Isn social performance essentially impact assessment?
The concepts of “social performance” and “impact assessment” are often confused and used interchangeably. There is a distinction. Impacts refer to outcomes (changes) that can be directly attributed to programs. Impact assessment is just one element of social performance. Social performance encompasses the entire process by which impact is created. It therefore includes analysis of the declared objectives of institutions, the effectiveness of their systems and services in meeting these objectives, related outputs (such as reaching larger numbers of very poor households) and indeed success in effecting positive changes in the lives of clients (impact).
