Transcript - adaptation

United Nations Volunteers
Measuring the contribution of volunteerism to
community-based adaptation to climate change
Ana Cristina Guimaraes Matos
Evaluation Specialist, UNV Evaluation Unit, Bonn
June 2009
What do we want to measure?
To what extent are community
volunteers playing a role in
supporting adaptation to climate
change
To what extent this voluntary
engagement of community
members has an impact on
their adaptation practices and
their level of success
Why do we want to measure?
Volunteerism is a sustainable
and renewable resource that
helps communities find their
own solutions to their
problems
By engaging voluntarily in
their own development
processes, communities can
overcome dependence and
have a more active role in
shaping a better future for
themselves
Other less tangible results of
volunteering are inspiration,
role-modeling to others, better
focus by community members
on the common good
Therefore, understanding how volunteerism contributes
to CBA is an important opportunity to tap into this huge
potential for collective and collaborative work and to
demonstrate that UNDP/UNV collaboration works.
Windows of opportunity to assess the
contribution of volunteerism to CBA
• During preparation of the
concept note
• During proposal preparation,
implementation, monitoring
and evaluation, including VRA
Within the project
cycle
Within the country
programme cycle
• During the preparation of the CBA
country programme strategy
• During implementation, monitoring
and evaluation of CBA at national
level
Methodological options to assess the
contribution of volunteerism to CBA
Within the project cycle:
Assessing current practices and potential for volunteerism during
preparation of the concept note.
• How? By asking beneficiaries for their views on the issue – including
questions on volunteerism in the project templates
Integrating volunteerism into the project proposal, monitoring and
evaluation
• How? By adding and regularly measuring one quantitative indicator to
all project proposals: number of community members engaging in
CBA on a voluntary basis
• How? By integrating qualitative information about volunteerism to the
VRA: to what extent are community volunteers contributing to CBA?
Example: a question on volunteerism
for the VRA
APF Plus Step: Assessing the contribution of volunteering to adaptation
a.
Indicator: added value of volunteer work to community adaptation
b.
Sample key questions: Without the support of volunteers, would the
community be able to cope with the challenges of (e.g. drought)? What are the
most important contributions of volunteers to community adaptation to (e.g.
drought)? Why are the volunteers important? Do different people (men, women,
youth, elderly) benefit in different ways from the contribution of volunteers? How?
c.
Proposed scale:
Added value of volunteer work to community adaptation: 1 – very high to 5 – very
low
Methodological options to assess the
contribution of volunteerism to CBA
Within the country programme cycle:
Integrating volunteerism into the national CBA programme planning,
monitoring and evaluation
• How? By adding and regularly measuring one quantitative indicator to
the CBA country programme strategy: number of community members
engaging in CBA on a voluntary basis (aggregation)
Carrying out qualitative analysis of the contribution of volunteerism
• How? By undertaking qualitative analysis on the national indicator, such
as national learning workshops or studies, addressing issues such as:
levels of voluntary engagement of community members in the different
projects, factors contributing to and hindering volunteerism, differences
in results between projects with different numbers of community
volunteers
Methodological options to assess the
contribution of volunteerism to CBA
At global level:
Carrying out qualitative analysis of the contribution of volunteerism
• How? By undertaking annual qualitative studies comparing the results of
the learning workshops in the different countries, focusing on trends and
common factors of voluntary contribution to CBA.
Thank you!