Theory of Change
The DESIP Theory of Change (ToC) was backed by strong evidence as outlined in the Project Business Case of 2019. The ToC was also based upon experience in other countries as well as direct experience with other FCDO (former DFID) programmes. The key shift was emphasis on equity and sustainability through strengthening the public sector and targeted support to the private sector.
The ToC assumed that an increased availability of and demand for family planning will result in increased use of family planning services. The underlying assumptions of the ToC were that building the capacity of the public sector and expanding private provider networks will increase access to quality family planning services for poorer and younger women and in traditionally under-served counties; and that targeted demand creation, community awareness raising and sensitization using tried and tested strategies would increase demand and community support for family planning, including in counties where social and cultural norms are currently less supportive.
The ToC had a corresponding Log frame which included three impact indicators, six outcome indicators, and five outputs with 19 output indicators. In February 2022, a ToC and Log frame review workshop was organized with the aim to revise the original DESIP ToC and Log frame according to programmatic insights at that time and budget changes to support cost effective interventions and timely monitoring of outputs and outcomes. At this stage, the ToC was reorganized at the input/output-level to – as a first step – start with demand-creation interventions/increased awareness and acceptance, and then availability and quality of FP services were teased apart to be included as two different outputs (with matching inputs). The private sector component was integrated as part of the overall outputs (covering both public and private sector). At the level of outcome, the description was simplified, and impact level was divided in different components and levels or organization. The rationale for intervention and assumptions stayed the same. After the Feb/March 2022 workshop, the ToC was not been further adapted. The figures below shows a comparison between the initial (2019) and the revised versions (2022) of the ToC.
