Episode 21: MEL 2.0 - Journey towards effectiveness

Disrupt Development

The vast majority of global development actors are experiencing challenges when it comes to 'Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning'. Many organisations use MEL for accountability, to ensure compliance and prevent fraud than actual learning and improving.
Outdated logical frameworks, once used for military planning, that are still being used extensively. Theory of Changes that are being used predominantly as 'shiny' visuals for communication purposes and not to continiously test assumptions. 5 year projects that only start to seriously validate their assumptions in 'Midlines' evaluations after 2 years, Vanity metrics that spread like a disease in global development where all non-profit websites mainly show many people have been reached and speak little about the effectiveness and efficiency.
In this episode I talk with Elianne about Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning - the journey towards effectiveness. We will talk about the major challenges of MEL in global development, the ineffective use of MEL tools, the importance of assumptions, experiments and minimum viable products and the journey of how RNW media became a data-driven organisation.
Elianne Anemaat works as a PMEL specialist at RNW Media, a centre of expertise that builds digital communities for change. Elianne contributes to the non-profit sector with her roots in social and cultural anthropology with a specialisation in impact evaluation and data-driven innovation. She has worked with organisations in the field of HIV/AIDS, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and inclusive governance to support them in becoming more effective.