International and Cross Cultural Evaluation
.jpg "Kateryna Krasnikova, MA (she/her/hers) photo")
Kateryna Krasnikova, MA (she/her/hers)
Monitoring and Evaluation Officer
Community Action for HIV Control Project; Pact Inc, Ukraine office
Kyiv, Kyyiv, Ukraine
Ihor Matviichuk, M.A.
M&E and SI Senior Advisor
Public Health System Resilience & Recovery Project; Pact Ukraine
Kyiv, Ukraine
Lauren Serpe
Director, Learning, Evidence and Impact team
Pact, United States
Molly Wright, M.S.
Technical Advisor- Learning, Evidence and Impact
Pact, District of Columbia, United States
Kateryna Krasnikova, MA (she/her/hers)
Monitoring and Evaluation Officer
Community Action for HIV Control Project; Pact Inc, Ukraine office
Kyiv, Kyyiv, Ukraine
Ihor Matviichuk, M.A.
M&E and SI Senior Advisor
Public Health System Resilience & Recovery Project; Pact Ukraine
Kyiv, Ukraine
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Abstract Information: Implementing development programs amidst complexity is a challenge, and one that implementers in Ukraine have come to know all-too-well since the Russian invasion turned even the most well-designed operation plans upside down. In such an extreme context of chaos, monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of these programs poses its own unique set of problems. Evaluators in Ukraine now must continuously adapt entire M&E systems in response to rapidly shifting programmatic priorities. Data sources previously relied upon for data-based decision-making have become inaccessible due to security concerns and other sources are now entirely irrelevant following massive population shifts within and out of the country. Further, many processes and tools formerly used by evaluators for data collection, validation, and reporting are rendered non-functioning in the face of ongoing blackouts and transportation blocks. We often rely on data to tell a story, but in this panel presentation data itself is the story; and panelists will narrate their stories of resilience in a place where data has become a moving target. Panelists include local evaluators working for two Ukraine health programs with different mandates- one working to build community health capacity from the ground up and one aiming to recover Ukraine’s health system from the top down. At a time when accurate data is more critical than ever yet simultaneously more difficult to capture and produce, audience members will learn how adapting evaluation tools, approaches and stakeholder mindsets can help overcome even the greatest of data challenges. Participants will be invited to ask questions and to engage in facilitated discussion: What can we learn from the resilience of these two programs in the face of conflict - their challenges and successes in adapting data processes, systems and tools in order to be able to use and produce critical data? In the context of war, when evaluators are faced with increased competing demands for data, what compromises can be made and what mindsets need to shift?
Relevance Statement: Pact, an international non-governmental organization (INGO), is currently implementing two large scale USAID-funded health programs in collaboration with Ukraine’s Ministry of Health. Both projects rode in on the tails of the COVID-19 pandemic which overwhelmed health, education, and economic systems, and threatened to reverse a range of recent human development gains. The pandemic exposed significant gaps in the health system, exacerbated existing vulnerabilities, and exposed new ones among vulnerable groups. And then came war. As Russia invaded, programmatic implementation plans turned upside-down. While the story of activity adaptation in the face of changing contexts is not a new story, for Pact Ukraine’s health programs, this time of complexity highlighted the criticalness of data. But when using and producing timely and accurate data is more important than ever, what happens when the sources, processes, and systems we have come to rely on are rendered irrelevant, inaccessible, or just plain broken? When data demands seem to multiply? When data itself becomes a moving target? Participants will hear the story of data as a moving target from M&E leads on Pact Ukraine’s Public Health System Resilience and Recovery (PHS R&R) project, which aims to strengthen the resilience of Ukraine’s public health system to better prepare for and respond to crises while protecting access to clinical and promotive health system functions. As the project was still in inception at the time of Russian invasion, panelists will present their data challenges including adapting the M&E system in the face of overwhelming competing demands on project scope and a sudden lack of existing data typically used for decision-making. The second story of data as a moving target will be presented by Pact Ukraine’s Community Action for HIV Control (CAHC) project, which aims to increase the number of people living with HIV who know their status and are linked to HIV care through enhancing the capacity of local organizations. Panelists will present the data challenges they faced as their target populations shifted in location and expanded from those at high risk of HIV to IDPs, as their activities changed from HIV to emergency service provision and back, and as blackouts and unstable telecommunication systems rendered their monitoring systems useless. This presentation will highlight successes of both programs in overcoming data challenges; and how adapting evaluation tools, approaches and mindsets can support collection and timely production of critical high-quality data. This panel will be relevant for all levels of evaluators and will appeal to anyone interested in adapting M&E practices in contexts of complexity. Participants will not only be inspired by the stories of resilience in the face of war from the Ukrainian presenters but will also learn skills- both practical and theoretical- that any evaluator can turn to in the face of data challenges. This panel is applicable to the International and Cross Cultural Evaluation topical area given its focus on evaluation adaptations in Ukraine, which can be applied to the many contexts around the globe currently operating in conflict or complexity.
Presenter: Kateryna Krasnikova, MA (she/her/hers) – Community Action for HIV Control Project; Pact Inc, Ukraine office
Presenter: Ihor Matviichuk, M.A. – Public Health System Resilience & Recovery Project; Pact Ukraine