ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses not so much on the results of the evaluation, but on what was learnt about evaluating empowerment-based interventions. A Participatory Action Research (PAR) model was accepted as the most suitable framework for research activities. In addition to seeking active involvement of all stakeholder groups, the research design also included training and communications components. The management and research teams undertook a review of the analytical framework. Designing analytical frameworks for evaluations that anticipate empowerment-oriented outcomes will create stronger links between research activities, everyday subjective experiences and observable outcomes of social change. For community-based, empowerment-oriented projects, it is critical that an evaluation framework measures and describes how this broader, more political type of programme effectiveness occurs. Importantly, evaluation activities must incorporate tools and approaches through which narratives and other data can be appropriately read, interpreted and presented.
