Using Participatory Video Evaluation (PVE) to increase community engagement and empowerment in the communities of Ndaleta (Tanzania) and Bitilinyu (Malawi) by Miki Tsukamoto

Hello! My name is Miki Tsukamoto and I am a Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).

What if video could be used as the “spark” to increase the engagement and interest of communities in your programmes?

Recently, I had an opportunity to be part of a PVE team for the Global Framework for Climate Service’s programme which aimed to deliver and apply “…salient, credible and actionable climate services towards improved health and food security in Malawi and Tanzania.” To ensure better use and acceptance of this PVE for future programming, IFRC piloted the Most Significant Change technique[1](MSC), using the OECD/DAC criteria of relevance/appropriateness, effectiveness, coverage, sustainability and impact as themes for group discussions. Here are some of the lessons learnt:

Lessons learned:

Rad Resources: PVE videos were made at the community level, the country level and the multi-regional level.

Country level PVEs:

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSXj0IllfvQ&index=3&list=PLrI6tpZ6pQmQZsKuQl6n4ELEdiVqHGFw2)

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFWCOyIb9mU&index=4&list=PLrI6tpZ6pQmQZsKuQl6n4ELEdiVqHGFw2)

Multi-country PVE:

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzbcIZbQYbs&index=2&list=PLrI6tpZ6pQmQZsKuQl6n4ELEdiVqHGFw2)

A Red Cross Red Crescent Guide to Community Engagement and Accountability (CEA)

Guide to the “Most Significant Change” Technique by Rick Davies and Jess Dart

[1] http://www.mande.co.uk/docs/MSCGuide.pdf

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3 thoughts on “Using Participatory Video Evaluation (PVE) to increase community engagement and empowerment in the communities of Ndaleta (Tanzania) and Bitilinyu (Malawi) by Miki Tsukamoto”

  1. Christy Willett

    Miki,
    My name is Christy Willett and I’m a Master of Education student at Queen’s University in Canada.

    I really enjoyed both of your posts regarding the use of video in evaluation. As an English teacher I am a strong believer in the power of storytelling. The stories shared not only show the impact of your program but also gives voice to the users of your program, a voice that is often silent.

    Regarding this particular blog, I’m wondering if there were any negative responses/stories? Have you found that this process also highlights the problems or limitations of a program or do you find that participants only choose to share the ‘good stories’? What can evaluators do to make sure that participants feel comfortable to express their less positive experiences?

    Thanks for including the “Guide to Significant Change”; it is a very user-friendly resource! I notice that it does recognize the potential for ‘bias towards stories of success’ and I am curious about how you overcome this bias. Is this why you chose to use the 2nd most voted MSC story?
    Your lessons learned, conveniently presented in table format, were very powerful.

    I also really enjoyed your earlier post from May of 2014 where you discuss the use of video to capture baseline surveys. In the video it mentions that there would be a new video made in 2017 to show the impact of the program. I’m very interested in seeing that video! Is there somewhere that I can access it?

    Once again your 3 lessons learned, regarding gatekeepers, interpreters and community buy-in were simple but important, thank you!

    Christy Willett

    1. Miki Tsukamoto

      Hi Christy,

      Thank you for your comment. To answer your question, in the case of these videos, there were recommendations made for improvement by the communities as well as by the IFRC representatives. In the communities we visited,I really did not feel that the communities were only trying to share their good stories. There was no “shyness” or “hesitation” from the community in telling their story. On the contrary we felt that through the PVE process, there was a lot of open sharing amongst the groups. I think it is really important to build the trust with the community you are working with and to make them feel that you are not just collecting data from them for a project, but that you are actually there and interested to listen to what they want to share. The PVE process really helped facilitate this and served as a good tool for engagement.

      Yes that is right, we tried to mitigate the bias by using the 2nd most voted MSC story. We felt that many of these stories were important and wanted to as much as possible make all these voices heard.

      In regards to the video baseline survey in Uganda, for various reasons, it was unfortunately not possible for the team to return to the country/project to carry out a video endline survey.

      Thank you so much for your interest and comments!

      Best,

      Miki

  2. http://aea365.org/blog/category/collaborative-participatory-and-empowerment-evaluation/
    Hi Miki Tsukamoto,

    I really enjoyed reading your post on your work in the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent. The question you posed seemed really relevant as we continue to move into an increasingly techno-centric society. Taking advantage of the multi-mediums out there provide amazing opportunities to engage with communities in new and exciting ways. And as you pointed out, doing this in a credible and actionable way is the challenging part.

    Your chart where you unpacked the lessons learned was really insightful to me. Components like “trust” and “thinking locally” are sometimes assumptions I make when doing work in the communities I work with –which mainly involved engaging students –but as you pointed out, this is more involving of community members than I would think. Having them understand different aspects of the work, as well as feeling comfortable and accepting of your initiatives, would require more intention on the programmer’s side.

    I also appreciate how you highlighted the impact powerful stories can have. In the international climate of today, knowing that your work stands for something positive and/or motivating for those your are trying to impact can go a long way. It also seems like a great way to involved your audience directly, and evaluate some of your desired outcomes directly.
    Thank you for sharing the link on the “Most Significant Change” technique by Rick Davies and Jess Dart too!

    I took a look at some of the videos your organization has produced for your “Lessons on Climate Change” initiative –they look amazing so far (:

    Kind regards,
    Sheryl Nauth

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