CLA Brings a Brighter Day to a PMELP Development and Implementation

This CLA case fits in the context of locally-led development in a non-permissive setting. The case involves multiple components across the CLA framework combining with thinking and working politically based on the political economy concept. It demonstrates advanced practices in respect to internal and external collaborations; learning from technical evidence and experience operating in a unique context; and ensuring an enabling environment to collaborate, learn, and adapt, especially in securing resources and a well-thought through process.
 
The case employed strategic and intentional stakeholders engagement by clearly defined criteria for participants selection to co-develop a project monitoring, evaluation, and learning plan (PMELP). It enabled meaningful engagement with 25 individuals including key staff across technical and support offices at RDMA and those of implementing partners (IPs). Through a series of virtual participatory workshops, the group co-developed the PMELP as a guiding principle/framework to harmonize the MEL plans of related Activities and beyond; prioritized interventions and measurements to ensure collective responses and aggregatable progress and results; and ensured that key players had opportunities to pause, reflect, and co-create adaptations that will feed back to the PMELP throughout the lives of the project and Activities.   

This collaborative effort made the resulting PMELP stronger and more cohesive despite the diverse technical areas covered by the project. It also created stakeholders’ ownership and the feedback loop while granting an important learning opportunity to stakeholders. In addition, it allowed RDMA to foster a culture of collaboration and learning.