Evaluating international advocacy networks

Two papers by Ricardo Wilson-Grau

Evaluating the Effects of International Advocacy Networks, Ricardo Wilson-Grau and Martha Nu. “This “think piece” will first sketch the special challenges of evaluating the effects of the advocacy work of international social change networks. I will then present the approach to evaluating advocacy that I use. This essay is an adaptation of my most recent writing on the broader subject of “Complexity and International Social Change Networks,” which is a chapter in a book by the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict.These networks almost by definition have an advocacy component, which often is their central activity. Furthermore, my belief is that to a greater or lesser extent, the challenges and the general evaluation methodology I outline in this essay are applicable to almost all social change organisations. I leave that judgement, however, to the reader. ”

This is a paper presented at the Advocacy Impact Evaluation Workshop at the Evans School for Public Affairs, University of Washington, 4-6 December 2007, Seattle, WA, USA, sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. A Spanish version “Evaluación de las redes internacionales de cambio social – Efectos y desafíos de las redes internacionales de incidencia” was published by Futuros 21: http://www.futuros21.infodetalle_articulo.asp?id_articulo=55

Evaluating International Social Change Network: A conceptual framework for a participatory approach”: Ricardo Wilson-Grau, 2007. “International networks for social change are growing in number and infuence.While they need to be able to assess the extent to which they achieve their purpose and determine ways in which to be more effective, conventional evaluation methods are not designed for such complex organisational forms, or for the diverse kinds of activity to which they are characteristically dedicated. Building on an earlier version of their paper, the authors present a set of principles and participatory approaches that are more appropriate to the task of evaluating such networks.”

Published in Development in Practice, Volume 17, Number 2, April 2007

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