Cambodia Impact Report: The World Citizens Panel

Overview

The “World Citizens Panel” (WCP) was established by Oxfam Novib to measure the impact of its programmes among people living in poverty and injustice. The approach combines quantitative research (impact surveys) with qualitative research (stories of change) and gives participants a voice in evaluation, and the opportunity to learn how programmes can be improved and to contribute to public debate on the effectiveness of development cooperation.

This impact study of the programme in Cambodia was carried out in 2014. The study included a broad set of indicators, covering major dimensions of poverty and injustice. Data collected by partners with the help of a smart phone app was transferred into a central data base, managed and analysed by the Oxfam Novib World Citizens Panel team.

This report describes the process and presents the major findings of the analysis which include:

• the positive impact on livelihoods (particularly on increased income levels and value of assets) but not on food security;
• significant improvements in disaster preparedness;
• access to information is very varied;
• increased participation in social organisations and collective action against injustice, and influence on decision making processes;
• violence against women is a problem, but is decreasing as both awareness and reporting of the issue is increasing;
• wider possibilities for women to be politically active and take leadership roles;
• increased space for civil society organisations;
• larger number of land concessions granted to external investors

The programme carried out a total of 3,650 interviews: the major activities of respondents were sustainable livelihoods (32%), gender (32%), education (28%) and health (28%).

The Annex document contains the full text of the questionnaire used in the survey.