Rights-Based Social Justice Perspective and Implications for M&E
We have identified some rights-based social justice principles, based on the Cairo Consensus and the Millennium Development Goals, that guide how STEPS approaches program planning and M&E.
Rights-Based Social Justice Programming Principles
Contents:
Fulfillment of a rights-based social justice approach
- Recognizes that attention to socio-economic and cultural contexts is critical
- Understands that individual well-being, behavior and attitudes, are created in the context of larger economic and cultural forces and institutions
- Understands factors that influence people’s choices and behaviors to avoid blaming them for being subject to circumstances such as poverty, lack of access to education or poor nutrition.
- Recognizes that poverty and power relationships fundamentally shape people’s lives
- Takes seriously people’s belief systems
- Recognizes that people should have the opportunity to make autonomous decisions rather than others (the state, health care system, spouses) making decisions for them.
- Prioritizes informed choice and consent as a prerequisite for decision making in health care.
- Understands that structural factors, beyond any one individual’s control, are largely responsible for well-being, and that some groups dispproportionately suffer due to societal inequalities.
- Creates enabling environments and helps build organizational and individual capacity for people to fulfill their rights to health and well-being.
M&E assesses:
- The needs of people, not only demographic targets such as number of contraceptive users or “births averted”.
- Aspects of women’s and men’s ability to choose and have access to services they desire.
- The extent to which programs avoid violations of human rights.
- The extent to which the rights of participants, clients and focus population have been respected.
- Degree to which program content promotes respect for rights and encourages mechanisms that guarantee rights are respected.
M&E must:
- avoid violations of people’s rights (give participants the choice, no mandatory participation in evaluation)
Access to comprehensive and holistic sexual and reproductive health care
- Integrates fertility control, STI/HIV prevention, care and treatment, sexuality education, safe abortion and post-abortion care services, pre-natal, obstetric and post-natal care.
- Addresses intimate partner violence.
- Includes referral systems and access to advanced care;
- Is concerned with quality of care.
- Addresses other social problems that create and affect people’s health.
M&E assesses:
- The extent that programs address social, economic, geographical and other obstacles to real access and ways to overcome them.
- The degree to which all focus populations have real access to the services and materials provided or intended through policies, laws, programs and services.
- Whether the services or programs address the entire range of SRHR needs of all groups in the focus population and/or ensure that people can find services elsewhere.
- Whether the quality of the services is acceptable to the intended population.
Gender equality, gender equity (including changes in women’s and men’s roles) and women’s empowerment
- Recognizes that women and men have the equal right to make free and voluntary choices regarding their SRHR;
- Facilitates changes in gender norms, roles, and power relations by recognizing the self-determination of girls and women and empowering them to make their own decisions;
- Recognizes that men are also affected by restrictive gender norms, and so programs need to help men and boys find more equitable ways to relate to females and to enjoy their sexual and reproductive health; and
- Ensures equal rights for women and men under the law.
M&E assesses:
- The extent to which programs, materials and/or policies lead to changes in gender power relations, roles and norms.
- Progress towards changing males’ and females’ ways of relating to each other especially in areas related to sexuality and reproduction.
- Elements of programs that address how the gender system in each country (and within subgroups) affects culture, policies, practices and attitudes.
- Unforeseen opposition or negative reactions to changes in the status quo that might constraint programs’ effectiveness.
- Participants’ perspectives, especially women and girls
Promotion of “life cycle” approach to healthy sexuality
- Focuses on young people and people beyond their reproductive years.
- Considers sexuality to be a natural and enjoyable part of life rather than as reason for reproduction or a cause of morbidity and mortality.
- Promotes age appropriate, scientifically accurate comprehensive sexuality education that is not fear-based.
- Respects all non-violent, non-coercive sexual choices and desires as natural and protected by the right to self-determination.
M&E assesses:
- Degree to which programs accept local sexual practices that are not coercive or cause harm to others.
- How well programs treat clients of different sexual orientations and who exhibit diverse sexual practices in respectful and non-prejudicial ways.
M&E should:
- Conduct evaluations sensitively and in ways that do not harm or stigmatize people due to their sexual orientation and/or practices.
Participation of women,men, youth and communities, and community based organizations
- Recognizes that community engagement improves service delivery and enables marginalized people to influence the kind of programs and services that are offered.
- Develops people-centered programs where users of the services decide what is most important to address in their communities.
- Strengthens support for grassroots community-based organizations.
- Fosters collaboration among organizations to advocate for positive change.
- Encourages partnerships across all sectors of society, involving a wide range of stakeholders in designing programs.
M&E assesses:
- The extent to which partnerships are forming and whether such partnerships are being successful.
- The extent that those being served have been actively and equitably involved in designing and evaluating the program.
- Whether mechanisms have been created and sustained that promote broad societal participation in the design and oversight of the work.
M&E should:
- Take into account the interests of a range of stakeholders.
Participation of, and particular attention to, marginalized and vulnerable populations
- Reaches out to people who are underserved due to social and political marginalization (for example, same-sex partners, single women, people who are geographically isolated, groups that are stigmatized and/or criminalized such as commercial sex workers, intravenous drug users, and men who have sex with men).
- Addresses the needs of potential beneficiaries who may have been overlooked in traditional programs or risk assessments, such as married adolescents or housewives.
M&E should:
- Assess the degree to which programs reach out to and actually serve the needs of marginalized populations.
- Make sure that the needs of marginalized and often stigmatized groups have been understood and addressed in ways that are acceptable to those populations.
- Measure the extent to which marginalized and vulnerable populations become less marginalized and vulnerable through efforts to empower them and to build greater acceptance of their needs.
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