Our theory of change places people at the heart of development processes and related outcomes.
Every organisation and every individual has assumptions about how change happens. We all believe certain things to be true. These can include our values, analytical perspectives, viewpoints, and practical experiences. In many ways, these assumptions are the theories in a Theory of Change. It is important to identify overarching assumptions at the beginning of the process – e.g. people are lifted out of poverty through economic empowerment, young people’s employment prospects are improved by developing their confidence and social skills. It’s also important to identify where these assumptions come from. Are they what people have seen work before, or in other organisations? Are they based on academic research? Are they hypotheses that are yet to be tested?
We have undertaken a study of all our programme participants from 2016 to 2019. The intention of the study is to learn about the journey of human development from the perspective of the participants. The study focuses on the following aspects of the journey.