Our MEL Offering
MEL assignments completed worldwide
Providing actionable insights for our clients to support scaled positive impacts for people and planet. 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 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).
We 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. Regarding technology, we use cutting-edge digital solutions, and are thought-leaders in the responsible application of natural language processing tools, such as ChatGPT.
Our services
NIRAS’ service offer covers all aspects of monitoring, evaluation and learning. 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.
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.
Our people
Highly experienced in-house MEL specialists
located across our offices and hubs in Africa (Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Mozambique), Europe (Sweden, Finland, Denmark, France, Germany, UK, Ukraine), Asia (Indonesia), and South America (Colombia).
Evaluators and technical specialists
Allied with our diverse network of evaluators and technical specialists, this gives us a truly global geographical reach.
Our network now extends to the USA, where we have built strong links with US-based experts and agencies through the delivery of our growing portfolio of substantial MEL assignments for philanthropic foundations. Our mix of in-house expertise and network of tried and tested external experts also allows us to tailor teams to suit the needs of each MEL assignment, with strong understanding of the country and regional contexts, and mobilise resources quickly. For each MEL project, we develop blended teams from in-house staff and expert networks with the technical specialism, subject/theme knowledge, level of experience, language skills, and familiarity with the operational context needed to successfully deliver that assignment.
Futures thinking
The tendency of MEL experts to extrapolate from evidence from the past or present to inform conclusions and recommendations relating to the future can be problematic in scenarios of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. A solution is to integrate methods of foresight into the MEL cycle. Futures thinking enables us to anticipate and navigate the complexities of an ever-changing world. At NIRAS, we are exploring and pioneering forward-looking and future-sensitive monitoring and evaluation approaches. These range from integrating some basic considerations of futures-thinking into a ‘traditional’ evaluation, integrating foresight methods into the evaluation methodology, and – most advanced - bringing in ‘futures literacy’ to ‘use-the-future’ to innovate in the present, using methods like the Futures Literacy Laboratory (developed by UNESCO) or Futures Frequency Workshop (developed by the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra).
Gender, equity and social inclusion (GESI) and human rights in MEL: NIRAS expertise and approach
NIRAS has strong in-house expertise in applying a human rights-based and GESI-lens to MEL. We have a dedicated Gender and Human Rights Unit and staff specialised in mainstreaming GESI into MEL, whether in individual external evaluations, in the design and delivery of programme M&E, or in learning and communication products and activities. Human rights/GESI specialists are included in MEL project teams in order to ensure best practice is followed. Our understanding and approach is informed by and aligned to the key external frameworks and guidelines, such as the UN Evaluation Group Integrating Human Rights and Gender Equality in Evaluation guidance handbook.
We can point to a strong track record that illustrates our in-depth understanding of gender and disability, working with marginalised groups and conducting meaningful beneficiary engagement (see, for example, the evaluation assignments for Ford Foundation and NORAD cited in the Evaluation services section).
Our approach to integrating human rights and GESI considerations in MEL typically includes the following activities and approaches (amongst others):
Stakeholder mapping to ensure marginalised groups are included in data collection, consultation and dissemination and, where possible, study design
Participatory methods including key informant interviews and community consultations with key sub-groups, and use of participatory methods such as Outcome Harvesting, to ensure the unique needs and perspectives of marginalised groups are fully explored and given voice
Providing guidance and capacity building to project teams, including delivery partners to ensure common understanding, sufficient capability, and access to tools for integrating GESI/human rights in their activities
Utilising data collection methods disaggregated by gender, disability, poverty level and other key characteristics to identify disparities in benefits derived by different beneficiary groups
Disseminating learning to all stakeholders, including end-users/participants, using accessible formats in local languages such as this material we produced for Timor Leste.