Introduction
SAS 400 is the fourth of the 16 SAS, which will become effective once posted by ICAI. It mainly focuses on promoting gender equality, empowerment of women and LGBTQIA+ communities by eliminating all forms of discrimination, violence and harmful practices, etc. against women, girls and LGBTQIA+ communities everywhere.
LGBTQIA+ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (or questioning), intersex, and asexual (or allies).
SAS 400 discusses the processes and evaluation methodologies that the Social Auditor (SA) can undertake.
Process of Social Audit
The SAS provides perspicuous insight on whom the SA should approach in the process of data collection for its impact assessment assignment which shall include but not limited to:
Data Collection
Data collection is the first step in the overall Social Audit process which involves collection of fundamental documents/knowledge from various stakeholders.
Possible sources of data include:
- Direct stakeholders e.g., Non-profit entities, Implementing partners.
- Target population/ beneficiaries of the direct stakeholders.
- Indirect stakeholders e.g., Funding entities, Government and related institutions, media agencies, academic institutions, professional groups (legal, accounting, compliance, etc.)
- Monitoring Agency.
- Staff (full time/part time employees, consultants, etc.)
- Board of advisors/trustees/directors.
- Key officials of the reporting entity.
When conducting surveys and collecting sample data, the following factors should be considered to assess relevance and reliability:
- designed by an in-house team or external specialized agency.
- conducted by an in-house team or external specialized agency.
- coverage: number and types of non-profit entities served.
After data collection, the SA should thoroughly review the data, which can include conducting physical inspections and one-on-one interviews to better understand the situation.
The social audit process under this SAS involves the SA asking key questions of themselves and the people involved. These questions form the foundation of the Social Impact Assessment Report. These questions could include:
- Has there been an increase in women & LGBTQIA+ communities in access to health, education, information, training, or other services?
- Has there been an increase in women & LGBTQIA+ communities in access to or control over productive resources, services, or assets, including resources provided by the program?
- Have women & LGBTQIA+ communities been empowered to claim their rights in public and private spheres?
- Have women & LGBTQIA+ communities participated equally with men in the program, including in decision making and leadership?
- Has the program challenged or changed attitudes on the rights of women & LGBTQIA+ communities (including attitudes on violence against women), strengthened women’s knowledge of their rights, or fostered a greater understanding of women’s rights among men and boys?
- Is sex-disaggregated data regularly collected and analysed?
- Have gender and social analysis skills been strengthened among key stakeholders, including their capacity to develop, implement, and monitor gender strategies?
- Is there a greater understanding of gender issues in the sector?
- What factors and strategies of the program helped to foster positive changes toward gender equality?
- What constrained the achievement of equal participation, benefits, and outcomes for women & LGBTQIA+ communities?
- Were there some program components where men or boys benefited much more than women or girls, and what contributed to this?
- Were there any unintended positive or negative changes in gender relations? What factors and strategies contributed to these changes?
- Are positive changes in gender relations likely to be sustained? What factors will contribute to this and what is likely to undermine the sustainability of positive changes?
Key Metrics: Framing and Assessment
Depending on the engagement, the SAS is required to develop key metrics or performance indicators, which can be compared with the actual performances of the Social Enterprise under audit. These key indices should include both qualitative and quantitative evaluation criteria.
- The baseline measurement to establish the starting point of project/program, which is then used to measure what actually changed due to the intervention of the entity.
- Assess the past performance trend of the entity.
- Assess the highlights and key achievements during the reporting period.
- Socio-economic profile of target group.
- Asset ownership pattern.
- Change in human capital, economic empowerment, rights & discrimination, equality & gender capacity.
- Demography, Educational and Social Background of the beneficiaries – e.g., Age wise distribution, Marital status, Education qualification (e.g., Primary, Secondary, Senior Secondary, Diploma, Graduation, Post-Graduation), social category wise distribution (e.g. General, SC, ST, OBC, PWD, EWS, BPL Card Holders etc.)
- Relevance & usefulness of project activities.
- Women in distress, facing abuse in their lives, making them financially dependent.
- Support them to have decision making power.
Excluding the above-mentioned points there are few others which should also be taken into consideration. For example:
- Forming partnerships
- Socio-economic improvement due to program intervention
- Livelihood creation
- Increase in income
- Improved facilities at home
Assessment of Evaluation Criteria
A. Quantitative Criteria
- Within women and LGBTQIA + communities, issues indicators relevant to specific groups, also need to be covered e.g., children, older persons, persons with disabilities, minorities, indigenous peoples, migrants.
- Rate of crimes against women per 1,00,000 female populations.
- Sex ratio at birth.
- Ratio of female to male average wage/salary earnings received among regular wage/salaried employees.
- Percentage of elected women over total seats in the state legislative assembly.
- Ratio of female to male Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) (15-59 years)
- Proportion of women in managerial positions including women in board of directors, in listed companies (per 1,000 persons)
Women Empowerment & Gender Equality:
- Geographical coverage of reporting entity
- Number of women involved in SHGs
- Literacy gap between male & female
- Number of girls & boys enrolling, attending, and completing primary & secondary education.
- Number of women trained on gender issues, rights, under women empowerment.
- Number of women received counselling in cases of domestic violence or for wrongful behavior.
LGBTQIA:
- Number of states/area/geographical coverage.
- Name of categories of LGBTQIA+ they are working in.
- Number of LGBTQIA+ community people covered
- Men who have sex with Men (MSM)/female sex workers (FSW)
- HIV/AIDS
- Mobile/Static Clinic Set up.
- Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) Check-ups & HIV Testing.
- Any other health services.
- Number of LGBTQIA+ community people with distress received counselling on time.
Training:
- Number of trainings organized for your own team to develop their skills.
- Number of training programs initiated for Women Empowerment, gender equality and LGBTQIA+ communities.
- Number of people covered.
B. Qualitative Criteria
- Inequality gaps for selected social, economic, environmental and political Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets
- Proportion of seats held in national parliament by social group
- Indicators on discrimination in laws, policies and practices
- Indicators to eradicate violence, hate crime and xenophobia,
- Barriers to participation and promote affirmative action.
- Proportion of people from disadvantaged social groups benefitting from affirmative action.
- Existence of an independent body to promote equality and non-discrimination.
- Existence of policies and programs to address inequalities.
LGBTQIA:
- Type of sensitization activities held for awareness
- Initiatives introduced for Policy Change
- Legal Awareness
- Counselling (Legal/Health)
Now many of you may feel that some of the points covered under Qualitative and Quantitively Measures are same. This is because there are some actions which has to be measured both ways.
Understanding the challenges/Obstacles in implementing Social Projects
Understanding the issues face in practical implementation of any project is highly important and areas in which the social project can improve based on answers provided by the direct participants helps influencing the SA in his Social Impact Assessment. The SA has to know that this SAS deals in a topic which is a sensitive matter pertaining to socio-political environment and as such move with caution when dealing for data collection.
Limitations:
Just like any other financial or statutory audit even Social Audit has its inherent limitations. The SA should recognize these limitations is respect to SAS. Evaluation process in this engagement has its own limitations and impediments are common.
There may be cases where evaluation sheets are not answered completely or correctly or not replied to completely if not given personally. Unable to contact direct beneficiaries of the Social Impact Projects are frequent. This SAS deals with a section of society which may not want to come forward on its own and hence it becomes difficult for the SA to complete his or her assessment.
Such limitations should be highlighted and reported in the SA report.
My Remarks/Conclusion
The above-mentioned SAS deals with a fragile section of the society and as such should be dealt with tender hands.
The SAS provides a brief glance of the process and challenges in such engagements. The SA will also have to depend upon his own judgement calls as no two engagements are the same as he navigates through the tricky but hugely important world of Social Audit.
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