Learning from Nine Examples of Peacebuilding Evaluation

Evaluation Strategy
At the start of their evaluation planning, GPPAC acknowledged that as a network
of networks, impact is the product of a confluence of factors and is
therefore diffuse and often hard to trace. As a result, GPPAC decided that
many traditional evaluation methods were not well suited to their work. Instead,
they chose a method termed Outcome Harvesting, a variation of the
Outcome Mapping approach developed by the International Development
Research Centre.
To focus the evaluation, GPPAC assessed one specific outcome: the change
in the behavior, relations, and actions of actors that GPPAC believed it had
influenced. The heart of the evaluation was an Outcome Harvesting process
that collected data from GPPAC members through the following set of
prompts:
• In a sentence, summarize the change in a given social actor. That is, which
social actor did what was new or different
• Describe who changed, what changed in their behavior, relationships,
activities, or actions, when, and where.
• Briefly explain why the outcome is important.
• How was the outcome a result—partially or totally, directly or indirectly,
intentionally or not—of GPPAC’s activities
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This data gathering process was combined with a set of review, substantiation,
analysis, and use support strategies.
Given that the evaluation looked at a full range of GPPAC programming, the
findings are too complex to summarize here. GPPAC did report on some topline
lessons, including: 1) the need to sow many seeds as not all activities
will create results; 2) causality can be partial, indirect, or unintended, but still
significant; and 3) outcomes harvested repeatedly can show both impact and
processes of change.
Considerations on the Methodology
Strengths
• Outcome Mapping has proven a useful methodology to investigate complex
change processes. For GPPAC, the methodology was appropriate since as a
complex network its impact is the product of interactions between networks,
members, and stakeholders. Thus, in an environment where establishing
causality and direct attribution was not possible given GPPAC resources, the
Outcome Mapping approach created a means for GPPAC to communicate its
contributions to its stakeholders and funders.