Defining an overall objective
At this stage, we should be able to make a decision about what the main, or overall, objective of our project or programme will be. This should be in the form of a positive statement about the change we hope to achieve through the intervention. A couple of things to bear in mind:
Is our objective realistic and achievable within the scope of our programme?
Does the objective fit within Organization's values and beliefs?
Does our objective reflect how the problem impacts women and men differently?
Have we considered the impact that HIV/AIDS might have on realising our objective?
Have we been explicit about the assumptions that we are making about how change happens? (see How change happens)
Have we express the overall objective as an active statement that tells us who (institutions, individuals we want to target), what (which current policies, practices, ideas and beliefs we want to change), where (at which level; individual, community, national, regional, global…) change will happen?
Have we express the overall objective in clear, jargon free language?
Do all stakeholders have a shared understanding of the objective?
Is our overall objectives S.M.A.R.T.? (Specific, Measurable, Achievable (realistic), Relevant, Time-bound.)