MONITORING AND EVALUATION
Toolkit: Scaling Up HIV-Related Legal Services
The indicators listed in Appendix 4 are set out in the format of a ‘logframe’ (logical framework). Some funders require monitoring and evaluation to be described prior to commencement of a programme with reference to a logframe, which may be adjusted over the life of the programme grant as conditions change. Logframes can be useful programme planning and management tools. Appendix 5 provides information on outcome evaluation and process evaluation.
Photo credit: UNAIDS/P. Virot
When designing a monitoring and evaluation system, it will be important to minimize the burden of unreasonably complex or multiple reporting. If an HIV legal service is integrated into another service, such as a health service, the monitoring and evaluation should also be integrated. PARTICIPATORY APPROACHES Participatory monitoring and evaluation methods provide opportunities for involvement in decision-making for all those with a stake in the legal service. This can give community members ownership of the results and recommendations of an evaluation. A participatory process can provide knowledge and skills to empower people living with HIV so that they can influence the nature and quality of legal services. Participatory approaches can support sharing of learning between client communities, service providers and evaluators. This can enable assessment and planning of legal services to occur collaboratively. Participatory monitoring and evaluation can involve the various community stakeholders of a legal service working together to identify problems, collect and analyse information, and generate recommendations. Regular client and community feedback should be part of the service design and is key to monitoring quality. This can be achieved by ensuring that people living with HIV and representatives of key populations are members of the governance structure of the legal service. It is also helpful to ensure that community members have opportunities to provide their views about the service, for example through annual or bi-annual public meetings attended by community members and the management committee of the service. Focus groups can be held as a part of an evaluation to identify concerns and explore ways of addressing those concerns. Focus groups may comprise clients, staff of the legal service or staff of other HIV services. Focus group discussions can use oral and visual techniques so that illiterate people can participate. MONITORING AND EVALUATING QUALITY In monitoring and evaluating a legal service organization, it is important to measure both the quantity of services provided (e.g. the number of clients who are seen per month) and the quality of services provided.
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