How does IA relate to planning?
Impact assessment needs to be integrated into all stages of the planning cycle for projects or policies. At the early stages it is important to involve all the stakeholders (not only donors and their partner organisations but also the people who are intended to benefit from the project) in agreeing the objectives, outputs and activities of the project, determining and weighing the risks and identifying the indicators for measuring progress. Time spent developing key indicators of achievement with stakeholders is an important investment in the success of the project, leading to greater shared commitment. The resulting framework should be understood by all parties to be a working document that can be adapted as necessary as the planned intervention develops. Even with the most carefully designed interventions, unexpected outcomes, both positive and negative, can occur. Critically, at this early stage, baseline data must be collected. Impact will ultimately be assessed by comparing the po
