A DEAR handbook for all project stages

The new DEAR guide for Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) is out! It should help EU DEAR projects, evaluators, future applicants, the DEAR Programme as a whole - and many more - to assess their achievements, reflect what works, when, how and why. The Guide offers monitoring and evaluation as opportunities to engage in meaningful conversations with DEAR stakeholders. It guides DEAR actors through every stage of a project: designing, developing, building partnerships, monitoring, communicating DEAR results, as well as questioning and determining the overall purpose. The MEAL guide also assists implementers in planning further work.

In Annexes, you can find a step-by-step guide to the DEAR Programme’s core indicators and intervention logic. There are also templates for stakeholder analysis and risk assessment, sample Terms of References for external Evaluations, an Evaluation Quality Assessment Grid, among a myriad of other useful tools and references. The guide also covers different methodologies to assess DEAR quality, effectiveness and impacts.

Many stakeholders, guided by MEAL advisor Inka Bartosova, were actively involved through a participatory approach. One participant noted: “The development of the framework was Global Citizenship Education in practice.” Contributors to this guide appreciated the months of time invested  - to be able to “digest and collect inputs from partners”.  The “pilot” approach was praised: “there are many EU forums and spaces for dialogue but this process was different and very much appreciated.”  They also highlighted the mutual learning and “improved the communication between the EC and ´field workers´.

A new MEAL way of working stands out. As stated by the author of another MEAL guide: “It is not simply about introducing new procedures – it is about establishing a culture, a way of thinking where reflection and learning become part of the everyday way you work. It is more about how we think, not what specific techniques we use.” (Anne Garbutt in “Monitoring and Evaluation: A Guide for Small and Diaspora NGOs”)

The European Commission’s DG INTPA and the DEAR Support Team are very grateful for the commitment and contributions of those who took part in the process: DEAR project implementers, GENE, Concord Europe, PLATFORMA, the Angel Network and the Results-Oriented Monitoring Team (ROM), among many DEAR stakeholders.

For any questions, please contact the DEAR Support Team Leader at francesca.vanoni@ice-org.eu

For specific feedback on the guide, please write to the MEAL advisor Inka Bartošovà at inka@evaluace.com