Impact

The ZHI SIE experts comprehend that program evaluation is intricate. To provide comprehensive monitoring and evaluation services, we rely on multiple techniques to examine the myriad relationships among different types of data.

We integrate evaluation at the program design stage to ensure that research and program activities produce utilization focused results.

We view planning an intervention and designing an evaluation strategy as inseparable activities. In addition, collaboration between project designers and local stakeholders in outlining the process helps to ensure the relevance, sustainability and avoidance of duplication of evaluation activities.

A dedicated SIE team collects routine data from source registers at site level which is managed by a ZHI database. Data dashboards allow us to portray program progress against targets.

At ZHI, we have a Knowledge Management Research and Learning Plan which define and govern our conscious processes of defining, structuring, retaining and sharing the knowledge and experience of team members within the organization.

The main goal of our knowledge management effort is to improve an organization’s efficiency and save knowledge within the company.

We have innovations have identified based on extensive research and analysis.

Increased frequency of input and broader community participation are key features in most of the innovations employed at ZHI; in addition, our techniques present cost-conscious and flexible approaches to managing and assuring quality of policies, programs and service delivery.

The following are our flagship ZHI output oriented innovative approaches:

Real-Time, Simple Reporting:  A means to reduce to a minimum the formal reporting requirements for program and project managers and free up their time to provide more frequent, real-time updates, which may include text, pictures, videos that can be made by computer or mobile devices.

Crowdsourcing:  A large number of people actively report on a situation around them, often using mobile phone technology and open source software platforms.

Participatory Statistics: An approach in which local people themselves generate statistics; participatory techniques are replicated with a large number of groups to produce robust quantitative data.

Mobile Data Collection: The targeted gathering of structured information using mobile phones, tablets or PDAs using a special software application

The Micro-Narrative: The collection and aggregation of thousands of short stories from citizens using special algorithms to gain insight into real-time issues and changes in society.

Data Exhaust: Massive and passive collection of transactional data from people’s use of digital services like mobile phones and web content such as news media and social media interactions.

Data Visualization: Representation of data graphically and interactively, often in the form of videos, interactive websites, infographs, timelines, data dashboards, maps, etc.

Multi-level Mixed Evaluation Method: This approach includes the deliberate, massive and creative use of mixed (quantitative and qualitative) methods on multiple levels for complex evaluations, particularly for service delivery systems.

Outcome Harvesting: An evaluation approach that does not measure progress towards predetermined outcomes, but rather collects evidence of what has been achieved, and works backward to determine whether and how the project or intervention contributed to the change.

The ZHI Outputs of the Knowledge Management Research and Learning unit range from:

• Knowledge and Innovation Series
• Program Tools & Innovations
• Operational Research Series
• Conference Presentations
• Journal Publications
• Annual Reports

ZHCT

*As at October 29 2020

DREAMS

The FHI 360 DREAMS Program managed to reach 96,251 out of a target of 123,292 (78%) adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) aged 9 to 24 years with evidence-based HIV and sexual violence prevention interventions by end of September 2020. The program also reached (50,867/63,301) 80% of targeted adolescent boys aged 9 to 15 years with the same interventions during the reporting period.  Combination socioeconomic strengthening interventions reached 105% (4,037/3,855) of orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs) aged 15-17 years and 104% (1,095/1,048) young women selling sex.

When delivering vital development projects, it’s crucial for ZHI and its stakeholders to know whether they are being effective. Rigorous research, monitoring and evaluation help project teams understand whether their approaches are leading to desired outcomes.

To improve health around the Zimbabwe, we need evidence on what works. But, evidence alone is not enough. It must be integrated into policy and programming to inform change that leads to strengthened education systems and improved learning outcomes, and that meets the needs of individuals, communities and societies. Our research and evaluation experts are uniquely positioned to understand the what, how and why of interventions. We work with governments, international organizations, civil society and health experts to ensure that program implementation is based on rigorous evidence.

We employ rigorous methods that identify program impact, such as longitudinal study designs, and we use innovative data collection tools, such as mobile applications, that link HIV and AIDS data to key indicators from other sectors. In addition to conducting standalone research projects, we have integrated the use of monitoring, evaluation and research across all of our projects, working in partnership with national government counterparts and local academic institutions to build and sustain local capacity for data collection, analysis, reporting and the use of rigorous evidence in policy and in practice.

Our work in research and evaluation contributes to the evidence on the effectiveness of educational interventions in a wide variety of contexts.