Outcome Evaluation of LABS Program in India, Vietnam, and Cambodia - IDH - 2024

Description of Project:

Life And Building Safety Initiative (LABS) is a collaborative program by a group of brands focused on shared assessments and a shared standard for Life and Building Safety. LABS Initiative is an industry-driven program, in which multiple brands and retailers are joining forces with public organizations to operate a scalable program to mitigate preventable fire, electrical, and structural safety risks in key apparel, footwear, and accessories producing countries in a targeted way. The LABS program currently operates in Vietnam, India, Cambodia, and Indonesia.

The evaluation aimed to:

  • determine progress being made toward the achievement of planned targets.

  • identify strengths of and pitfalls in project design and implementation, as well as any challenges that the project may be encountering, good practices, or how external factors favour or hinder project/program activities.

  • issue recommendations for corrective action.

  • assess the LABS program’s performance against the key research questions of Relevance, Coherence, Effectiveness, Efficiency, Impact, Sustainability and Lesson learned

Description of actual services provided by your staff within the assignment:

MKE implemented the following tasks:

  • Developed methodology, evaluation tools, sampling and field plans in 3 countries;

  • Conducted in-person visits to 30 factories (10 factories per country) to facilitate key informant interviews (KIIs) with factory managers and focus group discussions with technicians and workers, as well as 23 online KIIs with key stakeholders, including government/associations representatives, outsourced firms, and brands;

  • Conducted data cleaning and analysis;

  • Prepared Inception Report, Final Report.

Location: Cambodia, India and Vietnam

Client: IDH (The Sustainable Trade)

Mekong Economics