Introducing EquityTool

Many programs, donors, and international development agencies in low- and middle-income countries prioritize serving the poor, but face challenges when trying to determine whether they are reaching their intended population. Conventional approaches may include expensive and infrequent evaluations, or anecdotal information, but program leaders need accurate, valid data and real-time feedback to adjust and improve service delivery.

EquityTool Website

An Easy-To-Use, Real-Time Wealth Equity Assessment

The EquityTool is a short, country-specific questionnaire built from the full wealth index found in the Demographic and Health Surveys, Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys, AIDS Indicator Surveys, or other nationally representative sources. The EquityTool identifies what percentage of respondents are in each national or urban wealth quintile, providing automated data analysis or ready-made code. The EquityTool questions can be used through the KoboToolbox platform, DHIS2, or integrated with any other data collection platform.

Road To Sustainability

The EquityTool is easy to use, and requires no training, making it accessible for program leaders and staff at all levels, in public or private sector programming. Implementation does not require a subscription or technical assistance, enabling users – local, regional, national, and/or non-governmental actors – ownership of the process.

Currently, the EquityTool is available for over 65 countries. Each country’s page contains a factsheet, including technical details about tool development and the list of questions for that country. Most EquityTool surveys have 12 or fewer binary questions, and average 69% fewer questions than benchmark surveys. EquityTool surveys can also be combined with the Asset to Income Estimator (A2IE) or other measures to expand or fine tune data.

A Collaborative Effort

A collaborating panel of experts in the field of wealth measurement and relative wealth indices – including USAID, UNICEF, Population Services International, Marie Stopes International, Results for Development, BroadBranch, and Metrics for Management – worked together to develop a validated method to simplify equity assessment. Population Services International led the analysis for the simplification, while Metrics for Management has led the development into a multi-platform tool and continues to support and update the underlying analysis.

Go To The EquityTool Website