BRIDGES Project Baseline Report

CARE International commissioned a consultancy to conduct the BRIDGES baseline study in Mogadishu, Garowe, Galkacyo, Kismayo and Hargeisa Districts in December 2017. The main objective of the baseline study was to establish a baseline measurement for the BRIDGES project objectives, results and indicators which will be used as benchmarks against which progress of achievements, as well as impact, effectiveness and efficiency of the project will be measured and evaluated using verifiable indicators presented in the logical framework during the project implementation phase. The specific objectives of the baselines study were:
1. Determine the baseline status on all indicators as established in the project’s log-frame
2. To review the relevance, feasibility and targets of indicators established in the project’s
log-frame and provide recommendations on possible improvements
3. To provide a baseline understanding of the market/employment situation
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Strengthening Civil Organizations and Public Sector Engagements in Somalia (SCOPES) Project Final Evaluation

Somalia is slowly recovering from more than two decades of instability and state fragility, with insecurity in the country continuing to limit access and provision of aid. The fragile context triggered development of a wide variety of Civil Society Organizations(CSOs) which are mainly working to restore trust between state and citizens, considering that Somali citizens never had the experience of an inclusive, accountable and responsive government and state.
Strengthening Civil Organisations and Public Sector Engagements in Somalia (SCOPES) project is a 26 months’ intervention funded by the European Union and implemented by CARE in partnership with WARDI Relief and development Initiatives and MUDAN Youth Network. The final evaluation for the project was facilitated by DANSOM. [37 pages] Read More...

Chiva Pa Doi Project Endline Report

Chiva Pa Doi (meaning “the heart of the highlands”) is a project implemented by CARE in Thailand since 2014, with the financial assistance of the Chanel Foundation, in support to women empowerment and entrepreneurship in remote villages in the highlands of Northern Thailand.

Through this project, conducted in 10 villages of Galayani Vadhana, Mae Chaem, and Om Koi Districts of Chiang Mai province, CARE supported close to 187 individuals (182 women and 5 men) to design and implement income-generating activities, while building their capacities to run businesses and conceive marketing strategies. The initial hypothesis was that through this approach, the beneficiaries would ultimately diversity their sources of income and therefore improve their overall financial stability and wellbeing. The project also aimed to enhance women empowerment by building their capacity so that they can gain self-confidence, contribute increasingly their household’s incomes and have a greater say in household and community level decision making. [31 pages]

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AWASAR Project Final Evaluation

CARE Nepal, in partnership with local partners Reconstruction and Research Development Center (RRDC) in Mugu and Generating Income for Foster Transformation (GIFT) in Bajura, implemented a 3-year DANIDA-funded AWASAR project from January 2016 to December 2018. The project aimed to reach the unreached children and their families in 10 former VDCs of Bajura (located in three Rural Municipalities) and 10 former VDCs of Mugu (located in five Rural Municipalities) districts. This project supported hard to reach mountain children and their families to improve their educational and food security status of hard to reach children and their families. The project was designed to meet their basic needs in education and food security and equip community organizations for strengthened service delivery. This report is the summary of the evaluation conducted by Research Centre for Integrated Development (RECID/N) Nepal to assess the effectiveness of project strategies and interventions in achieving the desired outcomes and outputs. [76 pages] Read More...

Impact Assessment of Savings Groups

Researchers from IPA, along with CARE staff and their implementing partners, conducted a randomized evaluation of Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA) programs in Ghana, Malawi, and Uganda to examine two questions: Who joins savings groups? And, what is the impact on households from programs that promote savings groups? The evaluation used a randomized control trial (RCT) design, in which eligible communities were randomly divided into two sets: a set of villages with access to a VSLA program (the treatment group) and a set of villages where the program was not implemented during the study (the control group). The study started in Ghana in 2008 and in Malawi and Uganda in 2009, and the final data collection took place in 2011 in the three countries. Each site included a panel survey in which households were surveyed before the start of the program implementation and again two or three years later. Over 15,000 households in almost 950 communities were surveyed. The surveys covered a large variety of topics, including health, education, income-generating activities, asset holdings, food consumption, non-food expenditure, intra-household decision making and community involvement. At the time of the endline survey, after an average of two years of program implementation in the three sites, one third of respondents had joined a VSLA group. On average, members had been part of a group for 15 months and 61% of members had gone through a full savings cycle, normally lasting between 8 and 12 months. The evaluation should thus be thought of as assessing the relatively short-term impacts of the intervention. [62 pages] Read More...

ENSURE Project Outcome Monitoring Survey Report

Enhancing Nutrition Stepping Up Resilience and Enterprises (ENSURE), originally was a 5 year project which was supposed to end in June 2018 but was extended to February 2020. It is funded by USAID and is implemented in six districts in Manicaland and Masvingo Provinces by a consortium led by World Vision. The other consortium members are CARE, SNV, SAFIRE and ICRISAT. World Vision is the implementing lead in Buhera, Chipinge and Chimanimani Districts of Manicaland Province, while CARE is the implementing lead in Bikita, Chivi and Zaka Districts of Masvingo Province. The project aims to cushion vulnerable and food insecure Zimbabweans in the target districts. The main thrust of the project is to empower and capacitate poor, rural households in the targeted districts to become more food secure. The geographical scope of the ENSURE project was carefully selected to involve agro-ecological zones 4 and 5 where food insecurity is high and covering a total of 66 wards of which 32 wards are in Manicaland Province and 34 are in Masvingo Province. The ENSURE project is anchored on three main thematic areas namely maternal and child health (SO1), agriculture and economic development (SO2), and resilience (SO3). Gender is included as a cross cutting objective which has been embraced in this project in order to increase equity in access to resources among men and women. [44 pages] Read More...

Improving Agricultural Production and Improved Access to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Drought Affected Populations in Masvingo Province (MERP)’ Project

In September 2018, Care International in Zimbabwe (CIZ) commissioned Keeptrack Consultants to conduct an End of Term Evaluation (EOTE) of the USAID-OFDA funded ‘Improving Agricultural Production and Access to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Project (MERP) in Bikita, Chivi and Zaka districts of Masvingo Province, Zimbabwe. Initially implemented from 2016-2017 in response to the El Nino induced drought, the project was granted a cost modification for the period 2017-2018 in order to respond to La Nina induced flooding. The extension came with an expansion of coverage from 15 wards initially to 18 wards in the same target districts in the final year. The goal of the project was, ‘To provide immediate assistance and recovery to drought affected populations in Masvingo Province through asset (livestock protection), access to water sanitation and hygiene as well as agricultural production. Project activities were aligned to three sectors namely Agriculture and Food Security Sector, Economic Recovery and Market Systems Sector and the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Sector.
According to the Terms of Reference (TOR), the purpose of the end of term evaluation was to assess and provide reliable end-line information on project performance against set parameters. The evaluation was also expected to include an analysis of appropriateness, timeliness, efficiency, effectiveness, impact and sustainability. [57 pages]
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State of Practice: Savings Groups and the Role of Government in Sub-Saharan Africa

Savings Groups are community-based financial service providers that deliver basic financial services to millions of members in underserved markets worldwide. Traditionally, the promotion of Savings Groups has been led by national and international NGOs and a large extension network of community-based trainers. In recent years, governments across Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) have deepened their engagement with Savings Groups, recognizing the potential of the community-based microfinance model to contribute to national financial inclusion strategies and development agendas. This state of practice report provides a comprehensive overview of government interventions in the sector across Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2018, the authors conducted an extensive desk review and interviews with 46 government representatives from 22 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. This report identifies and describes 74 government initiatives in the Savings Group sector, across 20 countries1 in Sub-Saharan Africa. [64 pages] Read More...

Integrated Shelter and Protection Improvements Programme Evaluation Summary

The programme contributes to building resilience by:
• Increasing access to infrastructure through upgrading housing units and implementing neighborhood building and street upgrades;
• Increasing the knowledge of the residents about protection issues through supporting relevant interactive performances and delivering awareness raising sessions for adults and children;
• Improving the health of the residents through upgrading housing units, neighborhood building and street upgrades and running awareness raising sessions.
Further investigation is required to confirm if the programme contributes to building resilience by:
• Increasing community cohesion through establishing the neighborhood committees and running awareness raising sessions;
• Increasing connectivity between residents and external stakeholders through introducing the neighborhood committees to the municipality and CSOs. Read More...

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