Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!
03 July 2024
Post No. 359
The Week’s Contents
• Analytics and Impact Month 2024
• Activity/Task 7 of the Transitions (t) Year/Project: Check and Measure the Transition Progress Made by Those in Need
• Goal of the Month: Reduce Poverty with Measurable Impact
… And much more!
Key Messages
• Analytics and Impact Month 2024
July is CENFACS’ Analytics and Impact Month as it is the time of the year during which we conduct the impact assessment, monitoring, evaluation, review, assurance, reporting and analytics of our programmes and projects. Through these exercises, we analyse what we did over the last 345 days, seize the outputs and, if possible, capture the early impacts made.
It is the time we focus on the effects of our intervention while reviewing what worked well, what badly worked and what did not work at all. We do it by bringing all together the programmes and projects as well as activities that made the preceding financial year. This is what we usually call All-in-one Impact Feedback and Assessment.
It is a feedback because we ask all our stakeholders (our beneficiaries) to give their opinions about our work. This beneficiary or participatory monitoring aims to track the perceptions of project and programme beneficiaries. We expect them to provide us with their unbiased, independent, true and fair views and feelings about our work. From what they feedback and what we have collected as data, we can assess or judge our performance against aims, goals and targets of poverty reduction and sustainable development we set up at the beginning of the financial year.
July is also a time to deep dive into numbers and to listen to what these numbers (numerical data) are telling us; for example if we have been on track or running behind or even tracking ahead. This tracking exercise (or financial monitoring) helps us to discover patterns in numbers achieved and to spot trends.
The analytics activity further guides us to know if we hit targets or not, and to focus time and energy on our core mission while adjusting and redeveloping our programmes and projects in improved direction. From data analysed, we can get information about users’ experience and undertake products/services design and development. In doing so, this gives us the opportunity to predict and plan future activities while reconnecting with stakeholders and stewarding new donors.
The impact activity helps us to start getting early signs or signals of the systematic change that we would like together with our users to instil into long term change. This activity enables us to begin foreseeing the broader and long-term change or effects of the programmes and projects we implemented in the last 345 days.
For more information about All-in-one Impact Feedback and Assessment or CENFACS’ Analytics and Impact Month, please read under the Main Development section of this post.
• Activity/Task 7 of the Transitions (t) Year/Project: Check and Measure the Transition Progress Made by Those in Need
Our transition analysis and metrics to track transition continue with Activity/Task 7. Indeed, those who are transitioning need sometimes their progress to be checked or discussed and measured so that they can be aware that they are in the right direction of their transition goal, project and plan.
As part of the Transitions (t) Year and Project, we will be working with those in need to discuss their transition progress and measure it. To do that, we are going to use transition metrics. These are measures of performance skills and speed in any action they are carrying out during transitions or turns. These capturing metrics to track transition can include transition time, turn rate, push-off time, etc.
The above is what activity/task 7 is about. Those who would like to undertake it can go ahead.
For those who need some help before embarking on this activity/task, they can speak to CENFACS.
For any other queries and enquiries about the ‘t‘ project and this year’s dedication, please contact CENFACS as well.
• Goal of the Month: Reduce Poverty with Measurable Impact
As we are in CENFACS’ Analytics and Impact Month 2024, we are looking for initiatives of poverty reduction with measurable impact.
There are times when poverty reduction come with measurable impact on other areas of life, while there are other times it does not. What many people living in poverty and hardship would like to see is poverty reduction with impact. What is poverty reduction with impact?
• • Explaining Poverty Reduction with Impact
Poverty Reduction with Impact or Impactful Poverty Reduction is about getting reduced the state in which resources are lacking, but achieving that reduction with a positive change in the long term for those in need. If there is poverty reduction without long term positive change, then there could be no impact or very little impact on the poor people. Yet, those living in poverty would like to reduce poverty with positive impact or a relatively stronger or higher positive impact on other areas of their life.
Changes or impact may take time to happen or appear. However, indication or signs need to show that we are heading the right direction following poverty reduction activities. If not, one may try to use a results chain model (e.g., input>output>outcome>long-term change) to deal with impact or establish cause-effect relations between poverty reduction actions and impact. In other words, one needs to use measuring impact framework to check if there has been an impact or not.
• • Measuring the Impact or Difference as a Result of One’s Intervention
To capture the impact of an intervention, one can refer to the five dimensions of impact as provided by Sopact.com (1), dimensions which include what (outcomes to achieve), who (the target population), how much (the scale, depth, and duration of the impact), contribution (difference made with intervention), and risk (external factors and assumptions that influence results).
These dimensions will help to measure the impact or difference as a result of one’s intervention or work with or help to the poor. Measurable impact would be the quantifiable outcome attributed to any intervention activities over a set period of which contribute to reducing poverty. To this purpose, one can employ impact indicators or metrics to measure success in reducing poverty or their ability to serve a currently unserved or underserved people.
As part of the poverty reduction goal for July 2024, our supporters and audiences can help Reduce Poverty with Measurable Impact for the needy. We expect them to support this goal.
For any queries and/or enquiries regarding this goal including its support, please contact CENFACS.
Extra Messages
• Shop at CENFACS’ Zero-Waste e-Store during Summer Season
• World Anti-poverty System: Does the World Need Too Many Crises to Have an International System for Poverty Reduction or to Carry on with Minor Adjustments to the Current International System?
• CENFACS’ be.Africa Forum E-discusses African State Sovereignty and Poverty Reduction in Africa
• Shop at CENFACS’ Zero-Waste e-Store during Summer Season
CENFACS e-Store is opened for your Summer goods donations and goods purchases.
At this time, many people have been affected by the lingering impact of the high cost of living mostly driven by the hikes in prices of basic life-sustaining needs (e.g., food, energy, transport, housing, council tax, phone, etc.).
The impacted of the high cost of living needs help and support as prices and bills are significantly above real household disposable incomes for many of those living in poverty.
Every season, every month is an opportunity to do something against poverty and hardships. This Summer too is a good and great season of the year to do it.
You can donate or recycle your unwanted and unneeded goods to CENFACS’ Zero-Waste e-Store, the shop built to help alleviate poverty, lift people out of poverty and prevent poverty and hardships to happen.
Donating or recycling goods will not only help to reduce poverty. It will also improve your household circularity and circular transition indicators while creating spaces.
You can as well buy second hand goods and bargain priced new items and much more at CENFACS’ Zero-Waste e-Store.
CENFACS’ Zero-Waste e-Store needs your support for SHOPPING and GOODS DONATIONS to reduce poverty with measurable impact.
You can do something different this Season of Goods Donations by SHOPPING or DONATING GOODS at CENFACS Zero-Waste e-Store.
You can DONATE or SHOP or do both:
√ DONATE unwanted GOODS, GIFTS and PRODUCTS to CENFACS Zero-Waste e-Store this Summer.
√ SHOP at CENFACS Zero-Waste e-Store to support the noble and beautiful cause of poverty reduction with measurable impact this Summer.
Your SHOPPING and or GOODS DONATIONS will help to the Upkeep of the Nature and to reduce poverty and hardships with measurable impact; poverty and hardships exacerbated or brought by the higher cost of living.
This is what the Season of Giving or Summer of Giving is all about.
Please do not hesitate to donate goods or purchase what is available at CENFACS Zero-Waste e-Store.
Many lives have been threatened and destroyed by the higher cost of living.
We need help to help them come out poverty and hardships caused by the higher cost of living.
To donate or purchase goods, please go to: http://cenfacs.org.uk/shop/
• World Anti-poverty System: Does the World Need Too Many Crises to Have an International System for Poverty Reduction or to Carry on with Minor Adjustments to the Current System?
The world can choose to wait for many crises to happen before having an International System for Poverty Reduction or to carry on with minor or aesthetic adjustments to the current international system. As far as CENFACS is concerned, the world needs to hear and give the voice of the poor through an International System for Poverty Reduction.
The world can re-create and innovate the international system through the Creation of an International System for Poverty Reduction, which does not exist. Too many crises that make the world’s poor to bear the brunt of them can only mean that an International System for Poverty Reduction is required; a system that can give them a voice instead of patchy adjustments to the global system.
Too many crises and minor adjustments to the current system are yet a further evidence to raise the question of an international or global system to deal with poverty.
If we had an International System for Poverty Reduction (that is a World Anti-poverty System comparable to the institutions of Bretton Woods System), would this system makes the world a better place for the poor?
Every time, there is a global crisis or overlapping crises, this question comes back, time and time again.
If you think that an International System for Poverty Reduction could have protected the world’s poorest from too many crises, please let us know your arguments. If you do not think so, still let us know what you think.
An International System for Poverty Reduction is a missing piece in the world’s institutional systems. This is CENFACS‘ campaign point, which is the creation of an International System for Poverty Reduction.
You can support the campaign or movement for a World Anti-poverty System or International System for Poverty Reduction with your VOICE, by E-SIGNING petition, E-MOBILISING your energy, BRANDING EVENT, etc.
You can join CENFACS’ Campaign for an International System for Poverty Reduction. To join, please contact CENFACS.
• CENFACS’ be.Africa Forum E-discusses African State Sovereignty and Poverty Reduction in Africa
This is a discussion about the link between state sovereignty or control and poverty reduction in Africa. It is also a debate between state power and poverty for those living in spaces that their state cannot control. Yet, their state is supposed to have power on those spaces which are part of state territory. Perhaps, the starting point of this discussion is clarify the concepts of state sovereignty and poverty reduction.
• • The Concepts of State Sovereignty and Poverty Reduction
The concept of sovereignty is perceived in terms political theory like ‘britannica.com’ (2) defines it as
“The ultimate overseer, or authority, in the decision-making process of the state and in the maintenance of order”.
State sovereignty is thus the legal authority and responsibility of an independent state to govern and regulate its political affairs without foreign interference.
As to the concept of poverty reduction, it will be approached as any measures or efforts to support those who are unable to meet the necessities for subsistence, in particular those who are deemed to receive benefit payments. Hypothetically, these unable to support themselves live in those spaces.
Like in a discussion of this kind, there are proponents and opponents about this link, as the terms of this discussion highlight it.
• • Terms of be.Africa Forum E-discussion
It is argued that where states or governments have lost control or sovereignty of a particular area of its territory or land, this loss could lead to the deterioration of economic conditions and possibly an increased poverty if that area is run by forces that are not interested in the prosperity of that area. Loss of territorial control can happen in various situations like during conflicts, insecurity, natural catastrophes, health disaster, etc. These events can challenge state or government authority, capacity and capability to control its territory and keep the work of poverty reduction going.
When these events happen whatever the reason, the link between the work on poverty reduction and state control over spaces stricken by these events could become loose in certain situations. This is the case for some countries that are undergoing some major crises like conflicts that led to the loss of control over some of their spaces. The people living in these lost spaces are finding life difficult to cope or survive. This difficulty to cope or survive can suggest that there could be a relationship between loss of sovereignty and poverty. In other words, control of sovereignty can be associated with poverty reduction.
The above is the argument for discussion. There could be counterarguments. CENFACS would like to know what you think. If you have argument about African State Sovereignty and Poverty Reduction in Africa, please do not hesitate to let CENFACS know.
Those who may be interested in this discussion can join in and or contribute by contacting CENFACS’ be.Africa, which is a forum for discussion on matters of poverty reduction and sustainable development in Africa and which acts on behalf of its members in making proposals or ideas for actions for a better Africa.
To communicate with CENFACS regarding this discussion, please use our usual contact details on this website.
Message in French (Message en français)
• Couvrir les dépenses de base pour les enfants en détresse en Afrique cet été
Couvrir les dépenses de base pour les enfants, les jeunes et les familles en détresse en Afrique est l’un des projets de l’appel d’été qui constitue la première partie de notre programme d’été, qui est déjà publié.
L’appel vise à soutenir les enfants, les jeunes gens et les familles (EJGF), dans des endroits d’Afrique où le niveau de pauvreté est déjà élevé, en particulier dans les espaces où les gouvernements ont perdu leur souveraineté ou leur contrôle en raison des conflits et de l’insécurité persistants et polarisants dans certaines parties de l’Afrique.
Soutenir cet appel signifie aider les EJGF à minimiser et à atténuer les impacts de la poursuite du conflit et de l’insécurité sur eux. Votre soutien contribuera à réduire les risques et les impacts que la polarisation des conflits et de l’insécurité peut avoir en termes de tragédie, de pauvreté intergénérationnelle, etc. Votre aide est nécessaire pour répondre aux signaux de détresse des EJGF.
On peut penser à un enfant ou à un jeune sans rêves ni attentes, quel sera son avenir, en particulier dans des espaces (comme la partie nord-est de la République Démocratique du Congo) où les conditions de sécurité se détériorent durablement dans les zones touchées par le conflit.
Pouvez-vous aider cet enfant? Oui ou Non!
Si vous dites oui; alors vous pouvez aider…√ cet enfant à rêver et à espérer une vie et un avenir meilleurs
√ à faire en sorte que les conflits polarisés ne deviennent une contrainte structurelle et un handicap pour cet enfant
√ à mettre fin à l’insécurité sans fin et créant des impacts négatifs à vie sur les enfants et les jeunes
√ à empêcher la vie des enfants et des jeunes de passer sous le seuil de pauvreté
√ à arrêter la génération perdue de conflits polarisés de se produire en Afrique.
Pour que cela se produise, soutenez «Couvrir les dépenses de base pour les enfants, les jeunes et les familles en détresse en Afrique».
Pour soutenir cet appel, veuillez contacter le CENFACS sur ce site Web.
Main Development
• Analytics and Impact Month 2024
The name of the July game at CENFACS is Impact Assessment, Monitoring, Evaluation, Review, Assurance, Reporting and Analytics. July is the month during which we conduct our impact assessment, monitoring, evaluation, assurance, review, reporting and analytics of the projects and programmes we delivered during almost last 11 months and 2 weeks.
This July, the way in which we have organised ourselves to conduct the Analytics and Impact Month 2024 is summarised under the following sub-headlines:
∝ Key Words for the Analytics and Impact Month 2024
∝ Analytics and Impact Activities
∝ The Analytical Process within CENFACS
∝ What Is CENFACS Analytics Dashboard?
∝ Analytics of the Year of Transitions as an Example of Analytical Process within CENFACS
∝ Impact Monitoring of Monthly Goals
∝ All-in-one Impact Feedback and Assessment for July 2024.
Let us look at each of these sub-headlines.
• • Key Words for the Analytics and Impact Month 2024
There are seven key words we are using which are: impact, monitoring, evaluation, assurance, review, reporting and analytics.
Let us briefly explain these key words.
1) Impact
Normally, it takes a considerable amount of time to get the real impact of any intervention, project and programme. However, because we are talking about finding out what projects and programmes have achieved, it makes sense to clarify what we mean by impact.
To do that, we are going to consider different terminologies surrounding impact; terminologies used within the impact literature or field. These terminologies are impact analysis, impact assessment, impact monitoring and impact reporting. Let us briefly explain these terms.
1.1 & 1.2) Impact Analysis and Assessment
To explain these two concepts, we are going to borrow the definition of impact from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The OECD (3) differentiates ex ante impact from ex post impact. This is what it argues.
“Ex ante impact analysis is the needs analysis and planning activity of the policy cycle. It is a prospective analysis of what the impact of an intervention might be, so as to inform policy making”.
“Ex post impact assessment is the evaluation and management of the policy cycle. Evaluation aims to understand to what extent and how a policy intervention corrects the problem it was intended to address. Impact assessment focuses on the effects of the intervention, whereas evaluation is likely to cover a wider range of issues such as the appropriateness of the intervention design, the cost and the efficiency of the intervention, its unintended effects and how to use the experience from this intervention to improve the design of future interventions”.
The above definitions help to understand the scope and scale of the impact of most interventions.
As far as CENFACS is concerned, we will be doing evaluation activities for some programmes and projects; and impact assessments for others. This is because impact assessment is mostly a theory-based activity and has a narrow and tightly-defined focus. Where we need to design evaluation questions and use evaluation techniques, we will do evaluation. Where there is a need for a tightly-defined focus, we will do impact assessment.
We are as well considering that the initiative for change comes from project users or beneficiaries not from CENFACS or CENFACS’ projects or programmes. This is because the impact analysis model of change we are using is a non-linear one. Despite this non-linearity of the theory of change used, our impact analysis will still be based on causality and attribution approach.
1.3) Impact Reporting
After carrying out the analytics and impact of our programmes and projects, we need to report our findings or results. Although we have not yet reached this step, we need to start thinking of the way we shall report. In technical parlance, we need to proceed or think of impact reporting. What is impact reporting?
The website ‘sopact.com’ (4) states that
“Impact reporting is a powerful tool that organisations use to showcase the positive changes they bring to communities and the environment. A well-constructed impact report tells a story of transformation, capturing the outcomes achieved and the significance of the impact”.
During this July 2024, we will be thinking of the various pieces that will make our impact reporting as we are analysing the data from the last twelve months.
2 & 3) Impact Monitoring and Evaluation
We are going to use the definition of monitoring and evaluation as given by Kersty Hobson, Ruth Mayne and Jo Hamilton (5) in their “A Step by Step guide to Monitoring and Evaluation”.
Regarding monitoring, Hobson et al. define it as
“The collection and analysis of information about a project or programme undertaken while the project or programme is on-going”. (p. 5)
Arguing about monitoring, Intrac (6) considers that there are many types of monitoring which include process or performance monitoring, results or impact monitoring, beneficiary monitoring or beneficiary contact monitoring, situation monitoring or scanning, financial monitoring, administrative or logistics monitoring management information.
During our Analytics and Impact Month 2024, we will be working on three monitoring activities which include performance, impact and financial monitoring.
Concerning evaluation, Hobson et al. (op. ct.) explain it as
“The periodic, retrospective assessment of an organisation, project or programme that might be conducted internally or by external independent evaluators”. (p. 5)
In reality, there are many types of evaluation which include formative evaluation, summative evaluation, outcome evaluation, impact evaluation, etc.
The July 2024 evaluation will help CENFACS to evaluate the appropriateness of CENFACS‘ intervention design, the cost and efficiency of its intervention, the unintended effects of this ending financial year’s intervention and the need to improve the design of future interventions.
The Analytics and Impact Month 2024 will be mostly concerned with impact evaluation. An impact evaluation can be defined in many ways.
For example, the website ‘betterevaluation.org’ (7) explains that
“An impact evaluation provides information about the impacts produced by an intervention. The intervention might be a small project, a large programme, a collection of activities or a policy”.
From the above-mentioned definitions of monitoring and evaluation, it is understood that monitoring is an on-going process whereas evaluation is a periodic or discrete one.
4) Assurance
July is also the month to revisit our commitment to the detection and prevention of quality problems that can hinder the quality of our poverty reduction produce or service. Put it simply, assurance is part and parcel of CENFACS‘ July analytics and Impact work. What is assurance?
By assurance, we simply mean what His Majesty Treasury (8) argues, which is
“Assurance is an objective examination of evidence for the purpose of providing an independent assessment on governance, risk management and control processes for the organisation. An assurance framework is a structured means of identifying and mapping the main sources of assurance in organisation, and co-ordinating them to best effect”.
Assurance can be internal and external. In our analytics work, we are conducting internal assurance. What does it mean?
It means what for example ‘anngravells.com’ (9) argues about internal quality assurance, which
“Seeks to ensure that assessment activities have been conducted in a consistent, safe and fair manner”.
This internal quality assurance, which took place since our programmes and projects started, will continue and be deepened this month as it is the Analytics and Impact Month. This will be done via impact feedbacks.
5) Review
We have referred to the online source ‘method123.com’ (10) for the meaning of this key word. This online source defines review as
“An assessment of the status of a project at a particular point in time”.
From this online perspective, we have been performing a project management review at the end of each phase of our projects and programmes. We have been verifying whether or not we have met the objectives. If so, then a decision needed to be approved to proceed to the next project or programme phase.
July is the month we put together all these small project reviews conducted while doing the last reviews for those projects and programmes pending for a final review.
6) Analytics
There are many approaches to analytics. In the context of our July work, we have selected an explanation from ‘dictionary.com’ (11) which is as follows:
“The patterns and other meaningful information gathered from the analysis of data”.
The website ‘oracle.com’ (12) goes further by explaining that
“Analytics is the process of discovering, interpreting and communicating significant patterns in data. Quite simply, analytics helps us see insights and meaningful data that we might not otherwise detect”.
The website ‘bmc.com’ (13) goes broader by stating that
“Data analytics is a broad term that defines the concept and practice (or, perhaps science and art) of all activities related to data…Data analytics is broader in scope and refers to the process of using data and analytical tools to find new insights and make predictions”.
The same web ‘bmc.com’ gives the activities relating to data analytics, which are: data collection, refining, storage, analysis and delivery.
Like any charity analytics, CENFACS Analytics helps to make informed decisions, drive and increase poverty reduction services or sales, reduce costs and improve poverty reduction outcomes/produce. It finally helps us to better deliver a user experience for our projects and programmes by hearing the voice of the project beneficiaries.
• • Analytics and Impact Activities
In order to carry out the activities relating to Analytics and Impact Month 2024, we have organised them between analytics and impact activities. To explain these types of activities, let us start with activities.
Activities are according to ‘intrac.org’ (14),
“Actions taken or work performed through which inputs, such as funds, technical assistance and other types of resources are mobilised to produce specific outputs”.
From this definition of activities, we can now explain impact and analytics activities.
• • • Impact activities
Impact activities are actions that led to changes. Impact activities enable creation, innovation, reflection, negotiation and support for those in need.
An example of Impact activities could be informing and stimulating support or debate – via humanitarian appeals – on the conditions of people stricken by conflicts like in the north-eastern parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
• • • Analytics activities
Analytics activities are those that provide an idea about user engagement on our programmes and projects. Through this activity, we can track and analyse user interactions with our programmes.
For example, Analytics activities can help us to find out the number of people who used our advice service or the different resources to support them to develop their capacity throughout the year.
Both Impact and Analytics activities stem from impact plan and analytics plan we developed to carry out Analytics and Impact Month 2024.
• • The Analytical and Impact Processes within CENFACS
We have been continuously and at discrete points in time tracking what has been happening within our programmes and projects while using the data collected to inform programme and project implementation as well as day-to-day management and decisions during the above named period. However, in July this monitoring exercise becomes more intense.
Likewise, we have been periodically assessing the objectives of our planned, on-going, or completed projects, programmes, or policies. During these evaluation processes, we have tried to selectively answer specific questions related to the design, implementation, and results of our programmes and projects.
In July, these evaluation activities become further pronounced as we assess what these programmes and projects have achieved in relation to the overall objectives we set up for them. The results of this evaluation are fed back to improve these programmes and projects, or alternatively to design and develop new ones.
Still in July, we critically examine, reappraise or reconsider our objectives and policies to achievements, and see if there is any progress or set back. This review enables us to improve as well.
What’s more in July, we look at again our loyalty to the detection and prevention of quality issues. This assurance assists in maintaining and improving the quality of our poverty reduction produce.
Throughout the year, we work to finding out, interpret and communicate patterns in data in a meaningful way to the work of CENFACS. We apply those patterns in our decision making process. In July, we put extra emphasis on this analytics which becomes very profound.
Briefly, July is the time we do our Summer tracking by reconsidering the value and relevancy of our work, let alone the overall state of our charitable work. It is in this period of the year that we carry out what we call All-in-One Impact Feedback and Assessment. In other words, we try to listen to our stakeholders while tracking the effects of our intervention and capturing the early impacts of our work by considering all the pieces together as one.
One of the key information management tools we use to do our impact analytics is CENFACS Analytics Dashboard.
• • What Is CENFACS Analytics Dashboard?
CENFACS Analytics Dashboard is an information management tool that tracks, analyses and displays key performance indicators, poverty reduction diagnostics, poverty relief metrics/dashboards, results from CENFACS’ poverty relief league, etc.
• • • What else does CENFACS Analytics Dashboard offer?
√ It monitors the health of CENFACS in terms of the relationships of support received to outputs and outcomes generated.
√ It provides as well infographics and summaries about some of the campaigns conducted.
√ It enables to discover and identify poverty reduction problems from the examination of symptoms it helps find.
√ It assists in engineering analytical solutions to the problem of reducing poverty.
√ It finally helps to retrieve information from CENFACS repository about the resources to help users and supporters.
For example, during the early stage of the coronavirus pandemic, we used CENFACS Analytics Dashboard to check the health of CENFACS and state of running of CENFACS’ projects and programmes. This checking enabled us to know the extent to which the coronavirus pandemic affected the running of CENFACS and its services. Knowing the distributional effects of the coronavirus pandemic on our projects and programmes, this knowledge helped us to reorganise these projects and programmes differently.
For more on CENFACS Analytics Dashboard, please contact CENFACS.
• • Analytics of the Year of Transitions as an Example of Analytical Process within CENFACS
Analytics of the Year of Transitions will be done following the processes of data analytics, which include collecting and ingesting, categorising, managing, storing, performing ETL (extract, transfer and load), analysing and sharing data. Knowing these processes, we can define the Analytics of CENFACS’ Year of Transitions.
The analytics or tracking of Transitions Year is the 6-month analysis and turning of raw data insights for making better decisions in terms of helping to reduce poverty and enhance sustainable development. To make this possible, we have created a booklet or journal of creative activities or tasks carried out so far to mark 2024 as a Transitions Year. This booklet/journal is also a record of data.
• • • Booklet/Journal of 2024 Activities as Year of Transitions
Inside this Booklet/Journal of Year of Transitions, there is one activity or task per month to be carried out by users. Alongside this activity or task, there is a metrics or analytics indicator to enable the owner of the booklet or journal to measure their performance as shown below.
January 2024
Activity/Task 1: Support People in Need to Transition out of Consumption-based Poverty
Selected analytics quantitative indicator for Activity/Task 1: The number of people into and out of poverty because of lack of or less consumption for a given period (to get this number we looked at entry and exit to poverty linked to consumption, poverty line, incidence poverty and the depth of poverty)
February 2024
Activity/Task 2: Work with People to Transition to Sustainable Production
Selected analytics quantitative indicator for Activity/Task 2: The number of poor households that process and produce efficiently (e.g., level of decrease in indoor pollution or greenhouse gas concentrations or number of households using non-polluting stoves, cooking meal with clean energy and less indoor pollution by moving from brown economy/energy to green economy/energy)
March 2024
Activity/Task 3: Help Combat Inequality in Climate Transitions
Selected analytics quantitative indicator for Activity/Task 3: The reduction of gender inequality linked to policies, the disproportional loss of assets and income suffered by disadvantaged groups because of inequalities in the dissymmetrical impacts of climate change, greater exposure and vulnerability of disadvantaged groups to climate change.
April 2024
Activity/Task 4: Protect People who Are Transitioning
Selected analytics quantitative indicator for Activity/Task 4: The number of people protected who are transitioning towards climate-resilient water access and land use in rural and urban areas.
May 2024
Activity/Task 5: Provide Inspiring Stories of Out-of-Poverty Transitions
Selected analytics quantitative indicator for Activity/Task 5: The storytelling metrics (i.e., reach and engagement, retention and completion, conversion and action, loyalty and advocacy, insight and learning, and emotion and connection) for the people transitioning out of poverty.
June 2024
Activity/Task 6: Work with the Needy to Improve Creations and Innovations Linked to Transition
Selected analytics quantitative indicator for Activity/Task 6: The number of creative and innovative arts, crafts and/or design objects produced by the needy to transition out of poverty and hardships, or their transition into content creation and innovation to reduce poverty they are facing and/or enhance sustainable development.
So, we can use leading and lagging transition indicators or metrics to help in understanding the main benefits of the transition process.
One can journal, quantify and gain insight of the meaning of the data about the last 6 months of Transitions Year from this booklet/journal of creative activities and make good decision on how to better help to reduce poverty and enhance sustainable development.
• • • Impact Monitoring of Monthly Goals
Every month we set up a poverty reduction goal to be achieved for the month. As part of the Analytics and Impact Month, we are starting to assess the changes brought about or by the poverty reduction goals we set up since January 2024. We can use poverty reduction monitoring metrics to conduct this assessment.
The following are the poverty reduction goals we set up from January to June 2024. We have also included besides these goals impact monitoring metrics that can be used.
January 2024
Goal for the Month: Reduction of Consumption-based Poverty
Impact monitoring metric for January 2024 goal: Expenditure-based poverty measures, households in expenditure poverty
February 2024
Triple Goal for the Month: Reduction of Poverty Linked to Inequality, Inaccessibility and Landlessness
Impact monitoring metrics for February 2024 triple goal: The number of poor households homeowners, the number of women landowners, and the number of poor people with access to basic life-sustaining services (such as clean and safe drinking water, sanitation, health, digital technology, etc.)
March 2024
Goal for the Month: Reduction of Transitory Poverty
Impact monitoring metric for March 2024 goal: The number of people in temporary, adverse income shocks or the number of people resilient to income shocks or even the number of people in a slow ascent form of poor initial conditions
April 2024
Goal for the Month: Reduction of poverty as a lack of protection linked to spending
Impact monitoring metric for April 2024 goal: The number of people receiving income protection from government or third parties (e.g., charities)
May 2024
Goal for the Month: Make Poverty Reduction Happen through Stories
Impact monitoring metric for May 2024 goal: The number of people who came out of poverty because of inspiring and motivating stories they heard
June 2024
Goal for the Month: Poverty Reduction through Entrepreneurship
Impact monitoring metric for June 2024 goal: The number of poor people in income-generating activities or who became entrepreneurs.
This tracking is about getting beneficiaries’ results or outcomes.
• • All-in-one Impact Feedback and Assessment for July 2024
This month, we will be conducting three levels of ex post Impact Assessment:
(a) Impact monitoring and evaluation of the programmes and projects we ran in the last financial year
(b) Impact assessment of CENFACS’ Programme of Building Forward Better Together to a Greener, Cleaner, Safer, Inclusive and Climate-Resilient Future
(c) Impact feedback about our XX236.3F Programme.
As said above, this Impact Assessment will be ex post. And the evaluation related to this exercise will aim to understand the extent to which and the way in which our projects and programmes corrected the problems of poverty and unsustainable development amongst our intended beneficiaries.
Let us briefly summarise the three levels of impact assessment to be conducted.
(a) Impact monitoring and evaluation of the programmes and projects we ran in the last financial year
As the title of impact indicates, it will be about putting together in the form of one piece of work all the results of monitoring and evaluation activities we have conducted for programmes and projects we ran in the last financial year.
(b) Impact assessment of CENFACS’ Process of Building Forward Better Together to a Greener, Cleaner, Safer, Inclusive and Climate-Resilient Future
We are going to seize the impact of “Build Forward Better Together to a Greener, Cleaner, Safer, Inclusive and Climate-Resilient Future” but within the context of Squeezed Household Spending. We shall look at the impact of the 2023-2024 process of Building Forward Better Together on our system of poverty reduction, particularly on CENFACS’ 2020s Poverty Reduction Tools and Programme, and Development Agenda (15).
(c) Impact feedback about our XX236.3F Programme
Like last year, this year’s All-in-One Impact Feedback and Assessment will be extended to include our XX236.3F programme as we are in the month of Monitoring and Evaluation.
XX236.3F is our 2020 to 2030 to 2063 Follow up Programme. We are following the implementation of the following:
∝ The International Climate Change Agreement (or the Paris Treaty)
∝ The Istanbul Declaration (the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women)
∝ The Maputo Protocol (the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa)
∝ The United Nations 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals
∝ Africa’s Agenda 2063.
The five of them make up our XX236.3F programme.
In brief, we shall conduct a follow-up and examination, look back and analyse data on the overall projects and programmes delivered during the above stated period, while keeping implementing our XX236.3F programme.
We shall soon publish the programmes and projects making this year’s Analytics and Impact. In meantime, for any enquiries about the Analytics Month 2024, please contact CENFACS.
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• References
(1) https://www.sopact.com/perspectives/five-dimensions-of-impact# (accessed in July 2023)
(2) https://www.britannica.com/topic/sovereignty (accessed in June 2024)
(3) https://www.oecd.org/sti/inno/what-is-impact-assessment-OECDImpact.pdf (accessed in July 2022)
(4) https://www.sopact.com/impact-reporting (accessed in July 2023)
(5) https://www.geog.ox.ac.uk/research/technologies/projects/monitoringandevaluation.html (accessed in July 2023)
(6) https://www.intrac.org/wpcms/up-content/uploads/2017/01/Monitoring.pdf (accessed in July 2023)
(7) https://www.betterevaluation.org/methods-approaches/themes/impact-evaluation (accessed in July 2023)
(8) https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/270485/assurance_frameworks_191212.pdf (accessed in July 2023)
(9) https://www.anngravells.com/information/iqa (accessed in July 2023)
(10) https://www.method123.com/initiation-phase-review.php (accessed in July 2023)
(11) https://www.dictionary.com/browse/analytics (accessed in July 2023)
(12) https://www.oracle.com/business-analytics/what-is-analytics/ (accessed in July 2024)
(13) https://www.bmc.com/blogs/data-analytics-vs-data-analysis/ (accessed in June 2024)
(14) https://www.intrac.org/upcms/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Monitoring-and-Evaluation-Series-Outcomes-Outputs-and-Impact-7.pdf (accessed in June 2024)
(15) cenfacs.org.uk/2020/03/11/the-2020s-agenda-and-programme/ (accessed in July 2024)
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• Help CENFACS Keep the Poverty Relief Work Going This Year
We do our work on a very small budget and on a voluntary basis. Making a donation will show us you value our work and support CENFACS’ work, which is currently offered as a free service.
One could also consider a recurring donation to CENFACS in the future.
Additionally, we would like to inform you that planned gifting is always an option for giving at CENFACS. Likewise, CENFACS accepts matching gifts from companies running a gift-matching programme.
Donate to support CENFACS!
FOR ONLY £1, YOU CAN SUPPORT CENFACS AND CENFACS’ NOBLE AND BEAUTIFUL CAUSES OF POVERTY REDUCTION.
JUST GO TO: Support Causes – (cenfacs.org.uk)
Thank you for visiting CENFACS website and reading this post.
Thank you as well to those who made or make comments about our weekly posts.
We look forward to receiving your regular visits and continuing support throughout 2024 and beyond.
With many thanks.
