Our Impact | Human Rights & Science

IMPACT

We impact both locally and globally

To date we have reached 10,000 persons in under-served communities with products and services that they have requested for. We have supported 30 social entrepreneurs and 500 small businesses managers to scale their businesses and in this process also empowered 20 innovations. We have provided training and coaching on our own management for change strategies to 30 institution and business managements and to 300 institution and business staff and associates through 100 webinars, workshops and coaching sessions. We have also reached 500 persons within the sustainable development sector and shared about our methods and experiences.

We use evidence and scientific methods when measuring progress and we define measurable indicators at the time of project design. We carefully learn our lessons and take informed decisions real-time to improve our procedures.

We measure impact for each of our four service areas; management strategies, social enterprises, serving the under-served and sustainable development.

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MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

We have provided training and coaching on our own management for change strategies to more than 30 institution and business managements and to 300 institution and business staff and associates through 100 webinars, workshops and seminars.

We train and coach institution managements and social entrepreneurs, as well as their staff and associates, on the HR&S management strategies for change. We target institutions and social enterprises that aims to improve in delivering social impact while ensuring a sustainable economy. Results include: i) empowered scientific capacity strengthening strategies, targeting management and researchers, ii) increased access to functioning advanced scientific equipment, targeting management and technicians iii) scaled social enterprises, targeting social entrepreneurs, their staff and their customers, and iv) empowered sustainable development strategies for development stakeholders including local authorities, aid institutions, CSR programmes, suppliers from Europe, and the civil society.

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SOCIAL ENTERPRISES

We have supported more than 30 social entrepreneurs and 500 small scale businesses managers to scale their businesses and in this process also empowered 20 innovations. We target social good, profit to the owner generating significant improved livelihood, and salary to previous and new employees. Many of the supported enterprises are operating within vulnerable settlements, thus providing products and services for the underserved. We only empower needs and user driven interventions, meaning the project designer and manager is part of the community where the intervention is implemented. The innovations include: new products, new services, new production methods, new sustainable economy models and new modes of enterprising.

The innovations include but are not limited to: sanitary pads, education for adults, integration of former child soldiers, radio call-in to raise awareness, business management, preventing early pregnancies, preventing child abuse, establishing rural health clinics, homework support, drinking water, support to ghetto-dwellers.

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SERVING THE UNDERSERVED

We have served 10,000 persons in underserved communities with products and services they have requested for, through the social enterprises that we support. We only empower needs and user driven interventions, meaning the project designer and manager is part of the community where the intervention is implemented.

The products and services include, but is not limited to: electricity through solar panels, milling, health services, teaching for adults, tailoring, hair dressing, sanitary pads, medicine, clothes, crop, value-added crop, food, drinks, and drinking water.

Additional impact: The money generated has enabled children to go to school. Many businesses are driven by women and after having received permission from the husbands that the women can run business, their level of responsibility, and thus the status, in the families have increased. Family happiness has improved.

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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

We have reached 500 persons within the sustainable development sector, including local authorities, aid institutions, CSR programmes, suppliers from Europe, and the civil society, and we have shared about our methods and experiences in Sub-Sahara African countries.

We have established contact with Ministry representatives and local authorities in our partner countries, with partner country embassies in Sweden and Swedish embassies in our partner countries. We have reached 100 persons with seminars within their CSR programmes and we have linked CSR programmes to our local businesses. We have established contact with international manufacturers of scientific equipment. We have held seminars to the civil society and business sector in Sweden sharing from our methods and experiences.

Measuring progress & learning lessons

We use evidence when measuring progress, we use scientific methods. We define measurable indicators for outcome, progress markers, at the time of designing a project. We learn our lessons from cases when progress is not as expected and and take informed decisions to improve our procedures.

When we measure results we distinguish between output, outcome, sustainable impact and possible impact according to our own definitions. (Please find more details in the chapter describing our “Strategy for Change”. https://www.humanrightsandscience.se/strategy-for-change/.)

Outputs are quantified results from our own activities and we have full control over the output (workshops, coaching sessions, practical strategy development, surveys, business loans etc.).
Outcomes are initiatives taken by our partners as a result of our activities (financially sustainable laboratories, profitable businesses, loans and training offered to under-served communities, integration of stigmatized populations etc.).
Sustainable Impact are activities that have become sustainable over time and do not require HR&S backup any longer (sustainable and profitable social enterprises and laboratories, sustainable academic curricula that ensures scientific findings and publications etc.). The Sustainable Impact is measured at the time of ending the collaboration and, if possible, also after one, two, five, and ten years. HR&S is accountable for the Sustainable Impact.
Possible Impact A possible Impact is often a wide and qualitative statement, something that is desired and that may or may not happen as a consequence of our interaction, and often long after we have closed the programme. We are not accountable for the possible impact, and we can also not claim it as the goal that we strategically work towards achieving. If it actually happens, then we often do not have evidence of to what extent it was caused by our programme.

Needs & User driven

It is our partners in Sub-Sahara African countries who identify the scope of our collaboration, why the outcome is wide. HR&S offers facilitation services and products, and invests effort to learn lessons and take informed decisions. We measure progress and distinguish between output outcome and sustainable impact. Outputs are quantified results from the HR&S own activities, outcomes are initiatives taken by our partners as a result of the outputs and sustainable impact when structures have been formalised the the HR&S partnership is no longer needed. Results have been compiled since 2009.