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About MEAL
MEAL is an information-technology-based
system for monitoring, evaluating
and learning from the PACS Programme.
MEAL has five objectives:
- Enable participating civil society
organisations (CSOs) to monitor
their own performance so that
they can maintain their strategic
direction and take corrective
action, whenever necessary.
- Measure and describe the progress
made by CSOs and the programme
as a whole.
- Inform project staff about the
timeliness and quality of their
work.
- Catalyse a learning and sharing
process throughout the programme
framework.
- Generate a body of knowledge
that can be shared among all CSOs
and others interested in the programme's
aims.
MEAL captures both quantitative
and qualitative aspects of the programme.
It provides a monitoring, evaluation
and learning framework at different
levels: from participating CSOs
to the national level. It is simple
to use and adaptable to changing
circumstances.
Developed by Catalyst Management
Services (CMS), Bangalore, in consultation
with various people involved in
the PACS Programme, MEAL has been
tested in three projects in two
states. It is now being implemented
in all PACS Programme areas.
How it works
Here's how it works at the CSO level:
Self-monitoring is done in
three ways:
- CSOs monitor the staff, material,
money and capacity-building inputs
they have used. They are helped
by state-level resource organisations
to record progress on inputs and
activities in a systematic way.
A quarterly reporting format is
revised accordingly.
- CSOs undertake a quarterly
process review of their project.
- CSOs and communities assess
the output of their projects every
year. The output is based on the
CSO's project proposal and design.
Likewise, the evaluation
component has three elements:
- An annual assessment made with
the community to judge the impact
of the programme on the lives
and livelihoods of the people,
its impact on institutions and
levels of participation.
- An organisational self-assessment
made once or twice a year to assess,
build and measure the capacity
of CSOs.
- Studies and reviews of parts
of the CSOs' projects and research
studies.
The learning system at the
CSO level has four pillars:
- Effective storage, utilisation
and dissemination of all knowledge
and experiences gained by the
CSO from the project.
- Analysing, synthesising and
consolidating all information
from MEAL at the state and national
level, and then communicating
relevant information to different
audiences.
- Learning fora like peer reviews,
field visits, publications and
this website.
- Institutions at various levels,
including state-level resource
organisations, to support the
learning process.
As implementation of MEAL has just
started, its impact at various levels
is expected to be felt by the end
of this year.
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