Women's Empowerment Impact Measurement Initiative (WEIMI)

What is WEIMI?

WEIMI was launched by CARE USA and from 2010 to 2012 provided technical support to select country offices (COs) to operationalize key women’s empowerment and gender-sensitive high-level indicators, in the context of their long term programs. The initiative was designed to build on CARE's Strategic Impact Inquiry (SII) and the P-shift efforts. The initiative worked with technical teams in 6 COs to support efforts to build coherent systems which link rigorous initiative-level monitoring and evaluation to impact measurement systems.

What is the WEIMI Guide?

The WEIMI Guide is a harvesting of the lessons learned and good practices of the WEIMI CO teams. A few important things to note about the content in the WEIMI Guide are:

• In view of the impact groups of the six WEIMI COs, the experience presented relates more to women than to girls.
• The guide only goes as far as the WEIMI COs progressed by the end of the initiative. Hence, the experience is richest in Parts I & II, while Parts III & IV draw more on external sources.
• The guide on its own is not sufficient to enable a CO to create their impact measurement system – it is simply a tool for COs to reference when creating an impact measurement system with the support of individuals with the expertise to fully support that process.
• The guide provides information on the approach that was taken by the COs as part of the WEIMI initiative and illustrates one of many ways to approach the development of an impact measurement system (i.e. it is not "the" guide to creating an impact measurement system for women's and/or girls' empowerment programs).

Who is the WEIMI Guide for?

The target audiences for this guide are:

• CO teams already engaged in similar work in women's and/or girls' empowerment or the promotion of gender transformation
• CO teams that are planning to develop similar programs
• Regional teams working with CO teams to build similar programs

 What you will find in the WEIMI Guide?

In the WEIMI Guide you will find the following information organized across four parts:

• Part I: Developing the Theory of Change: Here you will find the basics of a theory of change (TOC), key considerations for developing a TOC for a women's and/or girls' empowerment program and some tips on how to ensure the quality and robustness of your TOC. This section also includes 3 briefs that illustrate how different CO's approached the development of their LTP; guidance on how to conceptualize impact, sub-impact, target, and stakeholder groups; and how to define domains of change, pathways, assumptions and risks.
• Part II: Defining Measurement Elements of the Theory of Change: Here you will find ideas on how to conceptualize "impact", the challenges of measurement, areas to focus on for measurement, and key considerations of developing an impact measurement system in the context of women's and/or girls' empowerment programs. This section also includes 3 briefs that provide guidance on defining breakthroughs and indicators; developing hypotheses and monitoring trends, assumptions and risks; and reflection in action.
• Part III: Developing the Impact Measurement Strategy: Here you will find good practices for measuring your TOC. This section also includes 3 briefs that describe how to map initiatives to pathways; identify and select data sources and partners; and the planning and implementing of a impact measurement strategy.
• Part IV: Testing the Theory Change: Here you will find lessons from WEIMI COs on testing the TOC. This section also includes 1 brief that speaks to what it means to test your TOC; how to sequence the testing of your TOC; and guiding questions for validating your TOC.

How is the WEIMI Guide Organized?

The WEIMI Guide is organized like a roadmap consisting of 4 Parts with discrete Briefs within each as shown here:

You can enter into any Part or Brief within the WEIMI Guide by clicking on them.

Within each Part you will find the following types of content:

• Guidance briefs for program development, drawing from Country Office lessons, dos and don'ts, and how to plan the process more efficiently
• Specific cases and testimonies on their experiences and comparative outputs from WEIMI COs
• Tools and exercises used by Country Offices in program development
• External documents and resources that are particularly helpful

Content adapted from: Picard, M. and Gillingham, S. (2012) Women's Empowerment Impact Measurement Initiative Guidance