External evaluation praises People4Change remarkable results

Towards the end of 2011, ActionAid Denmark underwent its largest evaluation since 2003. The overall outcome of the evaluation was overwhelmingly positive, with remarkably strong results from the stand-alone evaluation of the People4Change capacity building support programme.

An Inspirational exchange: Meeting between 4 Inspirators currently in placements in Central America

In late 2011, 13 consultants from the internationally renowned NGO Training and Research Centre INTRAC, reviewed the past 6 years of ActionAid Denmark’s (AADK) work. Among other forms of analysis, they interviewed more than 200 people and conducted 12 surveys throughout ActionAid Denmark’s international network and partners. The result was a large evaluation synthesis report and a number of stand-alone reports, each focused on different aspects of AADK's work. The People4Change report was significantly positive, and stated that, “Introducing the new P4C programme at country level, within a context of great change (mergers) has been an impressive achievement in itself. The dedication and professionalism of the Global HR Team and the field-based P4C Facilitators, together with enthusiasm of some key stakeholder’s in-country, has enabled P4C to find its feet and generate the desired ‘bottom-up’ interest.”

Significant praise has been issued to the international and national management of the People4Change, which has pursued a “learning approach” to the implementation of this capacity building programme, thereby ensuring that the programme could continuously be reviewed and adjusted. As such, there was a clear indication that the People4Change programme is making a difference in  partner organisations and current  ActionAid countries, and that there is a further demand emerging from countries not previously collaborated with by ActionAid Denmark.

“There is a wealth of data from internal reports, reviews, pilot impact assessments and the reports to Danida that point to significant achievements in a short period of time. This evaluation is able to verify that in its brief, two and a half year lifespan, the P4C programme has made some major contributions to changes in capacity at diverse levels amongst a diverse range of partner organisations, including AA national office. In particular, the scale of achievements in relation to the Inspirator model is impressive, given that this form of capacity building placement was one which was initiated virtually ‘from scratch’ in early 2009.”

Some of the concrete examples of added value provided by the People4Change placements were in terms of capacity building of organisational functioning, programmatic knowledge, motivation and quality of programmes and projects delivered.  However, the evaluation also noted that there is an inherent need to improve the strategic framing of People4Change, in order to maximise the impact of the capacity building programme overall.

Secretary General Frans Mikael Jansen noted that this evaluation has made it clear that, “AADK has played a special role in ActionAid within the governance theme and the theme of working with youth through Activista. Additionally, we have contributed with our extensive training program and our development of the voluntary capacity building support program, People4Change. We are extremely pleased that the evaluation has been very positively received by ActionAid and the evaluation recommends that AADK continues to play a key role in these areas of ActionAid International, says Frans Mikael Jansen.   

These results have been met with great joy in the organisation, and have contributed to the coming expansion of the People4Change Inspirator programme which will be implemented in 2012. This elaboration of the Inspirator capacity building programme will involve an expansion in the thematic as well as geographic scope, thereby serving to contribute more specifically to the achievement of ActionAid International’s objectives within the new 2012-2017 strategy, *People’s Action to end Poverty”.