Social Impact Assessment of children’s protection programmes in Kyrgyzstan

Location Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

Duration 2019 – 2020

Client SOS Children’s Villages Kyrgyzstan

Context

SOS Children’s Village International is an international organization that brings together 118 national associations active in more than 200 programmes worldwide. Each of the Associations works to ensure that every child has a family within he can grow surrounded by love, respect and safety.

Objectives of the organization are implemented through long-term family care (FLC) programmes carried out within a cluster of SOS families in which SOS parents take care of a small group of children. The organization also proposes family strengthening programmes (FS) for fragile communities and families, in which the aim is to strengthen family ties and prevent child abandonment.

In Kyrgyzstan, the first Children’s Village was opened in 1996 in the capital Bishkek. Currently there are 11 SOS families, led by 11 SOS parents. The daily administration  of families are facilitated by a team of SOS aunts and the Child Development Team, while a specialized team of psychologists, educators and social workers offers them technical support. In 2015 the Kyrgyz Association also activated a Crisis Center and two short-term assistance programs. All beneficiaries are identified through Social Services, the main partner of SOS Children’s Village in the field of child protection.

General Objective

In order to constantly improve the quality of the programmes and the impact they generate within the communities in which they operate, SOS Children’s Village International has developed a complex assessment methodology to measure the results and impact of its work.

Evaluation takes place through Social Impact Assessments (SIAs) carried out within the Villages as part of a wider system of result-based management (RBM). The SIA focuses on the impact programmes have on the well-being of individuals and beneficiary communities. The evaluation takes also into account the extra financial value generated by the programme in relation to resources invested, a method also known as Social Return on Investment (SROI).

Our contribution

ARCO’s M&E and  Impact Evaluation Unit was selected to carry out the SIA of the SOS Children’s Village work in Kyrgyzstan, with particular regard to the FS and FLC programmes of the capital Bishkek, whose suburbs welcome many vulnerable families, often migrated from rural areas of the country.

To carry out the evaluation, ARCO Researchers use the methods and tools developed by SOS Children’s Village International, but thanks to the experience gained in the use of participatory methods with children, Researchers were able to integrate the tools with their peculiar EHD methodology.

The evaluation data will be collected by a team of local team of interviewers  who will provide two questionnaires to a representative sample of former beneficiaries of the programs. Interviewers will be trained by the Researchers on the purpose of the survey as well as on the means to carry it out: the use of the tablet with which they will submit the survey, the CAPI software, the good practices to follow to protect the privacy of the respondents, maintain the highest possible response rate and guarantee the quality of the data collected.

The questionnaires will allow to deepen the knowledge on the impact of SOS programmes taking into consideration 8 key dimensions of well-being:

  • Care (parenting care, parental duties, family relationships)
  • Food safety
  • Accommodation (conditions and housing stability)
  • Health
  • Education & skills (school attendance, performance, results, employability)
  • Livelihoods (resources and family income, employment)
  • Protection & social inclusion (legal identity, risks of abuse and exploitation, discrimination)
  • Social & emotional well-being (happiness, social relations, self-esteem)

Following the data collection, Researchers will personally interview beneficiaries and stakeholders of the project and will conduct a series of Structured Focus Groups Discussion with children  and their parents.

Read more on our M&E and Impact Evaluation Unit