Mine Risk Education - Evaluation of Effects in the East of Ethiopia

Assessing the impact of an education programme is a task which is as difficult as it is indispensable, especially in the field of action against landmines.
Ø Difficult, because education programmes are rich in their range of – often quite varied – activities, and affect large populations over vast areas. Moreover, the transmission of knowledge and changes in intention and behaviour are, by definition, notions which are hard to make visible. And finally the various assessment techniques which have already been used in the field of mine awareness are, for the most part, not scientifically proven and involve a host of shortcomings, to the point that the results are altogether debatable.
Ø Indispensable, inasmuch as the education teams need to have objective feedback on their programme’s impact, at once so as to be in a position to improve, or indeed “correct” it, and to respond to an ever more pressing demand on the part of partners and donors which could be summed up as follows: “What is your programme’s impact? –Prove it!”