Local agency as a strategic imperative in sport for development

Abstract

This paper interrogates the value of social impact assessments as a strategic imperative to inform decision-making at all levels of engagement within the field of sport for development. A critical reflection on existing imperialistic paradigms and need for local knowledge generation is explored by utilizing selected findings from a comprehensive impact assessment on the GIZ/YDF programme that has been implemented since 2008 in 10 African countries. In addition to regular monitoring and evaluation reporting through Indicator Monitoring Scores, an impact assessment for the reporting of Most Significant Changes entailed data collection from 1 405 research participants (53.2% males and 46.8% females) of whom 170 were interviewed (including managers, implementers, participants and significant others of the latter two groups), 303 took part in focus group discussions and 932 respondents completed “General Programme-focused” (n=444), self-efficacy (n=305) and/or HIV/AIDS (n=183) questionnaires. Packaging, reporting and dissemination of results in a consultative way increased the strategic value thereof, whilst selected findings relating to specific indicators, perceptions and experiences of peer-educators should equally inform local debates and academic discourses.

Keywords: Sport for development, impact assessment, monitoring and evaluation, GIZ/YDF.