"MONITORING AND EVALUATION"

independent evaluation of projects or programs, sociological studies to evaluate programs, projects and policies, consultations in developing of monitoring and evaluation systems

Evaluation is an important management function, which aims to systematically collect accurate and reliable data regarding the project, the program or policy implementation, to make sure they achieve their tasks. Evaluation is required for planning and responsible decision-making regarding future activities, which are based on solid evidence base, and lessons learned. Evaluation is internationally recognized practice which is conducted by most international development agencies working in Ukraine.

Empirical social researches are among main instruments that specialists use in evaluation of projects, programs or policies. During two decades of work KIIS took part in numerous studies conducted to evaluate projects, programs and policies, cooperating with national and international development agencies such as: USAID, World Bank, European Commission, UNDP, WHO, UNICEF, MSI, AIDS-Alliance International, Internews Network, IREX, NDI, Foundation "Development of Ukraine" and others.

Significant experience in the field of empirical research for evaluation purposes and additional special training received by KIIS staff allow to distinguish "Monitoring and Evaluation" as a separate direction of Institute’s work. Under this direction KIIS provides services as an independent agency conducting “full-cycle” evaluations, as well as consultations for developing monitoring and evaluation systems. Also KIIS could be involved as a research agency to perform empirical studies within evaluation project. More detailed description of different options for cooperation with KIIS under "Monitoring and Evaluation" direction could be found below:

• KIIS will design and implement evaluation as an independent organization. In this scenario KIIS takes responsibility for a full range of activities associated with evaluation: starting with discussion of tasks, review of program logic model or theory of change, elaborate appropriate approach to evaluation, design evaluation matrix and evaluation protocol, conduct data collection and analysis, discuss evaluation results with stakeholders, prepare report and recommendations. In order to conduct good full-cycle evaluation it is very important to define who and how would use the evaluation results. Also it is important to have support from program management and detailed description of the project or program that is going to be evaluated, including the logic model of changes or theory of changes. In some cases it is more reasonable to assess the evaluability of the project or program before starting actual evaluation. Assessment of the evaluability helps to define whether it is possible to make reliable measurement and make accurate judgments about project or program. In this way it helps to save time, efforts and money of management and evaluation team which otherwise could be spent with no significant benefit.

• KIIS will help to conduct pre-project evaluation, to develop a system of monitoring for a project or program, to take part in planning of a project or program ensuring its evaluability in future. In this scenario of cooperation KIIS acts as a consulting company which helps project management to: evaluate the conditions in which project is going to work; to develop a set of indicators that will give project management fast and accurate information about the state of the key components of a project or program; KIIS could help to design a project or program at the stage of planning to ensure that in future it could be reliably and accurately evaluated. Such pre-project activity is especially important if the project management belief impact evaluation is going to be conducted at the end of project activity or methodically sophisticated approaches, such as experimental or quasi-experimental design would be used. Involvement of evaluation and monitoring specialists at the early stages of planning or designing of an intervention will help to reduce the financial and time resources significantly.

• KIIS could be involved as a partner to implement sociological component (empirical research) in evaluation project. KIIS has a lot of experience in organizing and conducting national and local sociological studies as part of the evaluation of projects, programs and policies conducted by evaluation departments of international development agencies. KIIS achieved a high reputation as a research agency among Clients due to strict adherence to standards of professional research association such as ESOMAR, good understanding of research methodology, and frankness in communication about research design specific and limitations. Combined with good understanding of evaluation approaches and requirements that they impose on study design make KIIS a perfect partner for implementing empirical research within evaluation project.

Everybody in "Monitoring and evaluation" department of KIIS have:

• completed education in the field of social sciences and technologies (a Master degree as minimum);
• at least three years of work experience as manager of sociological research, responsible for development of research design and tools, data collection and analysis.
• special training in the field of monitoring and evaluation, were graduated from “Training for five Ukrainian organizations on knowledge and skills transfer in the field of monitoring and social programs evaluation” by ECORYS Research and Consulting in cooperation with Ukrainian center for social reforms; graduated from International Program for Development Evaluation Training — IPDET, organized by Independent Evaluation Group of the World Bank, in cooperation with Carleton University, Canada.
• membership in International Development Evaluation Association — IDEAS; in International Network of Program Evaluation (IPEN); Ukrainian Evaluation Association, accepting the standards and principles of the relevant associations.
• understanding of the evaluation criteria, principles and standards of OECD-DAC.