Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning | A Guide for NHRIs in the Asia Pacific Module 2: Developing your MEAL Framework Proxy indicators Sometimes the outcome of an activity cannot be measured directly (e.g. the subject of interest cannot be measured directly, or it can but involves a sensitive issue, or it is not cost-effective to collect the information required). Here, it can be helpful to use proxy indicators. • Proxy indicators: indicators that do not directly measure your outcome but provide approximate evidence of change. Proxy indicators do not have to be precise, but they should be approximately right. For example, there is likely no single measure for a long-term outcome such as ‘Family violence is reduced.’ However, a reduction in family violence can potentially be measured through proxy indicators such as whether family violence legislation is developed and whether women and girls surveyed in three target communities over two points in time report awareness of how to access support if family violence occurs. Other examples of proxy indicators include: • The number of political parties and voter turnout as a proxy indicator for governance. • The percentage of women in paid work as a proxy for women’s empowerment. • The number of newspapers, magazines, radio stations, TV broadcasts, Internet sites by ownership (public or private) and audience figures, as a proxy indicator for freedom of speech. Make sure to identify your data source; where you will find the data needed to measure your indicators. (More detail on data gathering is provided in Module 3: Developing your MEAL Plan) Table 4: Proxy indicators Family violence is reduced Proxy indicator Data source Proportion of women aged 15-49 who report having experienced physical violence from an intimate partner. Demographic and Health Survey. Number of women and girls in three surveyed communities who are aware of how to access support. Focus group discussions and surveys. Proportion of men and boys surveyed who agree that violence against women is never acceptable. Focus group discussions and surveys. Family violence legislation enacted. National legislation, publicly available reports. Once you have established your indicators they will need to be tested. You can do this when you set your baseline. Being able to set your baseline(s) is a good guide for how measurable an indicator is. If a good quality baseline can be set that is measurable and backed up by evidence, the indicator may have been measured before, and data may be available to measure it again (also see next section ‘Baselines and targets’). 40