Women's Right to Be Heard: An Evaluation of Oxfam GB's "Raising Her Voice" Portfolio

"RHV has ignited something in the women leaders - created motivation and inspiration that, for many, will continue after the formal interaction with the project and partners finishes. [They have] good relationships with the communities they represent - a strong social constituency which doesn’t depend on funds." - RHV Asia regional meeting

This final evaluation is a meta-analysis of the national evaluations of the Oxfam Great Britain's (OGB)'s Raising Her Voice (RHV) programme - a wide-ranging global portfolio of projects working in different ways and contexts to strengthen women's participation and voice in governance. RHV is a 5-year effort to promote women's rights and capacity to engage effectively in governance at every level: raising women voices, increasing their influence, and making decision-making more accountable to women. (See Related Summaries, below, for more information). The work is founded in Oxfam's belief that women's access to political leadership and participation is a crucial aspect of achieving gender equality and development. The portfolio includes 19 projects - 17 national and 2 regional - across 4 continents, funded mainly through the United Kingdom (UK) Department of International Development (DFID) Governance and Transparency Fund.

An excerpt from the Executive Summary follows:

"The evaluation design and questions (included as annex) are based on thorough engagement with RHV coordination staff and the information requirements of the donor (DFID). This needs assessment included identification of key documentation and stakeholders to be consulted. The evaluation questions included the main sections of this report, as well as attention to learning on how change happens, and the added value of OGB and the portfolio structure to the work of RHV partners. After secondary and primary research, preliminary findings were shared with OGB RHV, gender and governance staff to allow for collective sense-making and contribution of further relevant data. The evaluators have taken an explicitly feminist approach to the research...

Twelve country projects in Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe have developed out of their own national priorities. Seven African national projects are managed within a regional Pan-African programme, where a portfolio focused on advocacy around the Maputo Protocol was developed by the Solidarity for African Women's Rights (SOAWR), of which OGB is a member. This enabled linkages between local, national and global awareness raising and advocacy work, demonstrating the value of both investment in local processes and actors, and networking for collaboration, scale-up and sharing of learning. However, this has complicated to some extent the role of OGB country offices, as they did not choose the partners with whom to work, nor strongly influence the overall approach and theme of their individual country projects. A small global coordination team supports project management and accountability, facilitates the sharing of learning and carries out global advocacy.

...RHV's focus on women's participation and voice is considered extremely relevant to women’s rights work in general. In many RHV countries, governments have also subscribed national and international commitments to guarantee the rights of women, giving the national framework for work on women's rights and participation which makes the projects relevant to national priorities...

Impact:

Personal sphere...:

• In most of the focus countries the project's activities have had an impact on the self-confidence and sense of agency of individuals in the target groups. The project with most reported impact on women's personal confidence and capacity is Nepal.
• There are many examples in the evaluations and case studies of marginalised women engaging and taking action in planning and policymaking in a more strategic and organised manner. Where RHV has supported grassroots women to come together in groups, there have frequently been correlated increases in members' participation in local governance and decision making structures.
• A significant result of the increased confidence and solidarity of women and awareness of their rights has been their increased ability and will to speak out on rights abuses and access justice on their own or their peers' behalf. There are several reported cases of women accessing property rights, stopping harmful and discriminatory traditional practices and reporting cases of violence against women.

Social Sphere...

• RHV projects in most countries have established, built and supported groups of women, women's rights activists and women's organisations at local and national levels. This has had an impact on the capacity, confidence and influence of individual members as well as the groups themselves.
• The impact area of 'up to date information, knowledge and tools available for women's organizations' has not been systematically evaluated at national level, and as such the assessment depends largely on annual reporting from OGB. Notable exceptions are Bolivia and Chile, where the partner produces an annual report on the voting behaviour and debate attendance of MPs [Ministers of Parliament] in relation to gender issues. At global level, information on gender politics and RHV issues has been produced and disseminated, with a notable impact on organisational thinking and capacity and some peer organisations.
• The impact of RHV on public awareness and support for women's rights and participation has been visible mainly in the local areas around the project. There is little systematic reporting of impact (as opposed to outputs) of reported monitoring of media coverage. It should be recognised, however, that the impact of this type of work is gradual and long term.
• The actions of RHV partners and participants have, in many places, increased the social acceptance and support for women to actively engage in public decision making. This has created, in some project areas, a reported increase in respect and interaction between women and political leaders and officials, and opening of spaces for influence and engagement.
• An important area of impact, not specifically covered in the monitoring framework, is the institutional capacity and commitment of OGB and partners to sustain and move forward work on women's participation and voice. It is encouraging to see examples from partner organisations of mainstreaming and deepening understanding of the political aspects of women’s rights and empowerment. There was also evidence that RHV has been an important source of learning and evidence for Oxfam, and had an influence on the organisation beyond the participating departments and country programmes. The survey showed a widespread perception that RHV had contributed significantly to increasing the organisation's commitment to women’s participation and voice. The influence extended in some places to regional level, with Nepal working with colleagues in the CIS region to share best practices and support the development of their gender justice programme.

Political Sphere...

• There are reported examples of new women leaders emerging at local level in RHV project areas in all focus countries, as well as others such as Tanzania and The Gambia and others.
• A few of the RHV projects (Honduras, Nepal, Nigeria, Albania and Armenia) directly engaged in campaigning and lobbying to put in place quotas for women’s participation in governance, with some success.
• There are many examples of local government systems becoming more accessible, notably in Indonesia where women's participation and project activities have resulted in participatory budgeting taking place for the first time in villages in the project areas. An important result of this greater participation in budgeting and planning has been the closer scrutiny and accountability of local government for the delivery of their promises and plans. Women activists have held community decision makers to account, and now local MPs have to report on their engagement with citizens routinely. A similar experience was reported in Albania.
• RHV partners have been working with women's rights coalitions to draft and lobby parliamentarians to pass women rights oriented bills such as the Women's Act in The Gambia, and supporting legislation such as domestic violence bills in Nigeria and Mozambique. In Nigeria the coalition-drafted Gender and Equal Opportunities Bill has been chosen as the government's preferred means of domestication of the protocol, and the supporting VAPP [Violence Against Persons Prohibition] bill was passed into law in March 2013, with OGB and partners lauded as major contributors to this process.
• RHV partners have had some impact in making public institutions more gender aware and sensitive, with gender focal points named in local areas in Indonesia and Nepal for example.

Effectiveness

• Objectives of increased women's voice, influence and participation are best reached through an holistic approach addressing all three spheres [personal, social, and political]. The feedback and research also showed the importance of integrating work across local, national and international levels.
• Given that increases in women's voice and influence will happen over the long-term, the entrenched nature of the barriers and challenges, the work must be understood in long-term and collaborative terms. This has particular implications for work on public awareness and attitudes, essential strategic pieces of the larger change process, but beyond the scope of any single project or actor.
• The RHV theory of change positions the projects within feminist theory, recognizing that entrenched male domination and power is the context for women's limited participation and voice. This evaluation finds that the natural 'home' for this type of work (and OGB as implementing partner) is with the national and global women's movements, who are addressing these broader issues over the long term. Some of the strongest and most sustainable impact has been found where RHV has contributed meaningfully to the strength, collaboration and organization of CSOs [civil society organisations] working for women's rights.
• The theory of change generated clarity and change and promoted effective delivery and advocacy for women's voice and participation. However, this would be stronger in a programme of work - and working relationships - designed around the implementation of the theory, and outside of the constraints of a portfolio design and limited potential for investment in OGB capacity.

...Overall, the portfolio achieved impressive results given the resources and inputs. However, limitations in the coordination mechanisms and human resourcing have compromised efficiency...

...Overall, the evaluators recommend that future programmes of work on women's participation and voice take as a starting point the theory of change, building relationships and planning processes which recognise the multi-faceted and contributory nature of this type of work."