A Toolkit for the Evaluation of Financial Capability Programs in Low-, and Middle-Income Countries

Abstract

While there are many useful toolkits that address different aspects of program evaluation, this Toolkit, sponsored by the World Bank’s Russia Financial Literacy and Education Trust Fund, focuses on the specific challenges of evaluating financial capa- bility interventions in the low-income and middle-income country setting. A compre- hensive approach to high-quality evaluation seeks to identify effects that can be causally attributed to a program, to draw conclusions about these effects that reflect both program theory and the realities of implementation, and to derive insights that can be reasonably generalized to a broader population. This Toolkit provides a prac- tical guide to the various aspects of conducting such evaluations that addresses the specific needs of financial capability programs in the developing world. The Toolkit draws from past experience and the experience of the Russia Financial Literacy and Education Trust Fund pilot projects to provide concrete and tangible examples for the reader that illustrate the specific circumstances and challenges in this field. For further reference, the reader is invited to adapt the templates and survey instruments provided freely. Our hope is that the material presented here supports the efforts of a diverse group of users, and contributes to the generation of an ever more robust body of evidence on how to best support financial consumers around the developing world in their quest to achieve financial security.