This tool was developed by MCLD's collaborative research team, under the leadership of Gunjan Veda,
and reflects the collective work of over a hundred CLD practitioners.
A living tool, it was first released on Jan 21, 2021 and has seen multiple updates and adaptations since.
For any questions on the tool, please reach out to gunjan.veda@mcld.org.
Background information:
For further information on who developed it and how to use it, see this
Guidance document
In 2021, a group of practitioners from around the world worked together to simplify the tool further for use with community members. Thus, the Community version of the tool was born. It is free of development jargon and terminology. If you have any feedback on the tool, based on its use with community members, please reach out to us.
Glossary:
CLD - Community-led Development
M&E - Monitoring and Evaluation
Accountability Mechanisms - Accountability mechanisms include parties sharing monitoring reports, accounting for their decisions and spending through public notice boards and through interactive sessions such as public forums e.g. social audits or quarterly or bi-annual decentralized workshops where all communities can be represented, etc.,
Facilitator - the front-line staff who explain the program and work with communities on a day to day basis to facilitate planning and action. Facilitators may work for NGOs, be community volunteers, etc.
Who should complete this tool and when?
Officers, M&E specialists, and practitioners with an informed understanding of program implementation, outputs and outcomes, whether intended or already measured. This tool may also be completed through a participatory exercise with community leaders and program staff.
Organizations can use this tool at different program junctures to self-assess how programming aligns with CLD characteristics - during design, mid-program reviews, or at the end of a program cycle to inform future programs.
Organizations can also use the tool during organizational reviews to understand programming across areas.
Explanation of Sections:
Basic Info: collects basic information on who completed the form, when this took place, and any other descriptors an organization might want for future reference.
Rubric collects information on CLD characteristics and processes
Results Pages summarizing overall, characteristics and processes
Data Options to export, import or delete the data from your local device.
How to complete the rubric?
Each dimension in the rubric includes different statements and possible responses.
The response options (and their corresponding points) include insufficient information (0), doesn’t try (1), tries (2), progressed (3), and succeeds (4).
Click the button on which of these responses best describes your organization’s current work and progress on the different CLD characteristics, facilitation, and M&E processes
The rubric will auto caculate the score for each dimension and display it under results
How can you interpret the results?
A goal for organizations using CLD approaches should be to eventually reach the outer rim for the components relevant to their contexts, programming, and operations.
Not all dimensions may be relevant to all programs, but where they are, the position on the graph can help organizations see where they can push their programming further.
Overall Results: reflects the outcomes of all of the rubric’s segments.
Breakdowns: The rubric includes further break-downs of dimensions A - G (of the CLD characteristics) and processes ( M&E and Facilitation) offering information on how these dimensions might function within a particular organization. These break-downs are included in graph form in tabs 4 & 5 so that this detail is not lost.
Please ensure that you discuss the results with community members and participating staff after using the tool with them. Discuss the priorities and what you could do to make your program more community-led based on the results of the tool.
