What is quality? A proposal…
…towards understanding quality in services to women survivors of violence.
Overall dimensions and indicators
Based on our analysis of data, we have extracted a set of parameters that reflects OSB partners’ understanding of quality services. We have constructed five dimensions for basic quality services as perceived and practiced by OSB partners working on VAW. Each of these dimensions (coloured rectangles in the diagram) is specified by three to six indicators (white rectangles). We propose 21 indicators on five dimensions:
Dimensions, indicators and context factors
- “Service Process” includes the main factors that influence the process of service delivery from initial contact to conclusion of the case. There are significant differences between the three countries visited and between individual service providers as to the types of activities and stakeholders involved in the service process.
- “Access” integrates factors that contribute to a potential user getting in contact with the services, including the sheer availability (or absence) of such services.
- “Human resources” is about the service providing personnel’s or volunteers’ ability to deal with the issues that clients present, and to assist in sustainable problem-solving.
- “Co-operation and co-ordination” measures the degree of interaction with external actors and the extent to which a multi-sector approach is followed.
- The fifth dimension refers to results. Our report focuses on results indicators that all partners strive for (“desirable”). In Mozambique and Nicaragua, “peace and harmony in families and communities” could be added as a fifth indicator.
Service design and delivery are affected by the context: national law and policies and the wider community have in all three countries been identified as likely to exert influence. Funding is a third aspect: quality services need to cover their operational costs, particularly for qualified personnel and adequate facilities.
The analytical framework presented above is based on our findings in the different contexts of Guatemala, Nicaragua and Mozambique, and coherent with the basic common denominators of quality services as defined by the UN Secretary General (2006).
It is likely – and probably desirable – that these parameters change over time, as organisations and the services provided develop. However, the overall dimensions and indicators outlined in our table above are likely to remain constant, unless fundamental changes in partners’ roles or policies occur.
