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EVALUATION REPORT CHANGING LIVES OF GIRLS: EVALUATION OF THE AFRICAN GIRLS’ EDUCATION INITIATIVE EVALUAT ION OFFICE DECEMBER 2004 EVALUATION REPORT CHANGING LIVES OF GIRLS: EVALUATION OF THE AFRICAN GIRLS’ EDUCATION INITIATIVE EVALUATION OFFICE DECEMBER 2004 Changing Lives of Girls: Evaluation of the African Girls’ Education Initiative © United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), New York, 2004 UNICEF 3 UN Plaza, NY, NY 10017 December 2004 The Evaluation Office commissioned the evaluation in collaboration with the Education Section at UNICEF New York. An independent team of consultants was assembled, which was led by David Chapman, Professor and Chair of the Department of Educational Policy and Administration at the University of Minnesota, who is the principal author of the main report. A number of international and national consultants were teamed together in six countries to complete case studies. They included N’gra-zan Christophe Coulibaly, Botsalano Coyne, Holly Emert, Aliou Diallo, Karen Hickson, Saba Issayas, Rabina Kyeyune, Janne Lexow, Karen Lokkesmoe, and Juliana Osei. Lucien Back of the Evaluation Office at UNICEF New York provided guidance and oversight of the evaluation process. The purpose of the evaluation reports produced by the UNICEF Evaluation Office is to assess the situation, facilitate the exchange of knowledge and perspectives among UNICEF staff and to propose measures to address the concerns raised. The contents of this report do not necessarily reflect the policies or the views of UNICEF. The text has not been edited to official publication standards and UNICEF accepts no responsibility for errors. The designations in this publication do not imply an opinion on legal status of any country or territory, or of its authorities, or the delimitation of frontiers. For further information, please contact: Evaluation Office UNICEF, 3 United Nations Plaza New York, NY 10017, USA Tel. (1 212) 824 6567 Fax (1 212) 824-6492 PREFACE The present evaluation covers the African Girls’ Education Initiative, better known as the AGEI. This initiative represents a decade of hard work by innumerable UNICEF staff and partners at local, national, regional and global levels, who have believed in the merit of investing in girls’ education in view of the medium and long-term effects associated with improving a country’s social, economic, and political development. In particular, this evaluation covers AGEI experiences through UNICEF supported Country Programmes of Cooperation in 34 countries, which have counted on support and commitment from a myriad of partners in government, civil society, schools, communities, families and children. The AGEI has been recognized as the centrepiece of UNICEF’s efforts to promote girls’ education. Its use of a multi-country approach with inter-linkages at country, regional and global levels allowed for fruitful exchange and transfer of experience. It contributed to identifying and defining girls’ education as a top UNICEF organizational priority that is prominent in the UNICEF Medium-Term Strategic Plan 2002- 2005, and charted the path for UNICEF to take the lead among UN partners in establishing the UN Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI). It is helpful for the reader to understand that the AGEI benefited from and contributed to the evolution of the UNICEF mission throughout the 1990s to support fundamental rights of all children enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Focusing on the right of girls to get an education within the Education for All framework per Jomtien and later Dakar was the premise upon which AGEI I and AGEI 2 were built. It was fully justified due to gender disparities prevalent in the majority of African countries’ education systems. Thus, the evaluation examines the effectiveness of the AGEI in closing gender gaps in education systems, finding innovative ways for including excluded children, particularly girls, in education, and improving the quality, equity and equality in educational systems and services for all children. The Evaluation Office commissioned the evaluation in collaboration with the Education Section at UNICEF New York. An independent team of consultants was assembled, which was led by David Chapman, Professor and Chair of the Department of Educational Policy and Administration at the University of Minnesota, who is the principal author of the main report. A number of international and national consultants were teamed together in six countries to complete case studies. They included N’gra-zan Christophe Coulibaly, Botsalano Coyne, Holly Emert, Aliou Diallo, Karen Hickson, Saba Issayas, Rabina Kyeyune, Janne Lexow, Karen Lokkesmoe, and Juliana Osei. Lucien Back of the Evaluation Office at UNICEF New York provided guidance and oversight of the evaluation process. Special thanks are due to all partners in many countries and also to UNICEF staff who gave their time and effort to the AGEI over the years, and to the evaluation process. Their views and perspectives, and the information and documentation that were provided were invaluable to the evaluation. The time provided by the hundreds of partners interviewed during field visits and meetings provided critical insight on the AGEI making it possible to better understand and assess innovations, successes and challenges. It is hoped that the findings and lessons learned presented in this evaluation, which have been honed through a formative process between 2003 and 2004, will be of value to countries and regions working on improving girls’ education, and contribute to strengthening the UNGEI. It aims to illuminate capacity gaps in designing, implementing and evaluating girls’ education programming, and provide room for reflection on the importance of incorporating girls’ education as a key action in any and all development efforts. Jean Serge Quesnel Director Evaluation Office UNICEF, New York CONTENTS List of Acronyms........................................................................................................................ iii Executive Summary....................................................................................................................v Résumé Analytique....................................................................................................................xi Resumen Ejecutivo..................................................................................................................xix 1. Introduction ...........................................................................................................................1 2. UNICEF’s involvement in promoting girls’ education........................................................1 3. Purpose and Objectives of the Evaluation .........................................................................2 4. Audience ................................................................................................................................3 5. Methodology ..........................................................................................................................3 6. Organization of the evaluation.............................................................................................4 7. Design and operation of the AGEI .......................................................................................5 7.1. Programme context......................................................................................................5 7.2. Programme formulation................................................................................................6 7.3. Programme funding, budgeting and expenditures .......................................................7 7.4. Programme structure and operations...........................................................................7 7.4.1. Global................................................................................................................7 7.4.2. Regional............................................................................................................9 7.4.3. Country level ...................................................................................................11 7.5. Programme reporting .................................................................................................11 7.6. Programme strategies and considerations.................................................................13 8. Findings ...............................................................................................................................18 8.1. Relevance ..................................................................................................................18 8.2. Role, focus and design...............................................................................................19 8.3. Effectiveness..............................................................................................................21 8.4. Efficiency....................................................................................................................24 8.5. Sustainability, replicability and mainstreaming...........................................................25 8.6. Adequacy of project support ......................................................................................26 9. Lessons learned ..................................................................................................................28 9.1. Gender equity vs. gender equality .............................................................................28 9.2. Influencing the discourse at the policy level ...............................................................29 9.3. Managing for results...................................................................................................29 9.4. Developing realistic estimates of likely outcomes results-based framework..............29 9.5. Clarifying criteria of success ......................................................................................30 9.6. The efficacy of demonstration projects ......................................................................30 9.7. The role of description in replication ..........................................................................31 9.8. Over-reporting; under-informing.................................................................................31 9.9. Rethink monitoring and evaluation mechanisms........................................................32 9.10. Attention to cost and aspects related to efficiency .....................................................32 9.11. Attention to sustainability, replicability and mainstreaming ........................................33 9.12. Complementarity of formal and non-formal basic education......................................33 10. Overall Impact of AGEI .......................................................................................................34 ANNEXES...................................................................................................................................35 Annex A: Terms of Reference..................................................................................................37 Annex B: List of people interviewed .......................................................................................49 Annex C: List of documents reviewed for this study ............................................................59 Annex D: Data collection protocols ........................................................................................69 Annex E: Country Case Studies ..............................................................................................81 Annex F: Summary of country activities and results ..........................................................109 ii LIST OF ACRONYMS ABEK Alternative Basic Education in Karamoja (Uganda) AGEI African Girls’ Education Initiative BTL Breakthrough to Literacy (Uganda) CIDA Canadian International Development Agency CO Country Ofice COPE Complementary Opportunity for Primary Education CRC Convention on the Rights of the Child EPO Education Programme Officer ESARO East and Southern Regional Office FAWE Forum for Women Educationalists FRESH Focusing Resources for Effective School Health GEM Girls’ Education Movement GER Gross Enrolment Rate HIV/AIDS Human Immunodeficiency Virus / Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome HQ Headquarters MDGs Millennium Development Goals MLA Monitoring Learning Achievement (CK) MTSP Medium-Term Strategic Plan NER Net Enrolment Rate NFE Non-formal education NGO Non-governmental organization PTA Parent Teacher Association REA Regional Education Advisors SIP Sector Investment Programme SMART Specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound SMC School Management Committee SWAP Sector-wide approach to programming or planning TAC Technical Assistance Committee TAT Technical Assistance Team TOR Terms of Reference UNESCO United Nations Education, Science, Cultural Organization UNGEI United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund UPE Universal Primary Education USAID United States Agency for International Development WCARO West and Central Africa Regional Office WFP World Food Programme YTRs Yearly Technical Reports iii
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