Are there operational indicator definitions meeting relevant standards that are systematically followed by all service points? Example:
- Consider a national program that wants to know how many orphans and vulnerable children receive its medical services. It will not be able to answer this question accurately if all the program sites do not define orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) the same way.
- For instance, one program site might label children as orphans if they have lost both their parents. Another site might label children who have lost either parent as orphans. Individual sites could interpret the term vulnerable in many different ways.
- Similarly, some programs may define an OVC served as having received one service (e.g., food, school fees, psychosocial support, etc.). Another program may define an OVC as being served only if he or she has received at least three services.
- For the national unit to have an accurate and reliable measure of the orphans and vulnerable children served, all sites must routinely use the same definitions for these indicators.