SAS 100 Eradicating hunger, poverty, malnutrition and inequality

Social Audit Standard (SAS) 100
Eradicating hunger, poverty, malnutrition and inequality

(SAS 100 should be read in conjunction with the “Preface to the Social Audit Standards” and “Framework
for the Social Audit Standards”, issued by the ICAI)

SECTION I – INTRODUCTION

Objective and Scope

1.10 This Social Audit Standard relates to the thematic area of “eradicating hunger, poverty, malnutrition and inequality”. The Standard aims to provide the Social Auditor with the necessary guidance in relation to independent impact assessment engagement of Social Enterprises engaged in eradicating hunger, poverty, malnutrition and inequality and the audit steps and procedures that should be applied while conducting the social impact assessment. The Standard sets out the minimum requirements to be followed while conducting impact assessment. Laws or regulations may establish additional requirements which should be followed, as applicable.

SECTION II – PROCESS OF SOCIAL AUDIT

Data Collection

1.20 The stakeholders that may be approached for obtaining data may include:

> Direct beneficiaries

> Immediate family members of the direct beneficiaries

> Contractors/Suppliers

> Funding entities, Government (at block, district, state and national levels, as relevant) and related institutions

> Monitoring Agency

> Key program officials of the entity etc.

The overall activity of conducting survey and collecting sample data should be reviewed in terms of the following factors to assess relevance and reliability:

> designed by in-house team or external specialized agency

> conducted by in-house team or external specialized agency

> number of days taken

> number of teams formed

> number of manpower deployed

> number of villages/districts covered

> total distance (km) covered

Desk Review

1.30 The Social Auditor should conduct a desk review of existing documents to gain further insight into the evaluation procedure and impact assessment. Such documents, in relation to eradicating hunger, poverty, malnutrition and inequality, may include the following:

• Details of meals provided indicative of nutritional content e.g. Under National Food Security Act 2013 (NFSA), Mid-day meal programs, Poshan Abhiyaan, National Nutrition Mission, etc.
• Subsidised/Free food rations provided indicative of nutritional content
• Cash subsidy/assistance provided
• Nutrition programs conducted
• Job opportunities provided e.g. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) etc.
• Awareness campaigns conducted
• Feedback form from beneficiaries
• Memorandum of Understanding between the entity and the implementing agencies/sponsors/ contractors/suppliers/ funding entities/other related institutions
• Photographs of various programmes/events
• All the above should be disaggregated as far as possible by gender and specifically cover inclusion of marginalised groups – SC, ST, minorities, elderly, LGBTQIA and persons with disabilities. This is critical for estimating inequality and changes in inequality.

Inspection and Personal Interviews

1.40 Besides desk review, the social auditor should also consider conducting physical inspection and personal interviews to get a first-hand assessment of impact.

Evaluation Questions

1.50 The social auditor should review the evaluation questions addressed through Questionnaires, In-depth Interviews and Focused Group Discussions to assess the responses received from various stakeholders and to understand what has changed. This would help the Social Auditor in forming his views on the following aspects:

• Did the target people receive the benefit?
• Whether there was a decline in starvation rate.
• Whether there was an improvement in nutritive value.
• Whether employment opportunities were generated.
• Did the number of Below Poverty line (BPL) holders reduce?
• Did the standard of living improve?
• Whether census or National Family Health Survey (NFHS) data indicates reduced cases of mal nourishment.
• Was there a reduction in number of patients and/or increase in reporting due to greater awareness?

Such questions, in relation to eradicating hunger, poverty, malnutrition and inequality, may cover the following aspects:

(a) Composition of the participants:

• Whether the program objectives were found to be consistent with the composition of the beneficiaries?

(b) Quality of benefits provided and Socio-economic factors

• How was the quality of services provided?
• Were the participants satisfied with the services that they received?
• How was the quality of engagement with beneficiaries?
• Have the services resulted in reduced hunger cases?
• Are beneficiaries better informed about their rights, entitlements, and the policies and schemes that affect them viz. Mid-day meal programs, Poshan Abhiyaan, National Nutrition Mission, MGNREGA, etc.?
• Have the services enhanced standard of living of the beneficiary?
• Are the beneficiaries motivated to improve their economic status and move out of this program?
• Have the services reduced cases of malnourishment?
• Suggestions from beneficiaries for improvement of the programs

(c) Suggestions/Feedback

• What were the constraints or challenges faced in providing the services/programs?

Key Metrics for Evaluation of Project/ Program

1.60 The Social Auditor should review the project/program documents to frame the evaluation criteria for assessing impact. Such key metrics may be collated from base-line, mid-line (monthly / quarterly) and end-line assessment (if available), respectively at the beginning, middle and end of the reporting period/project/program to effectively understand and evaluate impact.

• The baseline measurement is done to establish the starting point in any 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.

The evaluation of the project/program information would facilitate the Social Auditor to assess:

• What would have happened in the absence of the intervention?
• How much the project contributed to the changes that are evidenced? How much unintended negative impacts happened due to the intervention?

Assessment of Evaluation Criteria (Illustrative Key Performance Indicators)

1.70 The Social Auditor should identify the quantitative and qualitative evaluation criteria or the key performance indicators against which the impact has to be assessed.

Such criteria in relation to eradicating hunger, poverty, malnutrition and inequality may include any of the following aspects:

SECTION III – ASSESSMENT OF CHALLENGES AND LIMITATIONS

Challenges/Areas for improvement

1.80 The Social Auditor should identify the challenges faced by the stakeholders and the areas for improvement based on the suggestions and feedback received from them, which might have an influence on the impact assessment. Some of the examples of commonly faced issues in relation to eradicating hunger, poverty, malnutrition and inequality may include the following:

• Maintaining nutritious and fresh quality food due to its short shelf life
• Food wastage
• Limited access to education and employment opportunities
• Social discrimination and exclusion
• Resistance to work and gain employment
• Resistance to change
• Unavailability of adequate funds among non-profit entities for availing support services from ecosystem entities
• Lack of awareness of rights, entitlements, schemes and entities working to provide these access

Any significant issues observed during the assessment, that may influence the user of the impact assessment in decision making, should be highlighted by the social auditor in the social audit report.

Limitations of the assessment

1.90 The Social Auditor should identify the inherent limitations of the evaluation process which might have an influence on the impact assessment. Some of the examples in relation to eradicating hunger, poverty, malnutrition and inequality may include the following:

• Cases of no-response in case the questionnaire is not administered in person
• Some of the questions being skipped by the respondents and remaining unanswered
• Non-availability of respondents after completion of the services provided
• Change in contact details of respondents due to which they could not be contacted

Any significant limitations observed during the assessment, that may influence the user of the Impact assessment in decision making, should be highlighted by the Social Auditor in the social audit report.

SECTION IV – APPENDIX

Taxonomic classification of areas and sub-areas for Social Objectives
(relating to eradicating hunger, poverty, malnutrition and inequality)

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