The USAID system strengthening review

• In Event: Education system strengthening across Asia: a systematic review of USAID activities and critical discussion

Proposal

Building on the discussion in Presentation 2, this presentation will discuss the findings of the USAID System Strengthening Review. The Review utilizes three data sources to gather evidence: a desk review, online survey, and key informant interviews, conducted across the region and then also in three “deep-dive case study” countries of Nepal, the Philippines, and Cambodia. To help conceptualize and categorize the different facets of system strengthening consistently across the analysis, the research team created an Analysis Framework, which defines the facets of a strong system. The framework is adapted from Delivery Associates’ Delivery Capacity Review framework (Barber et. al, p. 6), which has been used to assess system capacity across the globe. The adapted framework defines a strong system as one that is capable of: 1) setting clear goals and reform strategies; 2) driving delivery of these goals by effectively using data, routines, and the power of relationships; and 3) creating an improvement culture, by building capacity, using education technology, and promoting equity and inclusion. The focus of the Review is therefore on the extent to which USAID-funded activities supported systems to strengthen their capacity to implement as defined in the framework, rather than the extent to which the activities supported systems to implement specific education interventions which can contribute to improved learning outcomes. Data are mapped and analyzed across the framework to draw conclusions.
The Review has thus far found that all USAID-funded activities had elements of system strengthening within their stated aims, but this was more explicit for some activities than others, with a trend toward a greater focus from 2015 onwards. Some activities have a coherent theory of change relating to system strengthening within their defined results frameworks, but there is no evidence of a robust or shared basis for measuring whether systems were being strengthened. Except in a few cases, activity documentation did not clearly articulate the “journey” of system strengthening – the phased process through which the system would increasingly self-lead and become less dependent on external support.
The Review found that while activities tended to rate positively in terms of their effectiveness in system strengthening, there was mixed optimism about the extent to which governments have the capacity and will to independently drive these efforts. In a few cases, activities played a major role in shaping national government policies, or were integrated into national policies. But the extent to which activities had built governments’ capacity to use data effectively to identify and solve problems is less clear. The final report (to be completed September 2022) will build on these interim findings, using more detailed mixed-methods analysis at the Activity and country level, and additional evidence gathered through the three deep-dive case studies. It will present detailed findings across all research questions and generate a “heat map” of data against the Analysis Framework. Interpretations will be drawn from the full dataset and discussed in depth in the panel presentation.

Author

• Richard Eyre, Delivery Associates