Appendix H. Engagement with Beneficiaries through Social Media

Transcription

1 Appendix H Engagement with Beneficiaries through Social Media

2 Methodology and Main Messages IEG launched a three-month-long social media campaign to engage with broader groups of beneficiaries in Afghanistan for its Afghanistan Country Program Evaluation (CPE). The engagement plan aimed to gather additional information in the form of qualitative data that could be triangulated with other sources used in the evaluation. This was particularly important because the mobility of staff going on mission to the country was limited by security concerns. Additionally, using online outreach tools aimed to make the evaluation process participatory and transparent by posting study questions online for public feedback. To achieve the above-mentioned goals, IEG used its existing Facebook and Twitter accounts to reach out to target groups with key messages and questions. Through these channels, IEG solicited comments from online users, targeting people located in Afghanistan in its Facebook advertisement campaigns and Twitter tags. 1 On twitter, IEG also used dedicated hashtags 2 #Afghanistan Eval and #Afghanistan. All of the questions posted on social media channels mirrored main evaluative questions and were asked sequentially, with a week-and-a-half allotted for each question. Questions were asked in several languages English, Dari, and Pashto to ensure that the team reached out to people in Afghanistan who have online presence, but do not speak English. The questions were posted both as open-ended queries to solicit descriptive comments and as polls to obtain quantitative data. The questions were grouped under four main themes that closely followed questions asked in the household survey conducted by the evaluation team in Afghanistan with radio and mobile technology. Short messages emerging from the outreach are provided below. Some of the polls and open-ended questions received a higher number of responses than others. The questions on infrastructure and education received more feedback than questions on health. This could be explained by the particular relevance of the questions to the respondents or the fact that they were asked later in the outreach campaign, by which time the Facebook page had more followers from Afghanistan than it did before. General Overview In general, both the polls and open-ended questions show that access to education, health, and infrastructure in Afghanistan has improved in the last five years. However, in the open-ended questions the respondents brought up several issues that are hampering this progress, including lack of quality and corruption. Overall, 14 percent of responses indicate that despite greater access to education, health, and infrastructure, the quality of the services provided is low. Complaints about low quality were particularly evident in responses on the questions about education and infrastructure. The same proportion of respondents (14 percent) cited corruption as one of the impediments to 190 Afghanistan: Country Program Evaluation,

3 sustainable development, with most of these responses attached to the questions on infrastructure. Two respondents commented on the corruption in infrastructure development by saying: Six to seven years ago the electricity system was good in Herat and people were happy that at least they have electricity. The water system was also not bad. But, as the time passes works get worse in Afghanistan. The electricity system had gotten worse, which always disturbs the life of the people. The roads also lost for few months after they are made. As long as there are some corrupt people in the government we shouldn t wait and hope for a better situation. Facebook respondent from Herat, Afghanistan In our district a clinic was built by the government, but instead of doctors, pharmacists are working there. When they receive the allocated medicines for the clinic from the provincial Public Health and Safety Department, they take those medicines to their private clinics to do their business. When patients go to the clinic they only give them Disprin and Paracetamol tablets. I am a resident of Khust district, Baghlan province. The medical clinic of Tagab Dahna. Facebook comment from a user in Kabul, Afghanistan [Comment translated from Pashto] Education Users responding to the polls and open-ended questions agreed that in the last five years access to education in Afghanistan has increased. For instance, the poll ran in Dari and Pashto showed that 811 out of 937 agreed that access to education has increased and 126 disagreed. A user commented: In terms of education, Afghans have a lot more access than they had 5 years ago. Filing of 160,000 applications for Kankor3 exam this year could be counted as a success and achievement of Afghans compared to 5 years ago. At the same time, open-ended responses suggested that even if access increased by having more educational facilities and opportunities to receive education, the quality of education is still an issue. Some users also brought up the issue of admissions to higher education, which is still challenging. Users commented: Due to the density of population a lot of people have gotten access to education, but in terms of opportunity and the overall condition of education it is still in the same level as it was in Facebook respondent from Kabul, Afghanistan Appendix H: Engagement with Beneficiaries through Social Media 191

4 Figure H.1 Do Afghans Have Greater Access to Education than Five Years Ago? No Yes Percent (n = 937) Source: IEG Evaluation Facebook Survey. I think access has increased, which can be attributed to the growth in services, public demand and awareness, etc. The key question is quality, which is critical to sustainability of growth in access. Facebook respondent from Kabul, Afghanistan Compared to the past few years, now we have more access to [educational] facilities. Regarding education, though the number of people going to school has risen but the education level is declining, because the teachers who are teaching at the schools do not have higher education. Those people who are getting lower scores at Kanqor (general exams for getting admission in University) are admitted to the Education Department to become a teacher. Most of the people who are becoming teachers are due to their lower scores at the exam, as they can t get to any other department. Facebook respondent from Sayed Karam, Paktia, Afghanistan (currently lives in Italy) [The comment was translated into English from Pashto] Health The polls in English and Dari/Pashto on the availability of a heath facility within one hour s walk collectively gathered 371 responses. The poll was conducted twice, the first time in English, the second time in Pashto and Dari. In the English poll, 30 percent responded yes, while 9 percent said no, but 61 percent of respondents said they didn t know, indicating either that the language barrier was a major issue or that this poll attracted respondents who are not from a village. When the poll was repeated in Dari and Pashtu, 73 percent of respondents said yes, 22 percent said no, and 6 percent said they didn t know. If the two polls are added, 43 percent responded yes while 12 percent responded no. The remaining were unable to answer the question. 192 Afghanistan: Country Program Evaluation,

5 Figure H.2 Don t know Is There a Health Facility Within One Hour s Walk of Your Village in Afghanistan? All (n = 359) Dari/Pashto (n = 106) English (n = 253) No Yes Percent Source: IEG Evaluation Facebook Survey. Some of the users complained about the quality of the services provided in the health facilities and implementation of promised health projects: Unfortunately most of these works [health improvement projects] are limited and they remain only on a piece of paper instead of being implemented.a good example is our district, where nothing has been done yet Facebook comment from a user from Ahmad Abad district, Paktia province [Comment translated from Pashto] Another great and interesting way for corruption and taking bribe. Infrastructure Facebook comment from a user from Ahmad Abad district, Paktia province, in response to the question whether the access to health facilities in Afghanistan has increased. Open-ended responses indicated that there have been improvements made in access to infrastructure in the country in the last five years. For instance, 82 percent of respondents (528 of 643) to the poll on the access to infrastructure said that the access has increased in the past 5 years, and 18 percent responded that it has not. Appendix H: Engagement with Beneficiaries through Social Media 193

6 Figure H.3 Has Infrastructure in Your Village Improved in the Last Five Years No Yes Percent (n = 643) Source: IEG Evaluation Facebook Survey. However, the respondents to a similar open-ended question also indicated that new infrastructure lacked the quality needed to be sustainable in the long term. Respondents complained that the new roads are being washed away by rain and other natural forces, and that access to electricity and drinking water is still lagging behind: The roads are made at a very expensive cost, but they are useless now because of the poor quality of work. A good example is the road from Mastofiat to Bagh-e-Milat. When the work was completed around 100 meters of the road was destroyed within few days, which they repaired, but it is still in same condition. Facebook respondent from Heart, Afghanistan Unfortunately all of [the new] infrastructure that are put in place in Herat couldn t last long, most of them are already destroyed and they are completely useless now. A huge amount of money was spent to pave the roads in Herat, but due to the low quality of materials, unprofessional staff and not using technology that is up to the standard, almost all of the roads are destroyed and Herat s electricity system is also facing problems. All of those electricity generators and transformers that were bought by the government under the name Made in Japan, turned out they were not made in Japan, but rather they were Chinese. After two years all of them are not functioning. Facebook respondent from Heart, Afghanistan 194 Afghanistan: Country Program Evaluation,

7 Endnotes 1. IEG reached out to most active Tweeters on Afghanistan by tagging them through their Twitter handles in its postings and through hashtags. 2. A Hashtag is used on Twitter to group content based on a topic, region, country, or other attribute. 3. Standardized exam for higher-education admission in Afghanistan. Appendix H: Engagement with Beneficiaries through Social Media 195