Document 905 Program Logical Framework

905 – Program Logical Framework 09/01/2014

Instructions for Framework Preparation

Document 905 – Program Logical Framework

Instructions for FrameworkPreparation

Please go to the EWB-USA website to make sure that you are using the most current version of this document.

The 905 – Program Logical Frameworkmust be completed as part of the submittal of the 901 – Program Plan and Baseline Study and should be revisited and updated as needed with each updated submittal of the 901B – Program Impact Monitoring Report. The 901 and 901B reports are submitted as appendices to the post-trip reports: 522, 526, 531 and 527.The review cycle followsmonthly submittal deadlines that are listed on our website (Member Pages – Project Process – Submittal Deadlines).

Introduction

The EWB-USA goal is that all members of our partner communities will enjoy an improved quality of life through being able to access, use, and maintain technologies that are appropriate to their needs. Our Theory of Change[1] provides a detailed explanation as to how we believe we can achieve this goal most effectively. All of our programs and projects are planned, monitored and evaluated in the context of our Theory of Change.

What is a program versusa project?

A program represents the overarching commitment between a chapter and a community to collaborate on community-driven projects. Within a program, chapters will often partner with the community to implement multiple projects which address the needs identified by the community.For example, a slow-sand water filter project followed by the construction of composting latrines are two separate projects within the same program aimed at improving sanitation in the community.

Essential elements of all programs and projects - Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (PMEL):

Good planning, monitoring and evaluation establishes clear links between past, present and future initiatives and development results. They help EWB-USA to better understand and account for the extent to which our efforts are going in the right direction, whether progress and success can be claimed, whether we are making the changes we hoped to make, and to learn how future efforts might be improved.

Planning provides a clear road map of what will be done within the program, including by whom and when, and what changes the program expects to achieve. The plan is based on a sound analysis of the context in the community and the needs expressed by the community. The plan for the program was completed with the submittal of the 901. Chapters are encouraged to use this same approach when planning individual projects within a program.

Monitoring is a system for collecting information which tracks what has been completed in a program or project.It is an on-going activity which should be documented through the submittals of the Project Monitoring sections of the post-trip reports, 522, 526 and 531 as the projectsprogress.

Evaluation measures the progress that a program or project has made, not only in completing activities, but also in achieving its objectives and overall goals. Typically, the evaluation is carried out at the end of a program, but can also be done at specific points within its lifetime (a midterm review, for example)as the project team determines it is appropriate. Information collected in the pre- and post-trip reports for a Monitoring and Evaluation trip, 530 and 531, will facilitate the evaluation phase for the program. A final review of the current status in the community before a chapter closes out their involvement with the program will be documented in the submitted 527 – Program Closeout Report.

Impact Assessment builds on all of these processes. It explores in greater depth the question of “so what?” What actually changed for the community over time? How significant are these changes? What exactly did our program and projectwork contribute to these changes? It facilitates organizational learning and informs how we will adapt our delivery model to better meet the needs of our partners.

When completing this Logical Framework, consider your planned work with this community from a program perspective, not an individual project. Each program within EWB-USA is unique. The individual program teams are the most familiar with their partners in the community and the resources provided through the local partners in-country. EWB-USA relies on accurate reporting by the chapters to document the program plans, monitoring activities and initial evaluations of the work being done in the field. This Program Logical Framework tool is intended to help chapters gather important program data to allow the organization to track progress and adapt program delivery models to more effectively meet the needs of our partner communities. We also intend for this tool to be helpful for chapters in developing a clear set of tasks to accomplish in their work with individual communities. It is your chapter’s responsibility to clearly and thoroughly present your program information in the Program Logical Framework to facilitate effective future study of our organizational impact.

While it is not required for review at this time, this method of planning the program for effective ways to study our impact would be equally important and useful at the project level. EWB-USA HQ’s hope is that chapter teams will find this tool useful in all of their project planning phases as well as at the required program level.

If you have questions about completing this report, contact your project’s assigned Project Engineer (PE) at EWB-USA Headquarters.

1.0WHAT IS THE LOGICAL FRAMEWORK APPROACH

The approach enables the main elements of a program to be concisely summarized and brings structure and logic to the relationship between program purpose and intended inputs, planned activities, and expected results. If used with flexibility this approach to planning encourages creative thinking and promotes participatory engagement between all parties throughout the program life-cycle.

A Logical Framework (or ‘logframe’ for short) is a simple 4 x 4 matrix. The logframe is a tool for concisely describing the results of a program design process, as it summarizes in a standard format:

What the program is going to achieve
What activities will be carried out
What means/resources/inputs (human, technical, infrastructural, etc.) are required
What potential problems could affect the success of the program
How the progress and ultimate success of the program will be measured and verified

2.0HOW TO COMPLETE THE PROGRAM LOGICAL FRAMEWORK

For additional explanation on the application of the Logical Framework in program planning, see sections 3.0 through 7.0 below. This section provides instruction on completing the Program Logical Framework template.

Column 1: Program Summary

Overall Goal (the higher purpose of the work): Document what you ultimately hope will be achieved partially as a result of your work, but which your work alone will not be able to achieve. Program teams should be aware of other efforts being made to achieve the impact, so that they can make informed decisions about how to measure the contribution the EWB-USA program has had on the changes experienced in the community. For example, community members would like to experience fewer incidents of waterborne illness in the future.

Specific Objective (objective, outcome): In this cell, describe the specific purpose of the program. Consider what changes will result from the program, both directly and indirectly.There can only be one Objective for the program. The Objective should identify what will change and who will benefit. For example, cleaner drinking water and sanitation facilities exist in the community.

Expected Results (outputs):In this cell, describe what the program will produce and what good management of the program should be able to guarantee. Outputs are the specific, direct deliverables of the project work. These will provide the conditions necessary to achieve the Outcome.For example, water treatment infrastructure and improved latrines are implemented.

Activities (inputs): In this cell, describe how you will do the project work to support the program. Describe action components to show how you will produce the outputs. For example, materials are purchased, implementation agreements are signed, labor is negotiated, community beneficiaries are trained on operations and maintenance.

Column 2: Verifiable indicators

Include no more than three indicators for each level of the hierarchy so you can measure process (activities and results) and impact (objective and goal). Indicators are the basic building blocks of monitoring and evaluation. Indicators should only state what will be measured, i.e. they should not include elements of the baseline or target.

EWB-USA is developing a list of indicators for chapters to use on all project types. This document is 906 – Project Monitoring Indicators. Select indicators from the list in the 906 that will measure your specific project type and include these in the Logical Framework at the appropriate level in the hierarchy. If you would like to include an indicator that is not on the list, consult your assigned EWB-USA HQ Project Engineer.

Column 3: Means of verification

For each level in the hierarchy, describe the sources of information and methods used to verify each indicator identified in Column 2.

Column 4: Assumptions

By analyzing the assumptions about external factors that will affect your work, you:

test the logic of the program and whether your assumptions are realistic,
consider what might go wrong, due to factors outside your control, so you can take these risks into account,
provide your team with valid reasons for not achieving your objectives if needed,
think carefully about the social implications of the program and the risk of unintended impact of the work.

3.0LOGICAL FRAMEWORK AND EWB-USA IMPACT ASSESSMENT

In the EWB-USA program development process, the logframe should be incorporated at the onset of the first Assessment stage. It will be finalized during the Design stage and, once approved, should remain in active use throughout the Implementation stage. Continuous monitoring of logframe tasks can be done throughout the Implementation stage and after completion of the project work to ensure that tasks are being accomplished. A good quality logframe is also an essential tool for the Evaluation and Impact Assessment phases to be able to measure the overall impact the project work has had on the goals of the program.

Implementation and Monitoring

The logframe provides a distillation of the key information needed by team leads to ensure that projects are being implemented efficiently and results measured against clear targets. Throughout the project implementation phase, project teams should use the tools in the logframe to track progress against the stated objective and goal. If the analysis demonstrates that the program work is not contributing to the community goal, then adjustments can be made to the project activities.

Evaluation

A robust logframe with clear, well-defined Outcome and Outputs provides the PMEL Leads responsible for carrying out Program Impact Monitoring Reports and Final Evaluations with a strong framework for measuring what the program has delivered and what influence, direct and indirect, the team’s project work has had on reaching the partner community’s goal.

4.0DEVELOPING THE LOGICAL FRAMEWORK IN PLANNING PHASE

If a logframe is to work as a planning tool, there are several stages needed before drawing up the logframe itself. The input to a log frame should be a team effort, based on participatory work with the people who will be implementing the program work. This group will usually include partners and beneficiaries (the primary stakeholders). This ensures that as many as possible of those who will be involved in and/or benefiting from the program are part of the design process.

Whileyour community partners might not identify easily with the terminology of this approach, they will certainly be able to identify the local factors that are critical to program success, as well as the most appropriate indicators of progress. As long as the process is skillfully facilitated, participatory techniques can be used to inform the logframe planning process and the resulting Program Plan.

Stage / Activities / Who is Involved
During First Assessment Trip / Program Identification /

Interview key stakeholders
Start to analyze stakeholders

During First Assessment Trip, engage the local NGO/government partner to assist / Problem/Situation Analysis /

Interview focus groups
Facilitate participatory meetings
Analyze stakeholders, problems and objectives

During First Assessment Trip, engage the local NGO/government partner to assist / Visioning and Participatory Design /

Facilitate the participatory development of a shared program goal statement among stakeholder groups

Program Plan and Baseline Study Report, (document 901) / Program Planning /

Compile Logical Framework to reflect the participatory process
Check the logic in the framework

Program Plan and Baseline Study Report, (document 901) / Program Report /

Draw from the problem analysis and the Logical Framework to develop program reports

5.0CHECK: IS IT LOGICAL?

By constructing this hierarchy you test the logic of why you are doing what you are doing. Most importantly for monitoring and evaluation, developing a logframe forces the team to identify what you hope to achieve which can then be used as a measure of success and a means of questioning whether there might be other ways of achieving the same ends. Following the format of your logframe, check if the following is true:

IF we undertake the activities AND the assumptions

hold true, THEN we will create the outputs.

IF we deliver the outputs AND the assumptions hold

true, THEN we will achieve the outcome.

IF we achieve the outcome AND the assumptions

hold true, THEN we will contribute to the impact.

Example:

IF we design and provide resources for a water treatment system and assumptions about external factors hold true (e.g. we assume that the construction materials are of good quality that will last), THEN we will have implemented a clean source of drinking water in the community.

IF we have implemented a clean source of drinking water in the community and assumptions about external factors hold true (e.g. we assume that the trained technicians maintain the system), THEN we will have achieved our stated objective of improving water quality in the community.

IF we have improved water quality in the community and assumptions about external factors hold true (e.g. we assume that people will only use this source for drinking), THEN we will have contributed to the overall community goal of fewer incidents of waterborne illness in the future.

6.0POINTS TO REMEMBER

The logframe isn't intended to show every detail of the program, nor to limit the scope of the program.

While the process may be time-consuming initially, a logframe saves time at all other stages of the program cycle.
If a participatory approach is used with all key stakeholders, this approach is a tool which lends itself to flexibility, transparency and the building of responsive and responsible relationships between all participants in the partnership. Sensitivity to group process coupled with an in-depth knowledge of planning practice is the key to success of this method. Work with your local NGO/government partners for assistance with engaging people in community meetings.
The logframe can be changed to reflect changes on the ground, in consultation with everyone involved.

7.0FURTHER READING

There are extensive resources on this topic on-line. Much of the information in this 905 – Program Logical Framework Instructions document came from the following resource:

The Logical Framework Approach: How To Guide, Jensen, G., BOND For International Development, February 2013

Link:

(Last accessed: September, 2013)

[1]See Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Program on