Dioptra is configured to analyze particular humanitarian and development activities, and it provides a consistent metric for capturing the output of each activity to ensure consistent measurement. This guidance note provides more details on how activities are defined, and what output metrics are used to count the results of each activity.
In some cases, agencies using Dioptra have conducted enough cost-efficiency studies of a particular activity that we have developed lessons from comparative analysis across populations and contexts. These comparative analyses help us understand what features of the context, target population, and program design may drive the costs to deliver that activity higher or lower.
Economic recovery & development
Unconditional cash for basic needs*
Agricultural extension support
Business skills training
Conditional cash transfers
Providing business grants
education
Parental coaching programs*
Teacher professional development: Face-to-face training*
Teacher professional development: Ongoing support*
health
Access to latrines*
Distribution of family planning supplies*
Treatment for acute malnutrition*
Access to clean water
Provision of vaccines
Primary healthcare consultations
Mental healthcare consultations
* Items with an asterisk also have a dedicated page showcasing lessons from comparative cost-efficiency analyses, which highlight the contextual or programmatic features that have the greatest impact on the costs of delivering a particular service. An example of the comparative data and context-sensitive lessons about increasing efficiency, is below:
