100 - Equipping constituents with the power of their data to shape the impact story

Abstract Information: Historically, program data collection has been extractive, captured and used by those managing, monitoring and evaluating the program, assuming this is the job of external “experts”. Children International ran four pilot programs that shifted the model to a decentralized and co-ownership approach to data collection that was a critical component of the program. Each of the three initiatives had a different approach and took place in different countries and contexts. However, learning was consistent. Data tells a story. By equipping people with their data, they own their story, power dynamics begin to shift, and people are empowered to drive their own development as the leading experts of their own lives. The poster presentation will share the strategy, methods, results, benefits and challenges of this shift to co-ownership of data and incorporating data into the program process.

The four initiatives are as follows: Community Independence Initiative (CII) supported 475 families in Mexico, Colombia and the Philippines over a two-year period. This alternative approach to development encouraged families to seek support within their own peer networks, building off the positive deviant model, which suggests the solutions to persisting problems are found within the community itself rather than external experts. Families were paid monthly to complete a digital family journal about their current situation and goals and received three larger investments to use as they chose. Families received digital visual reports of their data compared to other families throughout the pilot and met monthly with other families to share their story of advancements.

Poverty Stoplight supported 110 families in Ecuador over a two-year period. This approach designed by Fundación Paraguaya, allows each family to self-diagnose their level of multi-dimensional poverty using a picture friendly digital tool. Each indicator has three colors: Red (extreme poverty), Yellow (poverty), and Green (no poverty). For each dimension, the family chooses the color corresponding to the level of poverty they believe applies to them based on contextualized definitions and pictures. The results are shown with mobile technology in a simple platform to create maps and interactive reports that allow a family to view their data in a consumable way. After seeing their data, families set goals, and see their progress over time. Groups of families can look at the community data and use the results to drive community initiatives.

Nutrition Home Monitoring included 1,882 acutely malnourished children under the age of 12 years from India, Philippines, Zambia, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic. The pilot leveraged the Middle Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC)z device to support decentralized pediatric malnutrition monitoring by caregivers during the pandemic. Caregivers of the children enrolled in the program received a MUAC z-score tape* and were trained on how to use the tape at home to track their child’s progress for an 8-month period and instructed to digitally share their data through pictures, text messages and phone calls.

Social Accountability in 2 clinics in Guatemala & Dominican Republic, helped communities hold their governments accountable for reliable, high-quality health services through the Community Score Card (CSC) process. CSC brings community members, community leaders, local youth, health care providers and other stakeholders together to evaluate and identify gaps in their health systems and collaboratively use the data to develop a plan to improve care. Through scoring every 6 months and monitoring of action plans the stakeholders use their data to drive action and their collective voice to drive change. Since pilot, the initiative has expanded to 33 government clinics, reaching 800,431 people with access to these clinics, in Philippines, Ecuador, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Honduras, and Zambia.
Relevance Statement: This poster will highlight learnings through four pilots in different international contexts. Challenges and successes from the global perspective will be shared. There are many benefits to shifting to this model of data co-ownership. The act of entering and reflecting on your own data drives personal change. When sharing that data with peers it increases mutuality and empowers peer change. Empowering families with their data in a consumable way leads to perseverance and learning to establish priorities and achieve goals. Community participation in assessing health clinics drives change. However, this shift requires an investment in time, resources, trust in families, access to technology, and buy-in from organizational leadership, funders, and local staff. As an evaluation community we have the potential to change the story from extractive data practices to co-ownership, decentralized program methods. This session provides an opportunity to explore this concept further and take use of data to a new level of driving individual and community change, while also meeting evaluation requirements.