Hi! I’m Shubha Kumar, and I’m an associate professor of global health at the University of Southern California (USC) and a consultant passionate about impact measurement and management. Over the past couple of years, I’ve been working with my colleagues Sara Olsen and Aaron Mallett at SVT Group, an impact advisory firm, and Saji Prelis, Director, Children and Youth Programmes at Search for Common Ground and co-chair of the Global Coalition on Youth, Peace & Security (YPS), to explore how we can measure the impact of peacebuilding programming and inform investments in this space.
Around the world, communities are faced with complex challenges and facilitating and sustaining peace remains of critical importance. At Evaluation 2023, our team shared findings from a proof-of-concept study (supported by USAID and conducted in collaboration with many partners) where we evaluated the impact of peacebuilding interventions using the social return on investment (SROI) methodology. In this study, we applied the SROI methodology to four youth-led and youth-supporting peacebuilding programs implemented in Kenya, and did a further follow up study on the impact of these programs in the context of the national elections, which have historically been tense periods.
This study surveyed a range of stakeholders affected by the peacebuilding interventions including youth, women, security actors, the State, religious leaders, the private sector, program staff and more. These stakeholders experienced various outcomes, with increased networking and opportunities being one of the most important and longest-lasting outcomes for them. The study found a generally positive SROI across all the programs and that outcomes were even more highly valued by stakeholders in the tense context of the election.
Lessons Learned:
#1: SROI can add value over current evaluation approaches.
SROI methodology (as outlined by Social Value International):
- Directly engages the voices of all key stakeholders and what matters most to them.
- Provides insights to avoid or mitigate harmful effects in the future.
- Examines sustainability.
- Elucidates value for money.
- Encourages decision-making based on value, not outputs (which do not reflect the whole picture, yet have often been the basis for many decisions in non-profit and international development organizations).
#2: SROI can facilitate localization.
As international aid and development organizations have outlined broader aims of local ownership and partnership, and inclusive development in design, approach and impact, this study shows that SROI can provide measurement and valuation authority to those who are actually experiencing programming, compared to how many traditional evaluations are done. In Social Value International’s methodology for SROI:
- Stakeholders define the outcomes they experience and the indicators for measurement.
- Stakeholders define the relative value of outcomes.
- Stakeholders define the overall impact and future priorities.
#3: SROI is increasingly being used by global health and development organizations.
When I started working with SROI over a decade ago, it was mostly being used by social enterprises and private sector organizations. Today, we see SROI being used by a much broader range of actors across various industries including United Nations agencies to country governments to international NGOs. While SROI is not a panacea and still faces its criticisms, it can be a valuable tool for evaluators and decision-makers interested in understanding, measuring, and improving their impacts.
Rad Resources
- How to Measure Impact Using Social Return on Investment (SROI): an introductory online course on SROI
- Social Value International: the leading global network and standard setter for social value analysis including SROI
- Social Return on Investment (SROI) in #Youth4Peace: website where you can learn more about the SROI study
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