FORMATIVE RESEARCH AND PROGRAM EVALUATION OF THE ETHIOPIA HOTSPOT

Grantee: London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is partnering with the Freedom Fund to inform and evaluate our hotspot designed to reduce unsafe migration amongst girls and young women going to the Middle East for domestic work. The evaluation will support targeting of interventions, assess progress, measure outputs and also assess likely outcomes of the hotspot activities. The School is partnering with Addis Ababa University for project implementation and research is facilitated by LSHTM staff currently based in Addis Ababa.

LSHTM is a world-leading centre for research and postgraduate education in public and global health and was named the world’s leading research-focused graduate school in the Times Higher Education World Rankings. Partnering with Addis Ababa University will facilitate on the ground research and support from local and national agencies.

The research will consist of formative work and a prospective qualitative programme evaluation.

1. Formative research study
The team conducted a rapid qualitative assessment to investigate the dynamics of Ethiopian young women’s migration to the Middle East for domestic labour. The research aimed to provide information on current patterns and decision-making processes and to produce findings that can strengthen the design and implementation of the Freedom Fund Hotspot program. Data collection consisted of in-depth interviews, key informant interviews and focus group discussions with returnee women and influential community members. The findings of the research are available in the report “They changed their lives for the better because they went to Arab countries” – Local perceptions of women’s overseas migration for domestic labour in Amhara region.

2. Provide technical support to selected partners
The team will work with a selection of partners to strengthen theories of change and M&E frameworks, and assist them in articulating their anticipated impact and the pathways they will follow towards achieving these changes.

3. Assess program acceptability, feasibility and fidelity to design, documenting effects on attitude, decision making and behaviour related to migration
Work will commence by selecting matched comparison sites to which intervention activities can be compared.

In-depth interviews will be carried out with key stakeholders in intervention and comparison sites. Participatory methods such as attitude ranking and scenario scoring will be used to assess attitude to migration, perception of alternative livelihood opportunities and risk awareness.

Data collection will be repeated in the final 6 months of the program in intervention and comparison sites

Qualitative research, primarily using in-depth interviews, will be used to explore sensitive issues around program acceptability to participants in intervention sites. Routine M&E data also collected will help to determine how interventions are perceived by participants, implementers and the wider community. These activities will take place over 18 months and the team will collaborate closely with our partners to understand barriers and facilitators to program delivery

4. Monitoring of wider context and recommendations for improvement
International and national events, local circumstances and environmental factors potentially influential to program delivery will be assessed. Recommendations for adaptation and improvement of programs to increase coverage, acceptability and effectiveness will be provided during the course of the project.

5. Reporting and dissemination
The final evaluation will highlight strengths and weaknesses of the program and consider potential for replication and/or expansion. Guidance on challenge mitigation and pre-existing conditions for successful intervention will be provided together with an examination of the potential for future research and subjecting the intervention to a trial design to assess the extent for future scale up. Results will also be disseminated via journal articles and wider media.