A Framework for Social Development Assessment

Lindgren, Daniel; Budd, John

This chapter presents a new model of thinking for evaluating social development work. The social assessment framework put forward is based on TNS stakeholder management model, TRI*M, and focuses on the critical area of how aid and donor organizations can assess the effectiveness of social development programs. The Millennium Development Goals have opened up a two way street between donors and beneficiaries and has provided for a need to look at social development assessment from a new perspective. The reader is taken through a journey of how the model came about, challenges faced during the process, and a vision for how the model will be used in the future. The two basic components of the model, the Program Effectiveness Index and the TRI*M Grid for understanding program drivers, are explained. A case study covering the Tsunami relief effort in Aceh, where the model was used for the first time, is included as an example of how TNS was able to deliver insight and clear direction in an otherwise complex environment. A client perspective is also provided both in terms of needs assessment and actions taken by UNICEF as a result. The chapter concludes with a reflection of what the future holds and the opportunity to apply the framework in other countries as well as for different situations.