This document discusses challenges and opportunities for evaluating advocacy work in developing countries. It notes that advocacy evaluation must account for dynamic political contexts and the influence of international actors. A case study shows how evaluating advocacy in Nigeria identified deeper questions about when advocacy makes a difference and contributed to longer-term change. Another case study found that while a coalition in Kenya had an audacious policy goal, their static planning tool and limited experience led to only limited policy change. The document concludes by advocating for using monitoring to support learning, developing useful evaluation tools, and improving the evidence base around theories of change for advocacy.
Pressure to produce short-term results and report success Northern Nigeria Describe political situation; unmet FP need; age of marriage Risk: “stone” condom; volatile (2 months massacre); women cloistered; Donor mandate: service coverage within specific timeframe; advocacy “allowed” in service to this obj. Director “doesn’t know advocacy” because he had been resistant to develop a plan for advocating at the state level for RR. Priorities: reaching girls; education well-established intervention M&E culture: strong culture of monitoring but not evaluation or use of evaluation for evidence-based decisionmaking Counting clients (# of issues; lack of ownership; lack of meaningful data; lack of usable systems) Advocacy success: advocacy not for policy change but to address bottlenecks and barriers: 1) school master re sex ed.; pub middle school for girls; sexually active, 2) conditioned on new mattresses; dorm foam mattresses cut; some as much as half gone; 3) girls couldn’t afford sanitary pads; cutting up mattress 4) advocacy capital expended to MOEd; secured line item in state budget to supply high schools with sanitary pads; *Nothing* to do w/ family planning; probably no impact on contraceptive prevalence rate w/in project time frame; donors not interested; criticized; Lessons learned Reexamine donor/supporting agency understanding of connection between policy change and access Evaluation identified deeper questions related to understanding when advocacy is making a difference Advocacy to address bottlenecks and barriers contributed to longer-term change, broader systems change, sustainability Positive impact of policy change on beneficiaries though the policy changed did not relate to contraceptive access
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