Section 1.5. Moving from outputs-thinking to outcomes-thinking Effective monitoring, evaluation, accountability, and learning requires your NHRI to shift from outputs-thinking to outcomes-thinking. Outputs-thinking focuses on what your NHRI has done but does not say whether the activities of your NHRI have made any difference to the fulfilment of human rights (your outcomes). Outcomes-thinking focuses on what your NHRI has achieved and explains the resulting changes from your NHRI’s activities and interventions. CASE STUDY: THE OFFICE OF THE OMBUDSMAN/NHRI SAMOA MOVES FROM OUTPUTS TO OUTCOMES-THINKING When rolling out the National Public Inquiry Report on Family Violence, Office staff knew they had to engage with others to gain wide support for, and action on, the Inquiry recommendations. To measure whether they were gaining this support, they realised they needed to move from focusing on their outputs/activities to focusing on their outcomes. Rather than emphasising the work itself, they wanted to understand how well they were addressing the issue. Their outputs/activities, which they believed would lead to their outcomes, were to: • facilitate discussions in villages through presentations and group activities. Short-term outcomes: • getting signatures of endorsement for the recommendations, • identifying those who would lead the implementation, • getting villages to take charge of the initiatives (ownership) through wanting to establish their village family safety committees. Long-term outcomes: • understanding the main findings of the National Public Inquiry Report, • gaining wide support for, and action on, the recommendations If the Office had measured the activities only, they would have known how many discussions had been facilitated and who had participated. However, this would not have told them whether they had achieved their outcome. By measuring the achievement of their outcomes, the Office was able to find out whether it was gaining wide support for, and action on, the recommendations of the Inquiry (outcome). 17