MASAI participated in the evaluation of the Cordillera Women’s Education, Action and Resource Center (CWEARC), a Baguio-based non-government organization (NGO) that implements a food sovereignty and empowerment program in Benguet, Mt. Province, Kalinga, Apayao and Ifugao provinces. The evaluation which was completed in May 2011 examined Phase Six and Phase Seven of CWEARC’s program, which covered the period from January 2006 up to February 2011.
This was among the first instances when CWEARC’s donor agency, EED organized an evaluation team with a local (MASAI) and foreign evaluator. This experimental set-up seeks to provide an opportunity for sharing of experiences and expertise between two evaluators. In this case, the sharing was between an evaluator and an evaluating organization, MASAI.
The evaluation team implemented a participatory and empowering approach which saw the conduct of 11 focus group discussions with community members and 16 interviews with key informants including the program staff, network and board members. MASAI’s co-evaluator is Ms. Louise Coventry, an Australian management consultant who is based in Cambodia.
CWEARC then implemented one of the key evaluation recommendations, the conduct of a logical framework planning which was facilitated by MASAI. CWEARC also incorporated the other evaluation recommendations in its three-year proposal.
In this continuing partnership, MASAI and its co-evaluator, Ms. Coventry also provided inputs to CWEARC on how to engage in creative resource generation and fundraising.
