Participatory Evaluation Toolkit

Family for Every Child is a growing international network of local civil society organisations (CSOs) working on the ground to support children, families and communities. Local CSOs lead the alliance on its journey to strengthen support for rights holders to be their own agents of change. Diverse perspectives, local expertise and contexts, and unique identities are highly valued by the alliance, as are models of practice which foster participation and inclusivity.

Practice exchange is at the heart of Family for Every Child’s model and theory of change, highlighting the extensive knowledge and experience local CSOs and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have accumulated over years of working with children and communities to develop solutions to improve children’s care. For practice exchange to be impactful for both CSOs and the children and families they support, it should be rooted in evaluated practice. Through evaluation, we can build on the body of effective and transformative practice within the children’s rights sector.

The purpose of this toolkit is to provide guidance and resources for local CSOs, within and beyond the Family for Every Child alliance, as you evaluate your practice and programmes. The toolkit seeks to support an alternative approach to traditional evaluation dynamics, promoting non-hierarchical processes, drawing on the strength of local solutions, and focusing upon the outcomes and impact of those solutions on communities. Whether you are conducting evaluations independently or in collaboration with your CSO peers, practitioners will find in this toolkit clear guidance around evaluation goals and processes as well as accessible participatory tools for prioritisation, planning and data collection, which you can use to build a clear picture of impact.

A globally diverse reference group of 21 CSOs informed the development of the toolkit, and 5 of them conducted a pilot of its use. Through this highly participatory process, a toolkit has been created which will contribute to the goal of empowering local CSOs to both strengthen your practice and build evidence of this strength, better enabling you to advocate for positive change for children and families.

Toolkit for participatory evaluation of practice (English)

Toolkit for participatory evaluation of practice (Español)

Toolkit for participatory evaluation of practice (Français)

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