Research and Advocacy

Trocaire's Head office wanted to establish a standardized programme monitoring and evaluation framework for its Governance and Human Rights (GHR) programme in different countries. India office was selected as the pilot country for conducting the baseline and creating a programme monitoring framework and SDRC was selected as the consultant.

The GHR programme had already started in India and SDRC spported Trocaire India office in implementing the baseline study for the GHR Programme with eight programme implementing partners. Participatory AAA tools were designed for assessing the level of

• Awareness on three rights clusters: MGNREGA, PESA, Women's Rights
• People's Access to the duty bearers
• Action taken by people in cases of violation of the rights
• Capacity assessment of CBOs promoted under the programme
• Capacity assessmet of the partners implementing the programme.

• Designing of participatory tools for data collection
• Leading data collection, analysis, and drafting the Baseline report
• Creation of a GHR framework based on participatory baseline methodologies
• Training partners' staff on the implementation of the tools and methods for data collection
• Support partners to implement GHR monitoring systems

The overall aim of “Clean e-Bhubaneswar” under the ‘IFC-EU Eco-Cities program’ is to support BMC in putting in place a sustainable e-waste management eco-system in Bhubaneswar.

SDRC in consortium with SOFIES ( a sustainability consulting and project management firm delivering professional services based on industrial ecology and circular economy) and Shree Ganesh Recycling Pvt. Ltd. (SGR – an organization engaged in Operations, collection logistics and aggregation of e-waste and coordinate with agencies such as PROs and recyclers for scheduling and invoicing matters) is currently performing the following activities on the “Clean e-Bhubaneswar” program:

• Conducting an on the ground survey to document the current models for aggregation and disposition of waste.
• Creating an awareness and communication campaign for proper disposal of waste at institutions (schools, universities, companies, households).
• Developing the local capacity for waste recycling.
• Reporting and documentation of the project.

Increased awareness on e-waste management among communities and the participants of the programme.

This project focused on creating awareness among legislators by presenting evidence based data on various health issues, so that they would raise more health-related questions in the Assembly.

As the knowledge partner of the project, SDRC's role was to provide data based support to the implementing partners in their advocacy initiatives. SDRC developed factsheets and scorecards based on latest published government statistics on health, and policy briefs on the status of health in the state of Chhattisgarh. These scorecards and factsheets were also translated in Hindi.

Three factsheets; three scorecards and one policy brief per year (two years).

This project focused on creating awareness among legislators by presenting evidence based data on various health issues, so that they would raise more health-related questions in the Assembly.

As the knowledge partner of the project, SDRC's role was to provide data based support to the implementing partners in their advocacy initiatives. SDRC developed factsheets and scorecards based on latest published government statistics on health, and policy briefs on the status of health in the state of Odisha.

Three factsheets; three scorecards and one policy brief per year (first two years). In the final year, two comprehensive infographic publications were developed:

• Health story of Odisha
• Health in Legislative Assembly

Provided technical support to NHRM GOJ for review of medical mobile units (MMU) with a monitoring framework and Standard Operating Protocols (SOP) for review. The overall objectives were:

• To review the existing recording formats/registers and data base and recommend a mechanism and framework for review of the implementation of the MMU program.
• To provide support for the roll out of a reporting process and utilize the DevInfo software to monitor the access (through the GPS markers) and create a dashboard for key monitoring indicators at the state and district level.

UNICEF in consultation with Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Chhattisgarh wanted to use the Census data that is available for only 18 districts of Chhattisgarh to create a database repository for all 27 districts of the State.

SDRC, with the support of UNICEF Chhattisgarh office, created a DevInfo database for Census indicators for 27 districts. Since the block level boundaries haven't changed, the block level data was used to compute data for all the new districts and revise data for the old districts in the database. Factsheets were created based on these datasets for all the 27 districts of the state. A comprehensive factsheet for the state was also developed and printed in the form of a booklet for circulation and advocacy purposes.

• A DevInfo database on Census indicators for 27 districts in place of 18 districts.
• Factsheets based on Census data for 27 districts and one at state level with data and maps for 27 districts.

UNICEF Chhattisgarh wanted to develop visually rich yet succinct factsheets on the issue of maternal and child health based on Annual Health Surveys reports. These reports were published for selected nine states for three consecutive years from 2010-11 to 2012-13.

Factsheets were designed and developed for each district of Chhattisgarh as well as a consolidated factsheet at the state level. This involved:

• Compilation of data sets from three rounds of AHS into a DevInfo database
• Preparing a list of key indicators to be analysed and designing it in the form of factsheet
• Finally developing print-ready Factsheets to present the AHS data for the 16 districts of Chhattisgarh and one consolidate state level factsheet presenting the overall status in comparison to the country

17 factsheets based on Annual Health Survey datasets- 16 district factsheets and one state factsheet for Chhattisgarh.

UNICEF as part of its Child Rights Advocacy Initiative with select Members of Odisha Legislative Assembly proposed to create factsheets on key social indicators focussing on situation of women and children for the state and all districts of Odisha. The objective was to share the fact sheets with readily accessible data on key indicators with policy makers so that towards ensuring child rights they raise issues pertaining to children in the media, floor of the Assembly; and in the general public policies sphere.

SDRC, as the consulting organisation, tried to achieve the basic project objective of making available datasets, organised by theme and geography, that could be presented as an effective advocacy tools for legislatures, policy makers, practitioners, academia, media as well as research scholars/organisations. These factsheets were to be used as a tool for programming, policy making research and also for discussions and debates for supporting informed decision making. Data in the factsheets were sourced from Census, Annual Health Surveys (AHS) and District Information System for Education (DISE).

One state level factsheet and 30 district level factsheets on the social sector indicators available for sharing with policy makers, research organizations, academia, media and civil society organisations.

The timeline for Millennium Development Goals was coming to an end and UNICEF New York wanted to assess the progress of different countries on selected MDG indicators as a part of the initiative to monitor achievement of MDGs, under Countdown 2015 project.

As a global consultant to UNICEF-New York, SDRC provided support in generating factsheets for 75 countries. The key deliverables were:

• 75 two-page statistical country profiles.
• Each profile provided in Excel(modifiable) and PDF.

Country profiles on key MDG indicators were published.

Conducted an evaluation to provide an independent assessment and to give feedback of the effectiveness of the project. The evaluation included:

• To develop key performance indicators(process and impact available) for each component based on the project logic framework.
• To validate the value-added of the Social Arts and Population Education(SAPE) approach and how it supports the technical component through behaviour change and for long term sustainability of the water and sustain program.
• To document key lessons and the way forward for future programming based on SWOT analysis(strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) regarding the project management process, the social arts methodology and results and impact.
• To assess the quality of water purification technologies.

Provided technical support for Results Monitoring Survey as an independent external expert. The following major task have been envisaged as part of this assignment:

• Review the proposed methodology for RMS and provide feedback.
• Review the tools developed for the survey and provide necessary inputs.
• Guide the survey team through different stages of data collection- selection of survey sites, listing, household survey, facility survey, back checking etc.

The midline study was taken in second phase of the project in which Trócaire India office wanted to assess the progress made by the Governance and Human Rights (GHR) programme against the targets set for two years.

SDRC led the midline study to assess the progress made by the Trócaire GHR Programme against the targets set for the two year monitoring period. These targets were set for the five year programme cycle against the baseline data. The study report presented the progress made in three areas:

• Increase in awareness of the communities on the rights and their access to the duty bearers in claiming rights
• Change in capacity of the Community based organisations in their abilities to claim rights and work for upliftment of their communities
• Change in the capacity of the partner organisations in their ability to advocate for right based policy changes.

Change in programme implementation strategy and course correction to achieve the programme objectives withing the programme implementation cycle.

Child marriage - marrying before legal age 18 years for girls and age 21 years for boys - is still widespread in India. The project was undertaken to understand the multiple set of factors that contribute to the persistence of the phenomenon as well as its consequences on the development and full growth of the girls - increased risks of maternal and child mortality, low levels of education, and exposure to violence, isolation and confinement.

SDRC worked on G15. Besides, the document also highlighted the disparities in the child marriage incidence by social groups (Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes), by household wealth quintiles and by location (Rural, Urban), wherever possible. The data sources used in the analysis were National Family Health Survey (NFHS), District Level Household and facility Survey (DLHS), Census and the socio-economic surveys conducted by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO)

A statistical compendium and state factsheets on “Early marriages in India.

The alarming situation of neonatal mortality in Bihar posed a major programmatic challenge in the context of health interventions. To prevent and arrest the death of newborns, the Government of Bihar introduced the Bihar Model of Comprehensive Newborn Care Initiative (CNCI) and declared the year 2010 as the year of the newborn.

SDRC completed this process documentation research though extensive use of desk research as well as direct interaction with service delivery personnel as well as the programme beneficiaries--the mothers/families availing the benefits from the CNCI project - to capture their perceptions as well as experiential learning . The document aimed to provide the readers with the following:

• a ring side commentary of the key interventions that were initiated in Bihar.
• an insightful understanding of what went into making the project a success.
• unravelling the learning behind the challenges that were faced during the implementation.
• enabling reflection and analysis of these events in order to make the development process more visible.

A process document for institutional memory and corrective actions in programme planning.

Trocaire Uganda wanted to implement the India GHR framework, that was accepted as global Trocaire GHR baseline framework, for its GHR programme in Uganda.

Supported Uganda office of Trócaire in the planning, implementation and write-up of the Trócaire Uganda GHR Programme baseline study, ensuring the appropriate application of the global Trócaire GHR baseline framework.

• Review documentation related to the Trócaire Uganda GHR Programme
• Joint planning with stakeholders for key steps including finalisation of tools, methodology, sampling design and training of partners and local consultants in implementing the methodology
• Advised data collection, tabulation of the data collected and analysis to present key findings
• Review of the baseline report drafted by Uganda consultants

Supported Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) in finalisation of data for DevInfo India. The major tasks included:

• Provide technical advisory support for finalisation of indicators (more than 300) and their meta data.
• Facilitate the in-house creation of databases in a format for easy migration to the DevInfo.
• Support scrutiny and finalisation of data obtained from the various Ministries/Departments.
• Provide technical oversight for agency specific requirements in creating DevInfo databases.

Supporting the UNICEF India country office in analysing latest statistics and presenting the state of women and children in India through ready reckoner factsheets. Key contributions included:

• Desk research and compilation of social statistics on women and children covering several sectors including child environment, health, and education
• Creation of MDG radar charts, other graphical representation of status on several indicators for each state to highlight the gender, economic, and social inequalities

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), set up in 2007, has a mandate is to ensure that all Laws, Policies, Programmes, and Administrative Mechanisms are in consonance with the Child Rights. NCPCR needed to know the implementation status of The Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection of Children) Act, 2000 in all the states of the country.

SDRC supported the NCPCR with analysis of the responses received from the States/UTs on the reporting format on the implementation status of the JJ Act. Besides a report based on the analysis presenting a macro picture, the output of the assignment included a PowerPoint presentation on the same and factsheets for each state and union territory. The key components covered in the factsheet depicted the achievements w.r.t institutional arrangements for children in conflict with law, children in need of care and protection as well as mechanisms for rehabilitation of children with special needs.

Strengthening of the implementation of JJ Act in different states.

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) had conducted a study among school children in seven states (7000 respondents) with an aim to generate statistical evidence of school going children being subjected to corporal punishment in schools.

SDRC supported the NCPCR with data analysis for a study on the prevalence of corporal punishment in schools involving the following steps:

• 1. Coding, pre-entry data cleaning and double data entry to minimize errors.
• 2. Cleaning of entered data for subsequent analysis (SPSS ready format)
• 3. Generation of statistical tables
• 4. Generation of graphical outputs
• 5. Support in report writing.

7000 students across seven states of India-Tamil Nadu, Odisha, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh.

The survey findings aimed to strengthen the NCPCR's advocacy for a strict legal provision against corporal punishment. The NCPCR Guidelines for Eliminating Corporal Punishment in Schools were an outcome of this study findings.

"Strengthening Forest and Forest-based Livelihoods in Odisha" was a unique initiative of CYSD that aimed to positively impact the livelihoods of 4000 households in Koraput district spread across five blocks, 25 gram panchayats and covering 250 villages. The program intends to increase the income of the forest dependent communities by at least 30 per cent by the end of year three of the project period.

SDRC, on behalf of CYSD, undertook a baseline study to estimate the current status of livelihood patterns and income in the project villages. The target population for the project included all households that were dependent on minor forest produces for their livelihoods. It also included households that were engaged in subsistence agriculture practices and lived on the fringes of the forest area. Mobile based data collection was done at three levels: at household level, at village level, and at facility level.

The outcome of the baseline was a results based monitoring framework for the project. This was later expanded to include other projects of the organisation as well.

NSDC’s Affirmative Action division is dedicated to facilitating skill training among all these communities by understanding their unique needs and finding customized solutions. This baseline study was a part of NSDC’s action research model that would help ensure holistic development of Mangalajodi Gram Panchayat with specific focus on Skill Training covering 100% households.

SDRC designed the baseline study using a mix of qualitative and quantitative tools, Android based household survey tool, Focussed group discussion, Paired comparison/ranking tool, Visioning tool for village development and Key stakeholder interview. Based on the findings of the survey, SDRC not only identified the key issues/challenges faced by Mangalajodi and the opportunities that would enable skill development in the GP but also listed the way forward for skill development by defining the action points. These action points were summarised in terms of immediate steps (within 3 months), short term actions (3-6 months), long term actions (above 6 months). Promoting eco-tourism was identified and prioritised as the most important area of skill development for the youth of Mangalajodi.

• From the 1736 households of Mangalajodi GP
• Profile of 8007 persons in the GP
• Skill profile and aspirations of 2197 youth mapped
• Disability profile of 236 persons with disability

To be able to address the district specific health and nutrition specific needs, JSW CSR departments needed to identify the health and nutrition need in the intervention districts in seven states of India.

Two pager district level factsheets with descriptive and predictive statistics on maternal and child health and nutrition indicators were developed. These districts were primarily the JSW plant districts. The presentation of the factsheets was made to include analysis over time series with disaggregation by level of geography and sex. The districts covered were:

• 1. Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh
• 2. West Medinipore, West Bengal
• 3. Sundargarh, Odisha
• 4. Jajpur, Odisha
• 5. Nagpur, Maharashtra
• 6. Thane, Maharashtra
• 7. Raigad, Maharashtra
• 8. Ratnagiri, Maharashtra
• 9. Bellary, Karnataka
• 10. Barmer, Rajasthan
• 11. Salem, Tamil Nadu
• 12. Factsheet comparing performance of all these districts.

Need-based programme planning of the CSR programme of JSW.G12

For a national level conference on Rainfed Agriculture, CYSD and its partner organisations wanted to develop two pager factsheets on the status of agriculture in Odisha, Maharashtra, Karnataka and India.

Four two-pager factsheets were developed by SDRC for CYSD and its partners presenting the key statistics related to status of agriculture, its budget in State/country and key concerns related to the situation.

Two pager factsheets for the three states and India were printed and shared for advocacy on the issue of strengthening rainfed agriculture.

• Sexual & Reproductive Health (SRH) needs of adolescent girls are ignored or less talked due to the culture of silence around it.
• Young girls confront with challenges in accessing the basic health services in day to day life and practice unhygienic methods to address their RH needs.
• Socio-cultural restrictions imposed on girls during menstruation has negative implications on their development

To monitor the project in 3 blocks of Ganjam District Aaina needed to do a baseline study and develop an M & E frame work. SDRC partnered with Aaina in designing and leading the baseline study-methodology, development of digital tools, capacity building of Aaina team on mobile based data collection, data cleansing, analysis and report writing. After baseline, an excel based monitoring template will also be developed for Aaina to monitor the progress against the targets set for different indicators.

419 adolescent girls and boys (and their families/care-givers of girls with disability) identified from three blocks of Ganjam district. Awareness generation and sensitization of family, community and other institutions would be undertaken in a focussed manner under the project titled, "Flying Wings"

Due to lack of analysis on individual forest rights (IFR) to women under FRA, Vasundhara’s research team piloted an initiative of sex-based disaggregation of land holders under FRA and their actual access and control over it in 12 blocks of Kandhamal district of Odisha. They needed to present the findings in a two-pager infographic/factsheet layout for the district.

A two-pager factsheet was developed to present access of IFR to women under FRA by their marital status, by area of land and by type of land (Homestead land/agricultural land).

Discourse on access of IFR to women, an example from Kandhamal presented for advocacy on the issue.

• Data support to the presenters and organisers
• On spot visually effective documentation during the sessions
• Documentation of the sessions and support to the moderators in debriefing sessions
• Documentation of the conclave and designing of the Conclave Report.

Shakti Varta Plus programme aims to reduce maternal and newborn mortality and malnutrition by using a participatory learning approach. Before launching it in 314 blocks of Odisha, APPI wanted to evaluate the pilot phase and understand its implementation challenges and the assumptions that may have been invalid.

As the evaluation consultant, SDRC used a mix of both qualitative and quantitative research tools to evaluate the programme on three out of five OECD DAC criteria - Relevance, Effectiveness, Efficiency, Impact and Sustainability). The programme implemented by three different implementation partners in three different districts was covered in the evaluation.

An evaluation report highlighting the learnings from the pilot phase and recommendations for improvement of the final roll out of the programme at a large scale.