Projects & Case Studies

No Evidence Baseline for Girls' Education in Crisis Zones

ADRO required a rigorous evidence baseline for the Girls' Education and Retention Support Initiative (GERSI) targeting girls at acute risk of school dropout across conflict-affected and drought-impacted areas of South Central Somalia. Without a credible baseline, programme design, donor compliance, and eventual impact measurement were all at risk.

Mixed-Methods Survey Across 8 Geographically Dispersed Districts

• Quantitative household surveys using structured questionnaires in all 8 districts
• School-level data collection, enrolment analysis, and teacher interviews
• Qualitative FGDs with community members, parents, and girls' networks
• Key informant interviews with district education officers and local leaders
• Locally recruited enumerators for contextual fluency and field access

Four-Phase Deliverable Package Completed On Schedule

• Inception Report (Day 5) — finalised methodology and data tools
• Draft Baseline Report (Day 20) — initial findings and analysis
• Stakeholder Validation Workshop (Day 30) — findings presented to ADRO and partners
• Final Baseline Report (Day 45) — complete analysis with recommendations and annexes

Evidence Foundation for a 3-Year Girls' Education Initiative

The baseline established statistical benchmarks for girl-to-school ratios, causal factors behind dropout, community safety perceptions, and barriers to girls' retention. These findings now anchor ADRO's programme design, target-setting, and donor reporting for a 3-year education initiative across Jubaland, South West State, Galmudug, and Hirshabelle.

Independent Verification Required Across Multi-State Education Programme

SOS Children's Villages required independent, credible third-party verification of their "Educate Project" — a complex multi-state programme improving education access and quality. Donor compliance demanded a partner with genuine field access across all five Federal Member States simultaneously and the institutional credibility to produce defensible verification reports.

Concurrent Multi-State Verification Using Mixed Methods

• Document review and KPI audit against programme targets
• Direct school observation visits in Banadir, SWS, Galmudug, Hirshabelle, Jubaland
• Structured interviews with teachers, students, and school administrators
• Community FGDs and parent consultations at school level
• Triangulation of SOS-reported data against independently collected field evidence
• Concurrent state deployment for temporal consistency

Detailed Verification Reports with Evidence-Based Findings

• Enrolment and attendance data verification against reported figures
• Learning outcomes and teacher performance assessments
• School infrastructure and resource availability audit
• Community satisfaction and AAP mechanism effectiveness
• Variance analysis: reported vs. independently verified programme metrics
• Forward-looking risk flags and programme adaptation recommendations

Verified Programme Data Enabling Full Donor Confidence

MARCO's independent TPM data enabled SOS Children's Villages to report with full confidence to institutional donors. Verified enrolment metrics across all five states demonstrated targets met or exceeded. MARCO's findings contributed to evidence-based programme adaptation, improving reach and quality metrics in subsequent project cycles.

Independent Accountability Required for Worst Drought in 40 Years

Following the most severe drought across the Horn of Africa in four decades, UNICEF activated Level 3 (Ethiopia) and Level 2 (Kenya, Somalia) emergency responses. An independent evaluation was required to assess UNICEF's humanitarian response against standard evaluation criteria — providing accountability to donors and generating evidence to improve future emergency protocols.

Cross-Border Mixed-Methods Evaluation with OECD-DAC Framework

• Review of 100+ programme documents, donor reports, and SitReps
• Field visits across drought-affected regions in all three countries
• 60+ Key informant interviews: UNICEF, government, UN peers, communities
• OECD-DAC criteria applied: relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, sustainability
• Real-time response monitoring frameworks for concurrent multi-country analysis

Comprehensive Multi-Country Evaluation Report

• Cash-based intervention effectiveness across three country contexts
• WASH and nutrition response quality, reach, and coverage analysis
• Humanitarian coordination and government partnership assessment
• Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP) mechanisms review
• Supply chain and procurement performance under emergency conditions
• Specific recommendations structured by evaluation criterion and country

Evaluation Recommendations Adopted for Future Emergency Protocols

Evaluation findings directly informed UNICEF's emergency preparedness protocols for the Horn of Africa region. Key recommendations on cash-based interventions and community-level early warning systems were adopted in subsequent emergency response planning. The evaluation contributed peer-reviewed evidence to global learning on L2/L3 emergency activation and response coordination.