Once your community knows what it wants to achieve – its outcomes – it needs be able to measure
how well it is progressing toward those outcomes.
A useful way to do this is by using indicators8. Indicators are measures or markers that give information
about whether you are progressing towards and/or achieving your outcomes over time.
•
Indicator: a specific metric used to measure the changes or progress your work is making towards
achieving a specific outcome. There should be at least one indicator for each outcome.
Indicators can be quantitative or qualitative.
•
Qualitative indicators: typically expressed in words (e.g. statements, paragraphs, stories, case
studies and quotations).
•
Quantitative indicators: typically expressed in numbers (e.g. units, prices, proportions,
percentages, rates of change and ratios).
For example:
Type of indicator
Example
Qualitative indicator
Reports from Vanuanui community members about their access to
clean water
Quantitative indicator
Tests of the streams that flow into Vanuanui to ascertain the levels
and types of pollution (E.Coli, silt and other debris) in the water
8. More information about developing indicators can be found in the APF Guide Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning: A Guide for National
Human Rights Institutions available at https://www.asiapacificforum.net/resources/monitoring-evaluation-accountability-and-learning-guide-nationalhuman-rights-institutions/.
APF HRCLD Guide
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