SWAPC Commitments on Cost-Effectiveness, Transparency and Faith-Informed Impact

SWAPC Commitments on Cost-Effectiveness, Transparency and Faith-Informed Impact (Seeking Feedback)

I’m part of a grassroots initiative in rural western Kenya working with widows living on less than $1/day. We’re trying to align our work with principles of cost-effectiveness, transparency, and evidence-informed decision-making.

As part of this, we’ve drafted a set of “SWAPC (Samia Widows AiD & Protection Center) Commitments” to guide how we prioritize and implement programs. These are still evolving, and I’d genuinely value critical feedback from this community—especially on whether they are sufficiently rigorous and decision-relevant.

SWAPC Commitments

We share these as a working framework—open to critique, refinement, and accountability.

1. Commitment to Impact per Dollar

We prioritize interventions that deliver the greatest sustained improvement in wellbeing per dollar spent—particularly for widows living in extreme poverty (<$1/day).
Where evidence is limited, we adopt a test-and-learn approach and update our strategy as better data emerges.

2. Commitment to the Most Vulnerable

We focus explicitly on widows facing extreme economic and social marginalization—recognizing both their vulnerability and their potential as agents of change within their communities.

3. Commitment to Evidence-Informed Practice

We integrate available research (e.g., on savings groups, livelihoods, and poverty alleviation) with real-world community insights.
We aim to continuously improve how we measure:

Income change
Food security
Cost-effectiveness

4. Commitment to Radical Transparency

We will openly share:

What is working
What is not working
Where we are uncertain

This includes publishing updates, reflecting on failures, and inviting external critique.

5. Commitment to Community-Led Solutions

Our model is built on widows’ self-help groups as the foundation for change.
We prioritize local ownership, co-investment (time, savings, labor) and culturally grounded approaches.

6. Commitment to Integrated, Long-Term Outcomes

We operate across four pillars—financial inclusion, agriculture, health, and digital access—based on the hypothesis that multi-dimensional poverty requires integrated solutions.

We are actively exploring whether this approach produces more durable outcomes than single-intervention models.

7. Commitment to Faith-Inspired Stewardship

Our work is motivated by Christian values of compassion, dignity and justice—particularly the call to support widows.
We view resources as entrusted to us, to be used wisely for the greatest good.

8. Commitment to Scalable Impact

We aim to develop a model that can be responsibly replicated in similar contexts across western Kenya and Eastern Uganda—without compromising effectiveness or community ownership.

9. Commitment to Learning with the EA Community

We actively seek critique, collaboration, and guidance from the EA community—including those interested in Christianity and effective giving—to strengthen our approach and improve impact.

Brief Context

SWAPC currently works with 500+ widows annually through self-help groups. Early, self-reported data suggests that ~70% experience improved and more stable incomes, alongside gains in food security.

We recognize the limitations of this data and are working to improve measurement and evaluation.

Questions for Feedback

I’d especially appreciate input on:

Are these commitments specific enough to guide real trade-offs, or do they remain too high-level?
Which of these commitments are most important for evaluating cost-effectiveness, and which might be missing?
How could we make these commitments more measurable or falsifiable?
Are there examples of organizations that have implemented similar principles well?

Closing

These commitments are a work in progress, and we expect to refine them significantly over time.

I’d genuinely appreciate critical perspectives—especially where this framework might be incomplete, unclear, or misleading.

Thank you for engaging.

—
Michael Agundah, Gerry
Communication & Fundraising Lead
Samia Widows Aid & Protection Center (SWAPC)