DATA+ Rwanda is pleased to announce the successful deployment of our field teams for the Final Evaluation Data Collection of the CARITAS Rwanda & Plan International Early Childhood Development (ECD) Household Survey. This marks a significant milestone in a project that sits at the intersection of community development, education, and evidence-based impact measurement and reflects the kind of meaningful, purpose-driven work that DATA+ Rwanda is proud to support.
Our enumerators have safely arrived at their respective locations, with Team A operating in Nyaruguru and Team B in Gatsibo. These teams are now actively conducting fieldwork, visiting different communities and Early Childhood Development (ECD) sites to collect critical data that will inform the final evaluation of the project. Each day in the field brings our teams face-to-face with the very communities this project was designed to serve families, caregivers, and young children whose futures are shaped in part by the quality of early learning environments around them.
Thorough Preparation for Quality Data Collection
This deployment follows an intensive training session held last Friday, where enumerators were guided through the survey questionnaire, data collection tools, and field protocols. The training was designed not simply as an orientation, but as a comprehensive preparation exercise ensuring that every team member understood not only the mechanics of the tools but also the purpose and spirit behind each question asked.
Enumerators were walked through best practices in interviewing households, maintaining respondent confidentiality, handling sensitive data with care, and managing fieldwork logistics in rural and semi-urban settings. Special attention was given to ensuring consistency across both teams so that data collected in Nyaruguru and Gatsibo can be meaningfully compared and aggregated. The result is a field team that approaches its work with confidence, clarity, and a strong commitment to ethical research standards.
Understanding the Project: Early Childhood Development in Rwanda
The project being evaluated is implemented by CARITAS Rwanda, one of Rwanda’s leading humanitarian and development organizations, in partnership with Plan International a globally recognized organization championing children’s rights and equality. At its core, the project focuses on strengthening early childhood development by preparing young children for primary education.
This is achieved through the establishment of home-based care sites within communities, creating accessible, familiar, and nurturing spaces where children can develop the cognitive, social, and emotional foundations they need before entering formal schooling. Rather than requiring families to travel to distant facilities, the home-based model brings early learning into the heart of the community reducing barriers to participation and increasing the reach of quality early childhood education.
Understanding whether this model has achieved its intended outcomes and to what degree is precisely what this final evaluation seeks to determine. The data being collected by our teams will help answer key questions: Have children benefitted from these home-based sites? Have caregivers been empowered? Have communities embraced and sustained these structures? The answers will shape how this program evolves and how similar initiatives are designed in the future.
Why Final Evaluations Matter
Final evaluations are among the most important tools in the development sector. They provide an evidence base that goes beyond anecdote turning lived experiences into measurable data that organizations, donors, governments, and communities can act on. A well-executed final evaluation captures what worked, what did not, and why offering lessons that extend far beyond any single project.
For CARITAS Rwanda and Plan International, this evaluation is an opportunity to demonstrate accountability to the communities they serve and to the funders who made this work possible. For DATA+ Rwanda, it is an opportunity to apply our research expertise in service of an issue that directly affects Rwanda’s youngest and most vulnerable citizens. We take that responsibility seriously, and it drives the rigour with which we approach every stage of this process.
DATA+ Rwanda: A Track Record Built on Impact
This project is one of many that reflects DATA+ Rwanda’s broader commitment to delivering impactful, data-driven solutions across Rwanda and the wider region. Over the past 5+ years, we have built a reputation grounded in quality, integrity, and relevance. We have trained over 2,000 professionals, developed more than 10 specialized courses across key disciplines, and built a robust Learning Management System (LMS) that supports continuous, flexible, and accessible learning for individuals and organizations alike.
Our training programs are designed with practitioners in mind drawing on real-world challenges and equipping participants with skills they can apply immediately. From data analysis and research methods to monitoring and evaluation, our curriculum reflects what Rwanda’s growing professional landscape actually needs.
Our Services: Beyond Training
DATA+ Rwanda’s work extends well beyond the classroom. We offer a comprehensive suite of services designed to support organizations at every stage of their data and research journey.
Our Research Consultancy Services provide expert-led, evidence-based research tailored to support informed decision-making. Whether an organization needs a baseline study, a mid-term review, or a final evaluation like this one, our team brings methodological rigor, field experience, and contextual knowledge of Rwanda’s social and geographic landscape to every engagement.
Through our Software Development arm, we build practical digital solutions that help organizations collect, manage, analyze, and visualize data more effectively. In a world increasingly driven by technology, having the right tools is as important as having the right skills and we work to ensure our partners have both.
Our Professional Trainings equip individuals and teams with in-demand skills that drive career advancement and organizational performance. These programs are continuously updated to reflect the evolving demands of Rwanda’s labor market and the broader regional economy.
Looking Ahead: From Data to Decision
As field activities continue across Nyaruguru and Gatsibo, DATA+ Rwanda remains dedicated to maintaining the highest standards of data quality, professionalism, and ethical research practice. Our teams in the field are not simply collecting numbers they are gathering stories, experiences, and evidence that will travel from community doorsteps to decision-making tables.
Once fieldwork is complete, our data management and analysis team will work to clean, validate, and synthesize findings into a comprehensive final evaluation report. That report will serve as a lasting resource for CARITAS Rwanda, Plan International, policymakers, and the broader ECD sector in Rwanda.
This project is a powerful reminder of the critical role that data plays in evaluating impact, improving programs, and shaping better outcomes for communities across Rwanda. At DATA+ Rwanda, we are honored to be part of that process and we look forward to sharing the findings that will help illuminate the path forward for early childhood development in this country.
