Monthly Corner
Laura Hughston - Blog
Arnoux Mouafo Nopi & Dimitri Tsona Zapzi - Article
Prof. Wangari Mwai and Prof. Catherine Ndungo - BOOK
- Understanding Gender and Identity Through The Gender Dictionary
Publisher: Bleeding Ink Scribes
RAI SENGUPTA - gender-transformative evaluation tools
This synthesis draws on evidence from 17 humanitarian evaluations across diverse crisis settings. It identifies key feminist evaluation innovations across four domains - design, methods, analysis, and ethics - illustrating how feminist principles can be embedded throughout the evaluation process. It also surfaces broader shifts required at policy, institutional, and practice levels to realise the transformative potential of feminist approaches in humanitarian contexts.
The toolkit translates these insights into applied guidance for evaluators and organisations. It provides step-by-step support across the full evaluation cycle, including planning, design, methods, analysis, ethics, and dissemination. Drawing on global feminist evaluation practice, humanitarian guidance, and gender evaluation standards, it includes adaptable tools, participatory and arts-based methods, guiding questions, and templates for field application.
Ritu Dewan & Swat Raju - Article
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In Promises & Reality 2026 Citizen’s Review of Year 2 of the NDA-III Government. Coordinated by Wada Na Todo Abhiyan, June 20, 2026. pp 94-100.
UTTHAN - Research Report
Traversing the path with women farmers in their fields and in our reflections/writings, a stark observation was the sheer lack of localized and regional vocabulary and terminology to adequately capture and communicate the understanding of climate change and mitigation strategies, informed by the unique experiences and needs of small and marginal women farmers. This is what propelled our research - to examine how women farmers perceive, express, experience, and respond to climate variability across
Our Research Report centres the lived experiences, generational knowledge, and resilience strategies of small and marginal women farmers from the coastal (Bhavnagar) and hilly (Dahod & Panchmahal) regions i.e two contrasting agro-climatic zones of Gujarat. Through their voices, the study reveals exactly how climate change intersects with gender, land rights, labour burdens, and food security.
Events
Vacancies
About the job
At Includovate, we are expanding our Pacific Research & Evaluation Talent Pool and inviting researchers, evaluators, consultants, and development practitioners to join a growing network of professionals committed to creating meaningful social impact.
As a feminist research incubator and certified social enterprise, Includovate works with partners including UNICEF, UNFPA, the ILO, governments, and development organisations across 23+ countries. Our work spans gender equality, social inclusion, health, disability, youth, climate, WASH, market systems, and other development priorities.
We are particularly keen to connect with experts from:
📍 Papua New Guinea
📍 Solomon Islands
📍 Vanuatu
📍 Timor-Leste
📍 Fiji
📍 Samoa
📍 Tonga
📍 Indonesia
📍 Australia
and across the wider Pacific region.
We welcome expertise in:
✓ Research, Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning
✓ Gender Equality & Social Inclusion
✓ Health & SRHR
✓ Disability Inclusion
✓ Youth Development
✓ Climate & Environment
✓ WASH
✓ Market Systems Development
✓ Governance & Community Development
Whether your expertise lies in data collection, research, evaluation, technical advisory, facilitation, or team leadership, we would love to hear from you.
By joining our Talent Pool, you become part of a trusted network of professionals who may be considered for future research, evaluation, advisory, and consulting opportunities across the Pacific region and beyond.
🔗 Register here: https://lnkd.in/eyF66S7H
Creative way of explaining M&E to Non-technical persons
Throughout my career as a Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) practitioner, I have come across many managers who were simply confounded by M&E jargons. What is an activity versus an input? How is an outcome different from an output? So confusing, daunting and and sometimes downright scary! However, it does not have to be this way.
During my workshops, I found an effective and fun way to explain basic M&E concepts to non-technical persons.It uses the analogy of a person on the beach.
Just imagine someone walking along the beach and thinking it would be a good idea to throw a rock in the water.
1. Choosing the Rock (Input)
He has a bed of rocks at his disposal and it is matter of choosing the right rock for the effect he wants. Should he choose the big rock, the small rock? Or all of them? The rocks represent the financial, human, physical and material resources that are available to the organisation. These are the INPUTS that would be fed into a given programme or project.
2. Throwing the Rock (Activity)
He makes the decision to throw all the rocks in the sea. After all, the more rocks he throws, the more effects he will see on the sea. The act of throwing the rocks represents the ACTIVITIES of a programme. Activities are the actions taken within the programme. For example, conducting trainings, drafting policy papers, organising meetings etc.
3. The Splash (Output)
Once the rock hits the water, it makes a splash. The splash is the immediate effect of the activity of throwing the rock. In other words, the splash represents the OUTPUTS and is the immediate result of the completion of programme activities. Outputs are the products and/or services which results from the completion of activities. For example, as a result of conducting trainings in Sexual Reproductive Health, an immediate result is that persons now have increased knowledge in this area.
4. The Ripple (Outcome)
The initial splash (output) creates a ripple effect on the water. The ripple represents OUTCOMES. These are the short-term and medium term effects of the outputs. In other words, “What changes occur due to the output?” For example, as a result of persons have an increased knowledge of their Sexual Reproductive Health (output), we expect a behavioural change. Persons will now engage in safer sex practises. This is the outcome.
5. The Horizon (Goal/Desired or Intended Impact/Final Outcome/Objective)
The horizon represents the long term GOALS/IMPACT/OBJECTIVE or the lasting changes that we hope to achieve by the programme’s intervention. It is the result of all the activities, outputs and outcomes that achieves the goal.
For example, the programme commits its human and financial resources (inputs) to carry out trainings and marketing campaigns on sexual reproductive health (activities) that will lead to increased knowledge in this area (output). This will result in people practising safer sex (outcome) which will lead to a healthier population with reduced HIV/AIDS and STD rates (Goal/Impact). This is an overly simplistic example, but it does illustrate the point well.
In the Logical Framework, the different steps are ordered sequentially: activities feed into outputs, which lead to outcomes, which achieve the overall goals. Please see the illustration below.
Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) does not have to be mundane or scary. There are creative ways to present the technical jargons and to make the process come alive in your organisation.
If you liked this Blog, you can view more articles on my Linkedin profile or view my website.
Add a Comment
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Comment by Mamta Chauhan on September 1, 2015 at 17:39 -
Thanks Ann, You have really explained the M&E jargons in most simplest manner. It is useful for many of us.
warmly,
mamta
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Comment by Ann-Murray Brown on August 25, 2015 at 13:31
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Thanks John!
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Comment by John Donnelly on August 25, 2015 at 13:26
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This is great Ann. I use an analogy of growing vegetables but this is better. Well done!
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Thanks Stacy-Ann!
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Comment by Stacy-Ann Gavin on August 11, 2015 at 20:56
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This is a really good and fun way of explaining!
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