Measuring progress for fiscal governance
One of the best ways to improve the impact of fiscal governance and social justice work is to collect evidence on what is working and to use this data to adapt and get better. However, the types of outcomes that many organizations are trying to influence – from reducing corruption to influencing policy – are challenging to achieve and to measure. Since 2018, R4D has been leading work in collaboration with the Open Society Foundations and other leading organizations in the fields of fiscal governance and social justice to overcome this gap, producing resources and actionable tools that help improve measurement and MEL for these complex problems.
Key learnings
R4D’s work on the Fiscal Governance Indicators project (FGI) has produced several insights about measurement and learning, which we have shared in a series of blogs:
The missing middle in evaluating fiscal governance
For organizations working on fiscal governance, intermediate outcomes (aka “the missing middle”) are the hardest changes to measure, and this is where R4D has focused its work with the FGI project.
Measurement in times of uncertainty
When unexpected and complex challenges like a global pandemic arise, measurement – and specifically measuring progress – is one of the most powerful activities we can do to help us continue to improve upon our work and stay focused on our ultimate goals.
Measuring progress across sectors
While our work has focused on fiscal governance and social justice, we have also identified that many of the challenges and strategies related to measuring ecosystem strength, political will, and the reach and response to advocacy campaigns cuts across many sectors in international development.
Tools and resources to improve measurement and MEL
The FGI project continues to develop a library of actionable tools that can be used by MEL practitioners working on fiscal governance and social justice to strengthen their ability to assess progress and adapt to reach their goals.
1. Measuring governance, advocacy and power database
This database brings together existing indicators, tools, and indices that may be useful to practitioners responsible for the measurement of outcomes in the field of governance, advocacy, and power in an easily accessible and filterable format. Read more >>
2. Monitoring, evaluation and learning hurdles and helpers
This learning brief presents findings from formative research undertaken in 2022 to understand the obstacles to MEL uptake and implementation in fiscal governance and social justice-focused organizations – and the strategies that may help alleviate these challenges. Read more >>
