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KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
SPOTLIGHT Participatory Videos to Amplify Client Voices September 2023 SUMMARY Challenge: Giving clients direct voice to influence projects and services. Opportunity’s Solution: Participatory video production in which client and local staff collect stories and client journeys to identify the most significant change in client lives, due to the project. Evidence of Success: PV MSC approach was applied in evaluations of 2 projects in Uganda, giving clients a direct voice and communication channel to project stakeholders. Next Steps: Participatory videos are being integrated into Opportunity monitoring, evaluation, and learning practices.
THE CHALLENGE: GIVING CLIENTS A VOICE IN PROGRAMS Opportunity international strives to be client-centric, to design and evaluate programs with client perspective and experience in mind. Opportunity has developed and deployed a number of tools to engage clients and enhance our understanding of clients’ lived experience and needs. With most of these tools, however, client voices are filtered through a researcher’s lens, rather than giving direct voice to clients. One approach that gives clients voice is the use participatory videos (PV) in which clients hold and speak to the camera. While Opportunity has extensive experience with video production of client stories, this is the first initiative in which clients were invited to produce such videos, generating a less filtered, more direct channel for client voice and participation.
OPPORTUNITY’S INNOVATION: PARTICIPATORY VIDEOS AND MOST SIGNIFICANT CHANGE TOOL Starting in 2019, Opportunity implemented an innovative approach to raising client voices that merged participatory videos (PV) with an evaluation approach that captured “most significant change” (MSC). The objective was to support clients to share their lived experiences in their own words with other project stakeholders, including Opportunity. This involved– u Training participants in participatory research tools and basic videography u Storytelling and journey mapping u Identifying the “most significant change” stories to highlight in videos u Supporting clients to select subjects and record their story on video u Editing videos to merge stories with dramatizations produced by participants u Viewing/analyzing videos to incorporate into Opportunity project evaluation u Sharing the videos with stakeholders to give voice to clients in guiding the project
The methodology was applied in Uganda in two projects focused on financial education with very marginalized populations – people with disabilities and refugees. The projects delivered financial education, organized savings and loans groups, and linked clients to banking services. Both projects substantially engaged stakeholder groups in the disability and refugee communities, including NGOs and government representatives. The PV MSC process was integrated into project evaluations to give clients direct voice in providing feedback to Opportunity and key stakeholders. To view these videos, see Opportunity-UK’s YouTube pages, here and here. KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SPOTLIGHT highlights Opportunity International innovations and industry trends.