MEAL (Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning) is how you prove that a project delivers results, adjust along the way and stay accountable to communities and donors alike. It is often a decisive criterion in funding decisions.
1. The MEAL plan
For each logframe indicator: definition, baseline, target, collection method and tool, frequency, person responsible, disaggregation (sex, age, disability). Budget MEAL from the proposal stage (often 3 to 7% of the project).
2. Monitoring
- Activity monitoring: distribution lists, registers, activity reports.
- Post-distribution monitoring and satisfaction surveys.
- Tools: mobile forms (KoboToolbox, ODK), simple dashboards, data quality checks.
- Reference indicators: cluster indicators and indicator registries (for example IndiKit).
3. Accountability to affected people
Inform communities, consult them, and set up an accessible complaints and feedback mechanism (hotline, boxes, help desks), with a confidential channel for sensitive cases (sexual exploitation and abuse). The Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS) is the reference.
4. Evaluation
Baseline, mid-term and final evaluations, using the OECD DAC criteria (relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, sustainability). Donors increasingly ask for external evaluations of larger projects.
5. Learning
Lessons-learned sessions, adapting the project as it goes, sharing with clusters. MEAL that only fills reports is not good MEAL.
Resources
Open MEAL positions: see the "Monitoring, evaluation and data" jobs on Humanitaires Jobs.