Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning and Peace

Through our Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning (MEL) and Peace & Stability services, we provide actionable insights for our clients to support scaled positive impacts for people and planet. Our offer covers all aspects of MEL. For each assignment, we develop a customised approach and methodology, tailored to individual requirements, and underpinned by our extensive experience, deep contextual and thematic expertise, and strong understanding of monitoring and evaluation theories and approaches. We prioritise utilisation, methodological rigour, practicality and quality. Our approach to MEL puts the user’s needs at the heart of our approach, ensuring that evidence is relevant for decision-makers and shared in ways which promote learning.

Our breadth of experience includes working at organisational, large-portfolio, programme, and project scales. Our in-depth sectoral and thematic expertise encompasses climate change, energy, and sustainable land use; agriculture; governance and democracy; civil society support; gender equality and human rights; peace and security; economic growth (trade and private sector development) and research-for-development. Our client base spans multilateral donor agencies, bilateral donors, philanthropic foundations, private-sector clients, and numerous civil society organisations (CSOs). NIRAS also has extensive experience conducting MEL assignments in fragile and conflict-affected areas in Sub-Saharan and Northern Africa (Sahel, Lake Chad Basin, Gulf of Guinea, Central Africa, Great Lakes region, and Libya).

Across all services and assignments, high ethical standards are consistently applied in accordance with our comprehensive set of systems and processes. These have been developed over several years through joint work with university ethical clearance systems and are fully aligned with key ethics standards, including the OECD DAC Quality Standards for Development Evaluation and UN Evaluation Group Ethical Guidelines. We also constantly evolve our approaches to utilise technologies to take account of new thinking and initiatives in the MEL space. We take seriously issues connected to equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI), shifting the power and anti-racism in MEL (and international development more broadly), and work on an ongoing basis to enhance our practices and contribute to the debate around these issues.