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Performance Indicators:

Readers’ Digest

Edition

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Performance indicator: definition

A measure of a situation to detect any change.

A feature or characteristic used to measure whether, and/or the extent to which, a stated result has been achieved.

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Performance indicator: concept

- establishing the baseline (to determine the situation at the beginning of the planning period)

- setting a target (commitment)

- measuring achievement (actual result)

Using indicators to support program management involves:

The baseline, target and achievement are values of the indicator at different times.

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How many indicators?

The fewer indicators per stated result the better

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• Validity: The measurement captures what it is . supposed to measure

Indicators: technical qualities

Sound indicators have the following qualities:

• Sensitivity: The measurement can detect the extent and direction of the change during the . required timeframe

• Reliability: The measurement is consistent and comparable across time and place

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Indicators: practical qualities

Simple: consensus on meaning, easy to interpret, to assess and to use

Practical: timely data collection, at reasonable cost

Useful: for decision-making, and learning for better planning and implementation

The chosen indicator(s) should be:

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Indicators: Essential Traits

• CREAM: Clear, Relevant, Economical, Adequate, Monitorable

• QQTP: Quantity, Quality, Time, and Place or Population

• DOPA: Direct (closely related to the intended change), Objective (operationalized and unambiguous), Practical (reasonable cost combined with high utility), and Adequate (no more or less than what’s necessary to measure intended change)

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In summary, good indicators are…

• Relevant to the stated result

• Reliable signals that convey information about real changes

• Objectively verifiable and not just subjective in their nature

• Measurable with reasonable cost and effort

• Helpful to managers:– in assessing whether the program is successful in

achieving results– in improving the program

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MDG Indicators #1-- Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

Target 1: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than one dollar a day

1. Proportion of population below $1 (PPP) per day

2. Poverty gap ratio [incidence x depth of poverty]

3. Share of poorest quintile in national consumption

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MDG Indicators #1-- Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

Target 2: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger

4. Prevalence of underweight children under-five years of age

5. Proportion of population below minimum level of dietary energy consumption

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MDG Indicators #2-- Achieve universal primary education

Target 3: Ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling

6. Net enrolment ratio in primary education

7. Proportion of pupils starting grade 1 who reach grade 5

8. Literacy rate of 15-24 year-olds

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MDG Indicators #3-- Promote gender equality and empower women

Target 4: Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and in all levels of education no later than 2015

9. Ratios of girls to boys in primary, secondary and tertiary education

10. Ratio of literate women to men, 15-24 years old

11. Share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector

12. Proportion of seats held by women in national parliament

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MDG Indicators #4-- Reduce child mortality

Target 5: Reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate

13. Under-five mortality rate

14. Infant mortality rate

15. Proportion of 1 year-old children immunized against measles

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MDG Indicators #5--Improve maternal health

Target 6: Reduce by three-quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio

16. Maternal mortality ratio

17. Proportion of births attended by skilled health personnel

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MDG Indicators #6--Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases

Target 7: Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS

18.HIV prevalence among pregnant women aged 15-24 years

--19a. Condom use at last high-risk sex

--19b. Percentage of population aged 15-24 years with comprehensive correct knowledge of HIV/AIDS

--19c. Contraceptive prevalence rate

20. Ratio of school attendance of orphans to school attendance of non-orphans aged 10-14 years

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MDG Indicators #6--Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases

Target 8: Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases

21. Prevalence and death rates associated with malaria

22. Proportion of population in malaria-risk areas using effective malaria prevention and treatment measures

23. Prevalence and death rates associated with tuberculosis

24. Proportion of tuberculosis cases detected and cured under directly observed treatment short course DOTS (Internationally recommended TB control strategy)

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MDG Indicators #7--Ensure environmental sustainability

Target 9: Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes and reverse the loss of environmental resources

25. Proportion of land area covered by forest

26. Ratio of area protected to maintain biological diversity to surface area

27. Energy use (kg oil equivalent) per $1 GDP (PPP)

28. Carbon dioxide emissions per capita and consumption of ozone-depleting CFCs (ODP tons)

29. Proportion of population using solid fuels

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MDG Indicators #7--Ensure environmental sustainability

Target 10: Halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation

30. Proportion of population with sustainable access to an improved water source, urban and rural

31. Proportion of population with access to improved sanitation, urban and rural

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MDG Indicators #7--Ensure environmental sustainability

Target 11: By 2020, to have achieved a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers

32. Proportion of households with access to secure tenure

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ImprovementImprovement

Measuring performance

IncomeIncome

Baseline Target

“Readings” on the same indicator“Readings” at

different times

Measurement at the end of

the period

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An approach for developing indicators:Step #1 (determine focus)

• Review MDG indicators• Determine feasibility of adapting an existing

indicator• If existing indicators are unsatisfactory,

determine what might be useful

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An approach for developing indicators:Step #2 (refine focus)

Qualitative Judgments or Perceptions:

• Congruence with• Presence of • Quality of• Extent of• Level of

Quantitative or Statistical Measures:

•Number of

•Frequency of

•% of

•Ratio of

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An approach for developing indicators:Step #3 (combine quantity & quality)

• Indicator: % of births attended• Add Quantity: % of births attended INCREASED

from 60% to 90%• Add Quality: Births attended by TRAINED health

personnel increased from 60% to 90%• Add Time: Births attended by trained personnel

increased from 60% to 90% by 2012• Add Place: Births attended by trained personnel

in X District increased from 60% to 90% by 2012

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Developing Indicators:good practices for Results Framework

• Discuss results and indicators in parallel

• Consult and get consensus among relevant staff regarding indicators

• Apply the selection principles and discard those indicators that do not have the required qualities

ValidReliableSensitive

• Retain the best mix of indicators and keep alternatives in reserve (1or 2 indicators per stated result is sufficient)

• Check the relevance of indicators to the state result

Valid Simple Reliable Practical Sensitive Useful

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Result Indicator DataDescription

Datasources

Collectionmethods

Frequency Respon-sibility

Baseline& TargetBaseline

Target

Baseline

Target

Baseline

Target

Baseline

Target

Baseline

Target

RF performance measurement matrix

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Another View: Essential RF Indicator Information

• Definition of terms• Disaggregation• Baseline• Data collection

techniques• Associated

instrumentation or tools

• Data verification• Data analysis• Data reporting• Data use• Population • Data collectors• Frequency