The W+ Monitoring and Evaluation System is implemented to serve a range of both internal and external scheme performance feedback functions

1. 1March 1, 2017
W+ Monitoring and Evaluation System
2017
The Purpose of the W+ Monitoring and Evaluation System
The W+ Monitoring and Evaluation System is implemented to serve a range of both
internal and external scheme performance feedback functions. Internally, collected data
on performance indicators related to the Standard’s administration shed light on
opportunities for improved efficiencies and effectiveness and help calibrate M&E and
administrative resource needs over time. Externally, collected data on performance
indicators reveal the scope and type of impact the W+ Standard is having in relation to its
objectives; providing opportunity for refinements in communications, training, assurance,
and administration. Another key external benefit of the W+ M&E system is to help
WOCAN and the W+ Standard tell their story. Indictors and data are a powerful way to
demonstrate the profound positive impacts the W+ Standard has on women, their families
and communities, and confirms that applying the W+ is a useful tool and sound
investment for project implementers.
The WOCAN Theory of Change
WOCAN’s Theory of Change is to: “Advance women’s empowerment and collective
action to tackle climate change, poverty and food insecurity within enabling
environments.” In addition to the capacity-building, training and coaching WOCAN
provides to women’s organizations, WOCAN has created the W+ Standard, with its six
domains: health, time, leadership, income & assets, knowledge & education, and food
security. The W+ Standard is applied by project implementers, where they implement
specific activities, with measurable outcomes from a pre-project baseline, in one or more
of the six domains. The application of the Standard is intended to have lasting, positive
impacts, and result in a positive business case for the project implementer.

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How the W+ Supports the WOCAN Theory of Change
The W+ Standard supports the WOCAN Theory of Change in two ways:
1) By measurably addressing women’s empowerment opportunities, as well as
leveraging projects which may be working directly, or indirectly, to address climate
change, alleviate poverty or food insecurity, or provide many other benefits.
2) By returning assets from project revenues back to women in project communities,
further empowering and supporting women and their groups.
The Elements of the W+ Monitoring and Evaluation System
As an outcome of the way in which the W+ Standard is administered, projects applying
the W+ must submit Project Idea Notes (PINs) and further expand upon those ideas in
fully-developed Project Design Documents (PDDs). These documents provide many
relevant data points from which indicators can be drawn. Additionally, projects undergo
independent verification (auditing) by W+ accredited verifiers. These verification reports
yield additional data, with project specific indicators which can easily be aggregated
across all projects applying the W+ Standard for broader view of the impacts of the W+
Standard.
Scale of Impact: The W+ Standard may be applied to large or small projects, within
individual organizations, or may be incorporated into other standards or programs, where
the W+ Standard and its six Domains may reach into diverse sectors and applications.
Type of Impact: The W+ Standard may be applied in a diverse array of project types,
settings and have diverse outcomes, as determined by the W+ Domains applied.
W+ Organizational Effectiveness: The administration of the W+ Standard strives to be
effective, efficient and fair. Through the interaction with project implementers and program
partners or collaborators, the W+ Standard administration can gain insights about its
systems and continuously refine and improve.
Level 1 Indicators: These indicators are easily collected from existing reports from project
implementers and project verifiers and communications between the W+ Standard
Coordinator and project implementers or verifiers. These indicators typically measure
short – to – mid-term performance, but are also useful for documenting a variety of
trends. The following data are collected on an ongoing basis, and compiled for regular
“Impact Reports” (See Appendix 1):
 Scale of Impact:

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o Number of W+ PINs submitted
o Number of W+ PDDs submitted
o Number of W+ Projects
o Number of collaborating/partnering standards and certification schemes
o Number of collaborating/partnering organizations and investors
o Number of W+ units generated
o Number of W+ labeled carbon units generated
o Number of women/households benefitted
o Project locations
 Type of Impact:
o How many W+ Domains have been applied
 Examples of W+ Project Activities for each
o How many women receiving direct payments
o The total amount of direct payments
o The average amount of direct payment per woman or per group
 Organizational Effectiveness:
o Number of media interactions
o Number of stakeholder interactions
o Number of stakeholder contacts for outreach
o Number of newsletter subscribers, website ‘hits’, twitter followers
o Number of W+ accredited verifiers
o PIN, PDD and Verification Report review turn-around times
o Number of presentations, lectures, courses, webinars or other W+-related
instruction provided
Level 2 Indicators: These indicators are to be collected on approximately an annual
basis. These indicators help WOCAN and the W+ Standard understand longer-term
trends and the issues or concerns of project implementers and auditors.
 Surveys of project implementers to collect data about:
o Cost and time needed to design and implement W+ project activities and to
verify project outcomes
o Estimated value or benefit of the application of the W+ Standard to their
project: monetary (quantitative) or performance (qualitative)
 Surveys of W+ accredited verifiers to collect data about:
o Adequacy of verifier training
o Clarity of verification guidance
o Challenges encountered
Level 3 Indicators: These larger-scale indicators are based on analyses which may look
at data and level 1 or level 2 indicators covering longer periods of time to evaluate trends,
or which may take retrospective looks at community-scale impacts. These studies may

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take place every 4 or 5 years, and are predicated on having enough study candidates or a
long enough data set to make trend analysis meaningful. The following are examples of
possible future Level 3 M&E studies:
 Evaluating the longevity of beneficial impacts of W+ Project activities
 Evaluating the long-term economic and social impacts of direct payments to
women and their groups
 Evaluating the marginal additional value of W+ labeled carbon units across
different carbon registries and project types vs. the performance of the carbon
market overall
 Evaluating the value of guidance provided by the W+ Standard as a framework
and set of indicators for project planning
W+ Monitoring and Evaluation System Stakeholders
The following groups represent the main W+ M&E system stakeholders:
 Women beneficiaries
 Project implementers
 Buyers of W+ Units or W+ Labeled Carbon units
 W+ Accredited Verifiers
 International development organizations and governments
 Philanthropies and funders
 Project Investors
 Companies and value chain ‘actors’
In the course of utilizing the W+ M&E system, each category of stakeholder may be
asked to provide, or may receive, different kinds of feedback or information. Data
collected to demonstrate program performance (indicators) may be more (or less)
relevant to each stakeholder group. Future M&E summary reports will highlight issue
areas by relevant stakeholder group.
Activities, Roles and Responsibilities
The W+ Impact Report: Performance indicators are collected by the W+ Standard
Coordinator and reported to the WOCAN Executive Director and the W+ Advisory Council
on a quarterly basis1
using the “Impact Report” spreadsheet. An example is provided in
Appendix 1. The W+ Standard Coordinator also surveys all W+ project implementers and
accredited W+ verifiers in the last quarter of each calendar year. Summaries of the prior
1
This reporting will begin with the May, 2017 quarterly meeting of the Advisory Council. The
Impact Report information is maintained in a shared document system and so is always
accessible to the WOCAN Executive Director.

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year’s report will be posted on the W+ website in the first quarter of the year, beginning in
2018. Other WOCAN staff or consultants contribute to the quarterly impact report as it
applies to their area of responsibility.
The WOCAN Executive Director reviews the Impacts Report with the W+ Standard
Coordinator and other staff or consultants as needed and determines if changes to the
indicators, or resource changes to the M&E program are necessary.
The W+ Advisory Council receives the Impact Report during regular quarterly calls. The
Advisory Council may provide recommendations for additions or modifications to the M&E
indicators, or overall system.
Resources Dedicated to the W+ Monitoring and Evaluation System
The W+ Standard is young in its implementation. At the start, the W+ Standard
Coordinator has primary responsibility for collecting and reporting on selected indicators
to the W+ Advisory Council and the WOCAN Executive Director. The time required for
this role at this time, is approximately 10% of the W+ Standard Coordinator’s time. The
time demands of the M&E system will expand over time, as the up-take of the Standard
expands. Resources will be allocated to the expanding program as necessary.
The W+ Standard Coordinator’s required competencies2
ensure the M&E system has
continuity and accuracy. Competencies for the M&E system administration include:
strategic planning, data collection for reporting and analysis, data analysis and
presentation, client and stakeholder communications, survey design, relational
database design.
At the start, the W+ M&E system will record indicator data in spreadsheets. These are
also useful for translating the data to graphs, tables and charts. In the future, a more
complex relational database may be needed to manage the information from larger
numbers of more diverse projects. By keeping the indicator data in an easily exported
format, WOCAN ensures that upgrading M&E data infrastructure can be done efficiently
when it becomes necessary.
2
The W+ Standard Coordinator’s Term of Reference (TOR) lists required competencies

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Appendix 1 – W+ Standard Impacts Report