When you have a moment, I'd really like to see your source for that
While the Millennium Village Project's shaky claim of reducing child mortality resulted in an impressive backlash, these sorts of assertions are not uncommon. Very frequently, donors, NGOs and philanthropists make unsubstantiated claims to impact which go unchallenged, either because they go unnoticed by those who know better or because we're all just too busy to raise the alarm every time someone makes a bogus claim (or, perhaps, we're being funded by said entity).
For example, take this tweet by Oxfam international:
Together w/our partners we reduced the maternal mortality rate in Upper East #Ghana by 7% in 2010 bit.ly/LPXbKI
— Oxfam International (@Oxfam) May 30, 2012
That's quite a claim. What does Oxfam have to back up this claim? The tweet links to an article in the Ghana Business News:
Speaking at a ceremony in Bolgatanga to introduce phase II of the project and to present the donation g, Mrs Rosemary Anderson Akolaa,, Health Advocacy Manager of Oxfam lauded the effort of the TBAs, the Community Health Committees and other stakeholders for their effort at bringing reducing mortality rate in the Region by seven per cent in 2010.
So, one of Oxfam's managers in Ghana made the claim – what is it based on? To make this claim, Oxfam needs to:
- Describe the data it is using to estimate the 7% drop in maternal mortality.
- Convincingly show us that this drop is due to Oxfam's (and partner's) intervention. For example, did maternal mortality in the Upper East region fall faster than in other regions which did not receive the intervention?
(verzonden vanaf tablet)
