iDARE Methodology

At WI-HER, we believe in addressing inequities by supporting individuals to be at the heart and in the driver’s seat of designing and delivering mutually inclusive locally led solutions, which do no harm. WI-HER Founder and President Dr. Taroub Harb Faramand developed an innovative and results-based methodology called iDARE (Identify, Design, Apply/Assess, Record, Expand) to put this principle into practice.

As a simple but science-based methodology, iDARE enables stakeholders — whether governments, service providers, civil society organizations, or community members — to assess their existing local system, identify gaps, barriers, and inequities and then design, test, and scale local solutions. As a key step in iDARE, individuals record performance improvement, qualitative and quantitative data, best practices, lessons learned and knowledge generated in line with effective and transparent learning and monitoring and evaluation methodologies.

The results of iDARE are clear: locally led program design, implementation, monitoring, evaluation, and learning that truly enables those with whom we work to achieve equitable and improved outcomes while being mindful of unintended negative consequences (Do No Harm principle).

Our approach

iDARE takes quality improvement to the next level by incorporating behavior change theory, human-centered design, as well as gender, equity, youth and social inclusion into improvement science. iDARE allows the identification and leveraging of the strengths of team members to operate quickly, nimbly, and through a collaborative and continuous learning, adaptation, and improvement approach. 

WI-HER’s team also applies the methodology internally, using it to rapidly identify and analyze a problem, whether related to program management or implementation, and to design solutions for testing. Through use of iDARE, our team, stakeholders, and clients go beyond quality improvement, to gain a deeper understanding of gender, socio-economic, and environmental factors that perpetuate gaps, barriers, and inequities and enable them to design inclusive and contextually appropriate local solutions that contribute to desired outcomes.

iDARE can be applied to any sector — health, education, rule of law, energy, environmental conservation, and economic growth to name a few — and to any technical area, including systems improvement, policy reform, and social and behavior change. It has been used globally with tremendous results and has been adopted and independently applied by local stakeholders.

Our impact

In Uganda, the iDARE team at Nagongera Health Center (HC) IV, Tororo District, increased viral load suppression (VLS) among actively enrolled men in care from 65% to 95%, and increased VLS among actively enrolled children in care from 60% to 96% in 12 months. In 11 months, Mulanda HCIV’s iDARE team increased VLS among actively enrolled men in care from 85% to 93% and actively enrolled children in care from 73% to 96%. 

In Kenya, eight facility iDARE teams improved identification, management, and response for gender-based violence (GBV) survivors by a monthly average of 642% in 10 months. Additionally, there was an increase in identification, management, and response for male survivors of GBV from an average 8 to 188 men per month and an average increase from 81 to 364 women per month.

In Tanzania, the government applied iDARE in Pangani to improve mass drug administration (MDA) access and uptake among school-age children where 18% (equal male and female) missed or refused treatment during school-based MDA. After 1 month of application of iDARE, the 4 schools achieved 99% MDA uptake among registered children (enrolled and non-enrolled).

For more information on iDARE, including resources, contact Sara Pappa at spappa@wi-her.org