Project Impact Evaluation Practices and Challenges: An Appraisal of Selected World Vision Ethiopia`s Prevention of Mother to Child HIV Transmission Projects
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Date
2018-06-12
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Projects were hitherto evaluated, by and large, from the view point of implementation success. Currently, there is a growing recognition of project impact evaluation apart from implementation effectiveness. This is truer for development projects. This thesis deals with project impact evaluation practices and challenges in World Vision Ethiopia`s Prevention of Mother to Child HIV Transmission Project (PMTCT) which is simultaneously implemented in three different parts of Ethiopia: Shashemene, Adeaderga and Kolfe Qeranyo (Addis Ababa) from 2014 -2017 E.C. The author selected the topic because it is under researched, compared to other topics in project management. The study tries to explore and describe separate but interrelated issues. On the one hand, it seeks to identify the importance of project impact evaluation in World Vision Ethiopia, how it is conducted and its objectives; and on the other hand it tries to identify the attendant challenges thereof. The study utilized descriptive research design; employed qualitative research methodology and contemporary material and has come up with six major findings. The first is project planning in the case organization includes final evaluation. The second finding is that final project evaluation is conducted by an independent external professional organization guided by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) principles (effectiveness, efficiency, relevance, sustainability and impact) as evaluation objectives. Thirdly, it found out that goal level impact evaluation is not conducted for the project in question. The fourth finding is that the choice of time for final evaluation is not suitable for impact evaluation as the impacts were not yet fully visible at that point in time. The fifth finding is that PMTCT projects impact evaluation is affected by lack of willingness from the side of HIV positive mothers and partners for fear of stigma and discrimination from the society. The sixth and final finding is that, there is no culture of evaluating goal level impact evaluation for PMTCT projects in the case organization. The overall conclusion of the study is that conducting impact evaluation, its basic evaluation problem-disentangling project effects from intervening factors, is not given due attention in the case organization even if it has shown exemplary performance in other aspects as the final evaluation report claims. The practical implication of the findings is that, impact evaluation requires a separate timing and design to conduct than the relatively easy to measure strands of project evaluation such as efficiency and effectiveness.
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Keywords
Project Impact Evaluation, PMTCT,, World Vision Ethiopia