Boxed Text: The Presentations
Box 4: Helzi
Noponen, Activists
for Social Alternatives (ASA)
The Internal
Learning System (ILS) is a tool for ongoing participatory impact
assessment which seeks to contribute to learning on the part of
the organization’s staff and clients, strengthening relationships
among stakeholders, improving participant understanding and analysis
skills, and informing advocacy efforts. The system is made up
of a series of picture diaries filled out by people at various
levels within the institution including members, groups, staff
and branch level. Each diary is used to collect information on
a diverse array of indicators.
All levels
participate in the same five core tasks: 1) collecting information,
2) assessing change in the information over time, 3) analyzing
causes of change or troubleshooting, 4) planning or making decisions
based on this learning, and 5) sharing their results with others.
In this way, the findings are linked to a user-driven planning
and training process, which encourages appropriate programmatic
and client-level responses to the results of the assessment. The
ILS process focuses on understanding what is working and what
is not working, for who and why at all levels.
ILS was developed
in India over a number of years and has been successfully field-tested
with five NGOs there. NGO staff members have used resulting impact
and process information to improve programme operations through
accurate needs assessment, better monitoring, and product innovation.
For example, in one NGO, women were repeatedly recording diversion
of their business loan to consumption use in their diaries, specifically
for the purchase of school supplies and uniforms. The group’s
planning solution was to create a special savings instrument for
members with school-age children that would be cashed in at the
beginning of the school term.
The diaries
have become tools that have helped women satisfy practical as
well as strategic needs. In Kerala, women began to carry their
diaries to community meetings, showing them to local officials
to prove their eligibility for government services and grants.
Using the diaries, women successfully lobbied for electricity
connections, livestock, weaving looms, and cement houses. The
use of ILS diaries has had a strong catalytic effect in increasing
women’s confidence and motivation to improve their situation.
In the same Kerala NGO, there has been a marked decrease in the
incidence of domestic violence and male addictions and non-support
for members using ILS, as women began to discuss and act around
the common problems recorded in their diaries.
Ms. Noponen warns that organizations should not attempt to undertake ILS unless they enjoy a culture that welcomes open discussion of shortcomings and challenges. If the organization is more interested in proving programme impact than improving operations, ILS is likely to waste both its time and resources. One of the advantages of ILS is that organizations that have carefully analyzed their capacities can tailor the system to their needs as they grow and change.
For more information on the Internal learning System, download this pdf file.
