Best practices for evaluating sport and play-based interventions with displaced youth

CanadianEvalua+onSocietyConferenceMay1st,2017

Dr.LauraLee,IICRDAssociate,Dr.PhilipCook,IICRDExecu+veDirector,LauraWright,RighttoPlay

OutlineA.  BackgroundB.  ProjectGoals,Objec+vesC.  MethodologyD.  Bestprac+cesforevalua+ngsportfor

protec+onofdisplacedyouth– Preliminaryresultsandrecommenda+ons

Background:Displacedyouthandsports

Precariousposi+on

• Youthfleeingviolentcontextsareinapar+cularlyprecariousposi+on-stressandanxietyofforceddisplacement,economicandsocialloss,violence,adjus+ngtoanewlivingsitua+on

Transi+onperiod

• Transi+oningfromchildhoodtoadulthood–naviga+ngsocietalexpecta+onsandfutureopportuni+es–educa+on/employment/familywithinhardshipcontext

Par+cularlyvulnerable

• Outofallthe‘personsofconcern’recognizedbyUNHCR,themajorityarebetweentheagesof15and24years(Evansetal.,2013a)

BenefitsofSport

• Sportsrecognizedtobringphysicalhealthandcontributetoposi+vesocialoutcomesamongdisplaced(UNHCR,IOC,&TDH,2016).

Background:Displacedyouthandsports•  ‘SportsforPeaceandDevelopment’field:

–  Focusonsupportforvulnerablegroupsworldwide–  Over2decades,hasburgeonedintoavastmovement,encompassing

numerousanddiverseorganiza+onsandtypesofini+a+vesglobally•  “Wecannotunderes2matetheimportantroleofsport…[but

mustrecognise]…thatthereneedstobesustainable,long-termsportsprogrammesbothincampsandurbanareaswhererefugeeslive”.(AscitedinUNHCRetal.,2016,p.2)–  Interna+onalOlympicCommifee(IOC)HonoraryPresidentJacques

Rogge,Secretary-GeneralsSpecialEnvoyforYouthRefugeesandSporttotheUnitedNa+ons

Background:Displacedyouthandsports

Background:Projecttodevelopglobalguidelinesonsportforprotec+onof

displacedyouth•  MainPartners:Terredeshommes,UNHCR,IOC•  Consulta+vegroup:UNICEF,RighttoPlay,FightforPeace,

PeacePlayersInterna+onal,MercyCorps,WarChild,BrockUniversity,SwissAcademyforDevelopment,UniversityofBern–  Recognizetheposi+vepoten+alofsportonprotec+onofyouth–  Acknowledgetheneedforaconsolidatedapproachandguidancefor

carryingoutsportinterven+onamongyouthinhumanitarianseingsincludingmorerigorousmonitoringandevalua2onprocesses.

–  Aredevelopingguidance/toolkitforconduc+ngsportswithdisplacedyouth,includingbestprac2cesinevalua2on.

ProjectGoalandObjec+vesProject goal: To develop a dedicated toolkit to support staff working in the field to practically design, implement, monitor and evaluate sports projects that aim to achieve protection outcomes to ensure concrete and measurable impacts. Objectives

a)  To identify /disseminate best practices b)  To produce operational guidance on how to design and how to

implement such projects c)  To provide dedicated monitoring and evaluation tools, and

guidance on how to measure protection outcomes reached through sports interventions

MethodologicalOverview

Triangula+on,analysis

consolida+onofresults

YouthSurvey

FieldWorkersSurvey

LiteratureReview Fieldvisits

(5countries)

KeyInformantInterviews

FieldVisitsCountry

Dates LeadAgency

Lebanon Jan31–Feb6 RighttoPlayLebanon

Jordan Feb7–Feb12 UNHCRRwanda March23-31 UNHCRColombia March16-23 UNHCRThailand May7-18 Various

FieldMethods§  1.In-personKeyInformant

Interviews§  2.Groupsessions:Par+cipant

Ac+onResearch§  Child-centeredreflec+vetools§  Quan+ta+ve/Qualita+vesportsorientedmonitoringandevalua+ontools

Thatdrawon:§  NewchildandyouthcentredapproachestoChildProtec+onM&E(IICRDCAPEGuide,OakFounda+on)

§  BuildingonIICRD/RTPcollabora+onindevelopingsports-focusedChildProtec+onM&Etools

Childcentredreflec+vetools

Developmentofsportsorientedmonitoringandevalua+ontools

International Institute for Child Rights and Development (IICRD)

www.iicrd.org iicrd@uvic.ca

Best practices for evaluating sport for protection of displaced youth

Preliminaryresultsandrecommenda+ons

Protec+onIssues•  Earlypregnancyandearlymarriage•  Foodinsecurityandpoornutri+on•  Lackofaccesstobasicneeds(food,shoes,clothing,play

spaces,equipment)•  Psychosocialwellbeing,includingsecondaryeffectsof

conflict–everydaylifechallenges•  Senseofsocialisola+on,hopelessness,heightenedaggression

•  Socialcohesion•  Drugabuseandalcohol•  Violence:SGBV,Domes+candInterpersonalviolence

(communalviolence/figh+ng),riskofrecruitment•  Unaccompaniedchildrenandyouth•  Lackeduca+onorschooldropouts

BenefitsofSport(accordingtochildrenandyouth)

Physical:• Improvesphysicalhealth;givesenergyinthebody;helpspreventdisease

Cogni6ve:

• Improvestofocusinschool

Psychological:

• Helpstoclearthemind;Bringspeacetothemind;helpstodistractfromthinkingaboutloss;bringshappiness;forgetproblemswhenplaying

Social:• Helpstodeveloppeacefulrela+onships;Makenewfriends(inandoutofthecampseing);preventssocialisola+on

Family:• Bringsthefamilyrespect(whentheywinorbringhomerewards);becomemorehelpfulandbehavebeferinthehome

ChallengesthatneedtobeaddressedforrobustprocessandoutcomeorientedM&E

tobeperformed:

§  Lackofsystema+cmonitoringandevalua+onandlackofrobustandpoorlydefinedoutcomes

§  Lackofmonitoringandevalua+onexper+seandlimitstoshort-termtechnicaltraining

Challengescont’d§  Lackofprogrammetheory

andthereforepoorlydefinedoutcomesthatlackprecision

§  LackofNGOstaffcon+nuity§  Lifleopen,honestdiscussion

ofM&Echallenges,opportuni+esandstrategies

§  Prac+calchallenges:accessibilityofcamps,disbursedurbanpopula+ons,verymobilepopula+ons

§  Sustainabilityinprogramsinprotracteddisplacementenvironments(at+mestherearepurposefulshorttermprojects)

Recommenda+onsforM&EofSportsforprotec+onprogramsfor

displacedyouth:•  Needtrusttobebuiltwiththetargetpopula+on

•  Considerpowerrela+onsandculturalfactors

•  Parentalengagement/consent

•  Considerafri+on(Whitleyetal.,2016).

Recommenda+onscont’d•  TheSocio-ecologicalmodelisrecommendedtoframeprogramdesignandM&Estrategy:–  Considera+onofcontextualfactorsintheplanningphaseofprogrammes

–  Includeflexibilityintheprogrammemodeltomanageoutsideinfluences

–  Indicatorsshouldbeforvariouslevels:individual,community,organiza+onal

•  Shareexamplesofbestprac+ces,compila+onofsampletools–  i.e.Terredeshommes–evalua+onofpsychosocialoutcomes

–  i.e.RTPplay-basedM&Etools

ProgramPlanningCycleandthesocialenvironment

Individual

Family

Comm- unity

Society

Community

Assessment/

Forma+veEvalua+on

ProgramPlanning

Implementa+on/

Monitoring

Modifica+onsto

program,M&E

process

OutcomeEvalua+on

Recommenda+onscont’d•  Par+cipatorymodelandstakeholderengagement•  Youthengagement•  Wherepossible,formulateindicatorsthroughapar+cipatoryapproach

•  (withinbroaderorganiza+onalrestric+ons)

•  Mixquan+ta+veandqualita+veplay-basedmethods

•  EnsureM&Escheduleissimple,nottoocumbersome

Ethicalconsidera+ons•  ImportanceofprogramEvalua+onstandards•  Meaningfulstakeholderengagement(nottoken)•  Figure:MutuallyReinforcingRela+onshipBetweenCulturalCompetenceandStakeholderEngagement•  Source:Gill,Kuwahara,Wills(2016),p.5

NextSteps•  1morefieldvisittoconduct–Thailand(CBO,Endogenoussports)

•  Addi+onalKeyInformantInterviews•  Ongoingcollabora+onwiththeSteeringCommifeeandConsulta+veGroup

•  Completeanalysis,synthesizeforfinalguidelines•  Developdissemina+onstrategiesNextphaseofproject:Pilotguidelines,includingM&Estrategies

ThankYou!FeedbackwelcomedJlaura.lee@iicrd.org

AcknowledgementsSupportandpartnershipfrom:•  Terredeshommes•  UNHCR•  Interna+onalOlympicCommifee•  Consulta+vegroup:UNICEF,RighttoPlay,FightforPeace,Peace

PlayersInterna+onal,MercyCorps,WarChild,BrockUniversity,SwissAcademyforDevelopment,UniversityofBern

•  Thechildrenandyouthwhohavesharedtheirstoriesandperspec+ves

•  Coachesandstaff/fieldstaffworkingwithsportsprogram

International Institute for Child Rights and Development (IICRD)

www.iicrd.org iicrd@uvic.ca