This twopart guidance note is part of a series of dfid guidance notes on vawg. This is a guided example of a theory of change exercise for a program called project superwoman that actknowledge created in partnership with the aspen institute roundtable on community change. This theory of change was written by zohra moosa of actionaid uk, on behalf of the gender and development network for dfid department for international development. Consider how your theory of change responds to wider strategic objectives, in this case those of the global goals, dfid and the uk aid direct fund also demonstrate how it responds to national government priorities or has the ability to hold the government to account useful links. The approach that draws from program theory evaluation, social network analysis. This note explains the drivers of change approach and its impact on the department for international developments dfid policies and programmes. Over recent years dfid has invested considerably in political economy analysis through its drivers of change studies. Participatory approaches to the development of a theory of. By developing a theory of change based on good theory, managers can be better assured that their programmes are delivering the right activities for the desired outcomes. Toc approaches, which section 2 implements in the form of guidance. This presentation describes how the dfid impact programme aims to help build the market for impact investment in subsaharan africa and south asia and support poverty reduction. Who is using theory of change in international development. A theory of change explains how activities are understood to produce a series of results that contribute to achieving the final intended impacts.
Software resources with free limited usage include. Understand the terms used in relation to toc in uk aid match guidance. Dfid department for international development dhf dengue haemorrhagic fever dho district health office. The uk department for international development dfid, in line with other donors, places stronger emphasis on results based management. Rationale and approach addressing violence against women and girls in. The report was commissioned by the dfid evaluation division and considers. A practical guide to community programming on vawg. Key questions from comic reliefs guidance james 2012.
Dfid guidance manual on water supply and sanitation programmes. It aims to provide practical advice and tips to support dfid advisors and programme managers and other uk government departments to support the development of a theory of change for integrated economic development and vawg programming. Generating evidence in the education sector introduction 1 1. The purpose was to identify areas of consensus, debate and innovation in order to inform a more consistent approach within dfid. It also analyses possibilities for taking these principles forward in light of the results agenda.
The analysis of the context is made in a separate section. As a whole, this set of guidance sheets attempts to summarise and share emerging thinking on the sustainable livelihoods approach. Despite the increasing popularity of the theory of change toc approach, little is known about the extent to which toc has been used in the design and evaluation of public health interventions. Award is a professional development program that strengthens the research. Theories of change toc are vital to evaluation success for a number of reasons. Kanwal ahluwalia, kate bishop, helen derbyshire, nadja dolata, lauren donaldson, teresa durand, achim. Theory of change toc is a critical thinking approach to program design. An appropriate model of behaviour or theory of change that provides a guide towards. Focus on control, compliance could squeeze smaller contractors. A theory of change defined a toc is a decision support tool that illustrates the causal links and sequences of events needed for an activity or intervention to lead to a desired outcome or impact and articulates the assumptions underlying each step in the chain. Well, this confidence is mainly due to their theory of change toc. The theory of change toc approach has been used to develop and evaluate complex health initiatives in a participatory way in high income countries. Dfid s approach to empowerment and accountability terms of reference 1.
A critical mass of dfid country offices has now developed the expertise to adopt a drivers of change approach. Developing a theory of change for your project what is a theory of change. A new report on theory of change toc and its use in international development has just been produced by isabel vogel. We searched for papers reporting the use of theory. Review report and practical resource isabel vogel, april 2012 uk. Dfid have put together 10 examples of theories of change from their programs. It can be developed for any level of intervention an event, a project, a programme, a policy, a strategy or an organization. This has yielded a growing body of experience within dfid on how political economy analysis can be used to strengthen understanding and programming. However, once you start to plan your evaluation, practical considerations such as available data and tools may mean the outcomes on your theory of change arent exactly what youre going to be measuring in your evaluation. Synthesis paper 3 the drivers of change approach debbie warrener. Theory of change and evaluation planning your theory of change is a vital step before planning your evaluation. It focuses specifically on how to address vawg in education programming, where dfid aims to make progress towards two key impacts.
A theory of change can be developed for an intervention. These communications guidelines are for uk aid direct grant holders organisations that are currently receiving funding from uk aid direct. Dfids approach to empowerment and accountability terms. Impact planning, assessment and learning an overview 2. Aug 30, 2012 a new report on theory of change toc and its use in international development has just been produced by isabel vogel. The theory is usually laid out in a diagram showing the connections between interventions and outcomes the causal pathways or results chains. Developing theories of change for research projects. Using dfid evaluation guidance this guidance will take you step by step through the practice of designing, managing. You will see there is no standard format, although they all include a diagram and narrative text.
The theory is that dfid can use its position as one of the largest donors to drc and its engagement in security, governance and development, as well as its programmes in other sectors, to leverage in godrc, service provider, ngo, donor and other dfid programmes to the areas around the project roads. The hps and thets guidance have contributed to strengthening partnerships. Review of the use of theory of change in international. Theories of change is just the latest attempt to shine a light on what lies behind, what makes everything work or fail.
The drivers of change approach is an important and innovative attempt to address this challenge. We hope that the content will provide you with both the inspiration and practical guidance to apply. Isabel vogel for the uk department of international. Using theory of change to design and evaluate public. A theory of change for tackling violence against women and girls. It provides a detailed approach and outline of how the km plans to deliver a coherent package of evaluative activities across the project and programmelevel over the next three years. The drivers of change doc approach takes as its starting point that donors know what is necessary to realise the millennium development goals mdgs and. Guidance notes on implementation of wiser value for money. Instead, it is intended to stimulate readers to reflect on the approach and make their own contributions to its further development. Dfid guidance frames vfm at three levels which are clearly linked to the theory of change and logframe. Dfid logframe measurement methodology guidance document 1 introduction the humanitarian leadership academy the academy is a global platform of learning connecting both humanitarian professionals and nontraditional responders. A theory of change describes how change is assumed to come about through intervention in a prevailing situation. This theory is supported by the fact that the changes were initially made known to only 12 of the agencys.
Factors to consider when designing projects by uk aid. The report was commissioned by the dfid evaluation division and considers the current uses and definitions of toc. It is focused in particular on mapping out or filling in what has been described as the missing middle between what a program or change. In this article, we present generic models of theories of change for both straightforward and more complex interventions. In some representations, like the post2011 dfid log frame guidance dfid. Secretaries of state and the development committee members are keen to know what. Theory of change on tackling violence against women and girls toc, see diagram on page 2, and vawg guidance note 2. Nov 20, 2015 the paper highlights throughout examples of the organisational use of theories of change, each of which attempts to go some way towards addressing the criticisms of the approach to date. Introduction this document presents the basic guidelines for financial reporting covering dfid s uk aid direct fund. Generating evidence in education impact evaluations. Understand the terms used in relation to toc in uk aid match guidance and templates. Developing a theory of change a guide to developing a theory of change as a framework for inclusive dialogue, learning and accountability for social impact. Little is known about its use to develop mental health care plans in low and middle income countries.
At the programme level, we find dfids results management tools business cases, logical frameworks logframes and theories of change to be of variable quality. Using workshops to develop theories of change in five low. A theory of change for tackling violence against women and. The term theory of change toc has established itself in the development world.
Dfid senior civil servants in april 2015 and refined during july 2015 in a workshop with programme delivery, policy, learning and knowledge management professionals from across dfid, other government departments and other aid donors through an international benchmarking group established by dfid. A theory of change is a diagram that explains how your project has an impact on young people. This document is the knowledge manager km evaluation plan for the dfid building resilience and adaptation to climate extremes and disasters braced programme. We focus on maximising the effectiveness of the uk aid budget for intended beneficiaries and on delivering value for money for uk taxpayers. This guidance seeks to ensure that uk aid applicants and grant holders understand what the direct department for international development dfid means by a theory of change toc, and more specifically, that they. A theory of change for a project or an organisation is a simple concept that takes. Theory of change how to navigate towards positive change. Is mainly used as a tool for program design and evaluation. May 14, 2012 theories of change is just the latest attempt to shine a light on what lies behind, what makes everything work or fail. Understand the terms used in relation to toc in uk aid direct guidance and templates. Dfid logframe measurement methodology guidance document. A database of consultants able to assist with studies has also been setup.
Before each example is a checklist to assess whether the theory of change includes an analysis of the context, a clear hypotheses of change, and an assessment of the evidence this is what dfid thinks they should include. Using theories of change in the cgiar research program on. A number of examples of evidencebased theories of change in the area of agriculture research for nutrition and health are discussed, as is the need for different versions of a theory of change for different purposes. The challenge will be for dfid to maintain the momentum of these initiatives with decreasing staff resources but increasing programme spend. Developing a theory of change what is a theory of change. Although the core objective of social protection is meeting shortfalls in peoples basic consumption and protecting the vulnerable in the face of shocks and stresses, social protection also has the potential to contribute to wider objectives including economic development. The following people provided essential input and guidance.
Drivers of change analysis recognises that institutional performance is important to understanding change processes and how they impact upon the poor. This guidance covers the purpose and structure of the guidance pack, some practical information about filling in the concept note online form, the focus and approaches of the current uk aid direct funding round, along with its theory of change. Practical approaches to theories of hange in onflict. Center for theory of change theory of change community. The theory of change toc on ending genderbased violence against women and girls consists of a diagram and accompanying narrative. It is a practical model that allows you to articulate how you will achieve your aim, and what assumptions you are making. Agencies invite consultants including your blogger to facilitate workshops which would help them develop the theory of change for a particular programme.
Against this backdrop, the drivers of change team will disband at the end of september 2004. Jake allen, christian aid i recently spoke at a halfday dfid. Theory of change for improving the quality of general education in ethiopia checklist notes 1. Theory of change online toco is the only webbased software no download required that you can use to design and edit and store your theory of change, learn the concepts of theory of change, and capture your outcomes, indicators, rationales and assumptions in an interactive graphical environment. Sidney harris theory of change is essentially a comprehensive description and illustration of how and why a desired change is expected to happen in a particular context. Methodological steps to develop a theory of change in this section we will tackle the key methodological aspects needed to develop a theory of change.
At the programme level, we find dfid s results management tools business cases, logical frameworks logframes and theories of change to be of variable quality. Developing a theory of change keystone accountability. The working group is led by a steering committee composed of the department for international development dfid, united states agency for international development usaid, the world bank. Dfids business plan 20112015 identifies tackling violence against women and girls as a priority and commits dfid to pilot new and innovative approaches to prevent it. Actknowledge conducted the original evaluation on which this guided theory of change example is based. How to note on political economy analysis july version final. Background there have been quite a few generic guidance documents written on the use of theories of change. Part i examined how theories of change are used in the design phase. This should include a strategic partnering model for how best to use its major and sme contractors. This theory of change on ending gender based violence against women and girls consists of a.
It does not offer definitive answers and guidelines. Dfid nigeria perceptions on change in nigeria before and after doc analysis 26 diagram 1. Conceptual model for understanding drivers of change 8. We also explain the two different types of grants available, and eligibility requirements. Welcome to video 1 introducing the full guidance pack. Using theories of change in monitoring and evaluation. A new report on theory of change toc and its use in international development has just been produced. We constantly reach for new tools, but we keep alighting on small islands and losing the big picture. Dfid has been working formally with theory of change in in its programming since 2010. This document provides guidance on how to use uk aid direct and uk aid branding. Although there are some exceptions, few violence against women and girls programmes have.
Theory of change vs logical framework whats the difference. Analysis of context does the intervention make sense as a response to the analysis of the context. Theory of change espa ecosystem services for poverty alleviation. Jake allen, christian aid i recently spoke at a halfday dfid seminar discussing a draft. This guidance seeks to ensure that uk aid applicants and grant holders understand what the match department for international development dfid means by a theory of change toc, and more specifically, that they. Making the case for conflict sensitivity in security and justice sector reform programming.
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