Monitoring Evaluation Accountability and Learning

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About Monitoring Evaluation Accountability and Learning

MEAL—Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning—is a CRS core competency that is pivotal to the design and implementation of high-impact programs.

GLOBAL RESULTS

Introduced in 2020, CRS Global Results demonstrate how each program, country and region contributes to the CRS Vision 2030 strategy for transformational change at scale. These results inform the agency about the effectiveness of our work so that we can ensure impactful change at scale, demonstrate the agency’s ability to save and change lives, and reflect how the Vision 2030 strategy contributes to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Learn more about Global Results

Participant & Service Delivery Indicators (PSDI)

Accurate data on the services that are delivered to project participants is essential to gauging how projects and emergency responses are meeting their commitments to the people they serve. PSDI allows CRS to estimate the annual reach of ongoing activities. This data can be viewed at a global level to see trends over time, or at a project level to understand how many project participants receive CRS services each year.

Breakdown of total project participants by region Breakdown of total project participants by region

MEAL Policies and Procedures

CRS’s MEAL Policies and Procedures for monitoring require that “CRS staff engage with our partners to collect, analyze, reflect upon and utilize accurate monitoring data on a regular basis to be responsive to community feedback, meet donor requirements, and to maintain high program quality.”

Click here for more detailed information on our MEAL policies and Procedures.

Monitoring

Monitoring
Monitoring

CRS’s MEAL Policies and Procedures for monitoring require that “CRS staff engage with our partners to collect, analyze, reflect upon and utilize accurate monitoring data on a regular basis to be responsive to community feedback, meet donor requirements, and to maintain high program quality.”

Evaluation

Evaluation
Evaluation

CRS’s MEAL Policies and Procedures require that “CRS staff engage with our partners to conduct utilization-focused evaluations that assess relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability in accordance with donor requirements, demonstrate a commitment to working with integrity and respect for people, and promote community participation.”

Accountability

Accountability
Accountability

CRS integrates accountability measures into MEAL systems by giving greater voice to project participants and other community members in project design and ongoing decision-making. CRS is also accountable to project participants when it comes to protecting their personal information, balancing the right to be counted with the right to privacy and security.

Learning

Learning
Learning

As an agency, CRS strives to engage with our partners to learn from program experience and knowledge, as well as industry good practice, to continually improve the quality of our work and the benefit to the people we serve. Country programs are encouraged to start with small-scale learning activities and to incorporate meaningful learning practices into routine project management.

KEY TOOLS AND INITIATIVES

The following MEAL Tools and Key Initiatives are intended to provide our partners, prospective donors and MEAL staff a better understanding of CRS’ approaches, and aim to contribute to MEAL efforts in the global humanitarian and development sector.

Click here for more detailed information on our Key Tools and Initiatives.

Program Subsectors