3. Use of mobile phones and evaluation in the contexts of fragility, conflict and violence (IDEAS)

Date:

Friday 29th March, 12:30 to 14:00

Speakers:

Mr Hur Hassnain – International Development Evaluation Association (IDEAS), Board member and Chair of the EvalFCV Thematic Interest Group (TIG) on evaluation in the contexts of Fragility, Conflict and Violence

Mr Hassnain is a design, monitoring and evaluation, accountability and learning expert. He has 15 years of experience working in and on fragile and conflict-affected states and is the Founder of the Pakistan Evaluation Association. He has lived and worked in Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Jordan, Myanmar, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, Thailand and Uganda. Hur has designed, commissioned and conducted research and evaluations for UN agencies, European Commission, private donors and governments of the UK, Canada, Switzerland, Netherlands and Norway.

Description

In fragility and conflict, ICTs can offer creative solutions to compensate for the lack of face-to-face interactions e.g., carrying out surveys from a distance using appropriate technology but it also carries new risks. During the first part of this conference the speaker will present his experience of gathering, analyzing and disseminating evaluative evidence generated by using mobile phones and tablets in some of the worst conflict-affected countries. The speaker will discuss examples of child and youth led data collection, analysis and closing the feedback and evaluation learning loop with the help of tablets or mobile phone technology. In his presentation, Hur will talk about both the pros and cons of using technology in volatile contexts including risks such as, increased attention, sensitive data getting in wrong hands, sharing of GPS locations etc. and the steps needed to avoid any unwanted interruptions.

During the second part he will present the work of the EvalFCV launched by IDEAS. This Thematic Interest Group aims to promote evaluation in contexts of fragility, conflict and violence (FCV). Specifically, it will consider new and innovative methods, approaches and tools that lend themselves to challenges faced by evaluations in situations that are fluid, complex and volatile.  

Introduction: Mr Franco Conzato - DEVCO, Deputy Head of Unit ‘Evaluation and Results’

You can watch the video recording of the conference here: