Conversations with the Faculty: Strengthening MEL in Development Organisations

About the session 

Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) are often treated as donor requirements to be met, rather than as tools that help an organisation understand and improve its own work. This session brings the faculty of the Certificate Programme in Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning in a conversation, to discuss what it takes for development organisations to move beyond compliance. The faculty members will speak on three critical issues: adopting evaluation thinking within organisational processes, the important steps organisations have to follow in designing evaluations, and ways in which MEL systems can inform organisational learning. The conversation will touch upon why concepts like Theory of Change and the Log Frame matter, and how frameworks like results-based monitoring and community-based approaches can help organisations become more effective in course correction as well as refine their intervention strategies. The conversation will look at how monitoring and evaluation processes and more broadly evaluation thinking can inform and strengthen organisational decisions and practice. You will also get a clear sense of how the certificate programme is designed to build these capabilities. 

The session will conclude with Q&A to address any clarifications or queries about the topics and also about the certificate programme. 

Why attend? 

Many organisations collect large amounts of data but rarely use it to inform their own decisions. This session offers a chance to hear experienced faculty reflect on why this happens and what can be done differently. Participants will gain a clearer view of how monitoring, evaluation and learning fit together, and how each connects to the daily work of programme design and implementation. For those who work with philanthropic and CSR organisations, the discussion will help in thinking about MEL as a shared effort towards better outcomes, and not only as a reporting requirement. The session will also help prospective participants judge whether the Certificate Programme suits their needs and the needs of their organisations. 

 Who should attend? 

• This session is for practitioners in NGOs and other development organisations who wish to build monitoring, evaluation and learning systems that serve their own programmes and teams. 
• It is also meant for members of MEL teams who carry out the steps of MEL in their daily work and want a deeper understanding of why these steps matter and what difference they make. 
• Professionals in philanthropic foundations and CSR teams, who are responsible for designing sensible MEL mechanisms for the projects they fund, will also find it relevant. 
• Programme managers and organisational leaders who rely on MEL findings to guide decisions are welcome. 

Speakers

Puja Guha and Nikhil Desai, Faculty, School of Development, Azim Premji University 

Moderator

Sham N Kashyap, Faculty, School of Development, Azim Premji University 

Have questions? 

You may share your questions during registration or ask them live during the session. For further queries, please write to admissions@​apu.​edu.​in .