- Define monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning.
- Place MEAL within the project cycle.
- Know the main standards and the ethical rules for data collection.
1What does MEAL mean?
MEAL stands for Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning. These four functions answer four simple questions.
- Monitoring: are we doing what we planned? It is the continuous, regular collection of information on activities, expenditure and early results.
- Evaluation: is what we are doing producing the expected changes, and is it the right thing to do? It is a periodic, in-depth analysis, often at mid-term or at the end of the project.
- Accountability: are we answerable for our actions to the people we assist, to donors and to the authorities? It is achieved through information, participation and complaints and feedback mechanisms.
- Learning: are we using what we know to improve this project and future ones? Without learning, data sits idle in spreadsheets.
2Monitoring and evaluation: the differences
| Monitoring | Evaluation | |
|---|---|---|
| Frequency | Continuous (weekly, monthly) | Periodic (mid-term, final, ex post) |
| Question | Are activities and outputs progressing as planned? | Is the project relevant, effective, sustainable? Why? |
| Level | Activities and outputs, sometimes outcomes | Outcomes and impact |
| Who | Project team | Often an external person or a mixed team |
| Use | Day-to-day management, quick corrections | Strategic decisions, accountability, learning |
3MEAL in the project cycle
MEAL does not come at the end: it starts with the needs assessment.
- Needs assessment: baseline data on the population, vulnerabilities and capacities.
- Design: theory of change, logframe, indicators, MEAL budget (often 3 to 10% of the project budget).
- Start-up: MEAL plan, tools, baseline study (baseline).
- Implementation: activity monitoring, post-distribution monitoring, complaints and feedback, quarterly reviews.
- Closure: endline study (endline), evaluation, documentation of lessons learned.
4Reference standards
- Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS): 9 commitments on quality and accountability to communities and people affected by crisis. Commitments 4 (communication and participation) and 5 (complaints) relate directly to MEAL.
- Sphere Handbook: minimum standards by sector (water supply and sanitation, food security, shelter, health), with reusable key indicators.
- OECD DAC criteria: relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability (covered on day 5).
- Donor requirements: each donor (ECHO, BHA, FCDO, UN agencies…) has its own reporting formats and mandatory indicators: read them before designing the system.
5Ethics and data protection
Collecting data on people in crisis creates a responsibility.
- Informed consent: explain who is collecting the data, why, what will be done with it, and that the person can refuse without losing assistance.
- Do no harm: do not ask unnecessary or traumatising questions, and do not expose people to risk (violence, legal status).
- Data minimisation: collect only what will be used.
- Confidentiality: anonymise, password-protect files, restrict access, never share lists of names via messaging apps.
- Children: consent from the parents and assent from the child, presence of a trusted adult, trained enumerators.
First day as a MEAL officer
Camp for displaced people, Sahel region
You have just been recruited as a MEAL officer in an NGO that distributes water and hygiene kits to 3,000 households.
The project manager welcomes you: “The donors want figures. We have distribution forms in boxes; nobody has entered them for two months. The report is due in three weeks.”
Decision 1 of 3Where do you start?
Decision 2 of 3While reading the forms, you notice that some families signed twice on the same day. What do you do?
Decision 3 of 3A colleague suggests photographing the families with their kits “for the report”. Your answer?
Key takeaways
A good MEAL officer starts from the plan, protects the reliability of data and applies ethics (consent, confidentiality, do no harm) from day one.
Exercise: your current system
Think of a project you know. Note: (1) what is monitored each month, (2) the most recent evaluation carried out, (3) how beneficiaries can complain, (4) one decision taken on the basis of data. If any of the four boxes is empty, that is the priority for your MEAL plan.
Key points
- Monitoring is continuous; evaluation is periodic.
- MEAL starts at project design, not at the end.
- Accountability is owed first and foremost to affected people.
- Every piece of data collected must have a use and be protected.
Further reading: course references
- OECD-DAC (2019). Better Criteria for Better Evaluation: Revised Evaluation Criteria Definitions and Principles for Use. www.oecd.org/fr/cad/evaluation/criteres-cad-evaluation.htm
- ALNAP (Buchanan-Smith, Cosgrave, Warner) (2016). Evaluation of Humanitarian Action Guide. www.alnap.org/help-library/evaluation-of-humanitarian-action-guide
- CHS Alliance, Groupe URD, Sphere (2024). Core Humanitarian Standard on Quality and Accountability (CHS). www.corehumanitarianstandard.org
- Sphere Association (2018). The Sphere Handbook: Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Humanitarian Response. spherestandards.org/fr/manuel-2018
- United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG) (2016). Norms and Standards for Evaluation. www.unevaluation.org
Daily quiz
3 questions to check what you have learned. Answer them all to complete the day.