The Gender-based Violence (GBV) Monitoring and Evaluation Toolkit draws on the insights and experiences of international and local organizations implementing GBV programming in Turkey cross-border operations, as well as best practice GBV resources on the regional and global level.
The overarching aim of the material is to ensure that monitoring and evaluation processes are conceptualized and executed in a safe and ethical manner, and serve to inform the design and implementation of quality, effective and impactful GBV programmes in target communities.
The Toolkit was drafted by Julia Weinstock, Monitoring & Evaluation Consultant, in close collaboration with the Turkey Hub GBV Sub-Cluster coordination team and Monitoring & Evaluation Technical Committee. The team is grateful to the contributions of all GBV SC member organizations for sharing their M&E tools and availing themselves to participate in consultations leading to the development of this Toolkit.
This guide was developed with generous funding from the United States Agency for International Development’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA) and support from UNFPA and Global Communities.
The development of the Toolkit has been largely informed by the results of this preliminary research, as well as in-depth interviews with selected GBV SC members and review of existing M&E materials already in use. Information gathering leading to the development of this resource has revealed the following important issues:
- The GBV SC Turkey hub is well resourced in terms of M&E tools. Overall, there is the opportunity to draw upon and scale up best practices by building on M&E resources available at GBV SC level;
- Tool implementation is not consistent within and across GBV SC members; application of best practice approaches is patchy, likely due to the absence of reference guidance to inform systematic and coherent tool utilization, specifically regarding differential and roles and responsibilities of specialized GBV and M&E staff in the M&E of activities;
- For greater effectiveness, tailored M&E guidance should consider the operational context´s distinctiveness, that is, the remote and decentralized management nature of this response, particularly in instances when the flow information across geographical locations impacts the quality of M&E processes;
- There is a need to provide robust guidance to GBV SC member organizations on how to constructively engage with third-party monitoring entities (TPMs) and donors on external M&E/verification processes of GBV programmes.
The GBV M&E Toolkit draws on the insights and experiences of international and local organizations implementing GBV programmes in Turkey cross-border operations, as well as wider GBV programming literature2 . Among the myriad of GBV programme tools readily available, identifying those fundamental ones that were eligible for inclusion in this Toolkit has been a critical step in the development of the resource. Thoughtful examination of each potential tool was required to ascertain the degree to which it adds value to the M&E of GBV programmes (and not just to the broader GBV programme).
In the context of this Toolkit, M&E tools are defined as a sub-set of GBV programming tools that respond to the key M&E objectives of assessing programme quality and effectiveness (primarily, as perceived by those targeted by the activities), and capturing results stemming from programme-supported interventions. Overlaps may exist, yet, M&E tools serve more specific aims than GBV programme tools given that the latter are mostly geared towards facilitating and enhancing the management and implementation of the programme, and ensuring compliance with pre-defined quality standards.
The Toolkit is not meant to be exhaustive or static, it aims to provide a set of essential and contextappropriate tools for monitoring and evaluating GBV interventions´ most fundamental aspects in a way that is consistent with GBV guiding principles and M&E best practice.
Toolkit Structure
- Part I of the Toolkit begins with a brief introduction to safety and ethical considerations pertinent to the M&E of GBV programmes. It then presents a list of relevant GBV programming and M&E terms and concepts, allowing users with diverse backgrounds to quickly familiarize themselves with the terminology employed in the subsequent sections.
- In Part II, the Toolkit has been divided by GBV programmatic domain: Response, Prevention, Empowerment, Capacity Development and Quality & Routine Monitoring. These have been further broken down by associated type of intervention. M&E tools have been grouped under their corresponding type of intervention. For every instrument proposed, detailed guidance is presented on M&E protocols: what is the tool´s purpose, who should administer it, how it should be administered, how data should be analyzed, and associated safety and ethical considerations.
- Part III provides guidance for GBV SC member organizations, third-party monitoring entities and donors on handling external M&E, verification and processes, and requests for data in a way that is consistent with safety and ethical principles.
- Part IV offers a list of suggestive indicators, linked to the tools contained in the Toolkit, that organizations can apply in their programmes for donor accountability, performance monitoring and learning purposes.
As GBV SC member organizations and partners utilize the Toolkit, they should be able to:
- Acquire basic notions of GBV programming, such as GBV guiding principles and the survivor-centered approach;
- Become familiar with key M&E terminology and concepts;
- Understand safety and ethical implications of monitoring and evaluating GBV programmes and the need to set in place mechanisms to ensure all M&E activities are compliant with ethical and safety standards;
- Observe the differential roles played by GBV specialized staff and M&E staff in the M&E of each type of programme intervention;
- Fine-tune and improve the quality of their existing M&E tools, approaches and protocols, by assessing their adequacy against the recommendations provided in Toolkit;
- Address M&E gaps, by tailoring the tools provided in the Toolkit to the reality of their own programmes;
Manage relationships with TPM entities and donors on issues related to M&E while ensuring that stakeholders M&E requirements are consistent with GBV guiding principles; - Improve the quality, performance and success of their GBV programmes, by using indicators that are fit for purpose and grounded on sound, safe and ethical M&E protocols.
You can download this toolkit for free here.
