Project Evaluation in Time of COVID-19

The coronavirus epidemic has sent businesses into survival mode. Having already led to hundreds of thousands of deaths, the pandemic represents one of the world’s worst public-health crisis in recent history. And, with cases still rising in many parts of the world, the pandemic is far from over. Much like every industry, research and evaluation services have been disrupted by restrictions of movement and lockdown of major economies across the world to curb the spread of COVID-19.  

As Nextier works closely with government agencies, academic institutions, policymakers, development partners, and not for profits groups, our work has been impacted by the situation. The organisation had had to make the tough decision of closing its office and halting field-related research to mitigate risks to team members, clients and the groups we work with.  Prior to the pandemic, three research projects had been signed off by clients. One of the projects was to evaluate the impact of the contribution of non-governmental actors to anti-corruption and addressing drivers of corruption in Nigeria. The good part was that the project was coming to an end, and most of the activities were completed. The challenge for us was how to collect data for the assessment.

Data rules today’s world. Sadly, in our part of the world, statistics speak so little in decision making and policy formulation. Most of government’s decisions are made without evidence. There seems to be no end in sight in the security threats facing Nigeria, yet government has no clear statistics of the number of people killed by the rising spate of violence in the country. Whenever such deaths occur, there is the usual rush to announce a false or incorrect number of deaths or casualties, with minimal interrogation of the immediate and remote causes of the situation. There is little data to measure progress in delivering the Sustainable development Goals (SDGs). Government anti-corruption efforts are driven without assessing approaches that can galvanise behavioural change and collective drive against corruption.  

Covid-19 has brought about stark and compelling realities. Despite its health and public challenges, coronavirus should not be a justification for non-evaluation of projects or programme. While the lockdown and social distancing have hampered the usual ways of generating or validating data- focus group discussions, face-to-face in-depth interviews, there are alternative ways to collect data during this period. For instance, we have had to rely on a very familiar trend;  desk research. The client had maintained flawless monitoring and documentation of activities and milestones, which provided information that enabled remote analysis and desk reviews. Phone interviews, text messaging, and emails to collaborate and triangulate information were also employed to support the secondary data. WhatsApp group calls provide helpful in relaying information and brainstorming solutions. Zoom has also been reliable and useful for some other projects we are working on at this time. These platforms are not without hitches, but they have proved efficient in generating data. 

Nations need reliable, up-to-date data to inform policy and decision-making, especially in times of crisis. We must take notice of current gaps and assess the impact of the public policies, especially as it relates to public health and security to determine the extent to which they have efficiently and effectively delivered their objectives. The formulation and implementation of public policies and discourse rooted in empirical data are what the nation needs at this time.