USAID Bangladesh Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning Activity
Improving evidence-based performance information in programmatic decision-making to achieve better development results in Bangladesh
Overview
The USAID Bangladesh Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning (BMEL) Activity enables the USAID Mission in Bangladesh to use evidence-based performance information more effectively in programmatic decision-making to achieve better development results. It works across USAID/Bangladesh's portfolio, which focuses on assisting Bangladesh in becoming a knowledge-based, healthy, food secure, and climate resilient middle-income democracy. The BMEL Activity is comprised of three components: monitoring of technical services, evaluation of technical services, and learning and adaptive management services. John Roscoe, J.D., is chief of party of the activity running from 2018 to 2023.
BMEL Reach Overview Map
Monitoring of technical services consists of high-quality Third-Party Monitoring (TPM) that includes, but is not limited to, direct observation, field-based data collection, verification, and data quality assessments.
Evaluation of technical services includes mid-term and final performance evaluations, impact evaluations, geographic and sectoral assessments, activity-specific assessments and verifications, sectoral surveys, and indicator baseline analyses.
Learning and adaptive management services assist with mainstreaming learning, adaptation, and knowledge management within USAID/Bangladesh. These services also also include capacity-building activities for Mission staff, implementing partners, and others.
Reach
The BMEL Activity works across USAID/Bangladesh's portfolio all over the country to assist the Mission in strengthening its development strategy and accelerating its goal of becoming a learning and adaptive Mission.
Monitoring of Technical Services
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Evaluation of Technical Services
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Learning and Adaptive Management
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Objectives and Underlying Hypothesis
The BMEL Activity's primary objective is to provide monitoring, evaluation, and learning and adaptive management services across the USAID Mission in Bangladesh. This is intended to strengthen implementation of the Mission's development strategy and accelerate its goal of becoming a learning and adaptive organization while maintaining its responsiveness to effective development.
The underlying hypothesis is that if the BMEL Activity accurately monitors and evaluates the results of all the development objectives under the USAID/Bangladesh Country Development Cooperation Strategy and if Mission staff enhance their capacity in learning and knowledge management, then the Mission will be able to use evidence-based performance information more effectively in programmatic decision-making to achieve better development results.
COVID-19
When COVID-19 emerged as a global pandemic in March 2020, the international development firm implementing the BMEL Activity for USAID/Bangladesh, ME&A, instituted mandatory telework and travel restrictions. ME&A/BMEL Activity staff based in the United States and Dhaka began working from home and continued operations fully remotely while assisting USAID/Bangladesh in addressing COVID-19. In the summer of 2020, ME&A/BMEL conducted a rapid assessment for USAID/Bangladesh on how to reallocate current and future programming to shift funds to combating COVID-19 while maintaining existing development priorities. The analysis also identified ways to help USAID/Bangladesh mitigate the effects of COVID-19 on its current programs.
Since then, the BMEL Activity has continued operating remotely with limited field work in accordance with evolving international and local laws and health authorities’ directives for COVID-19. ME&A found ways to modify and develop workplans for hybrid and remote work and overcome barriers, such as issues around connectivity, technology learning curves, time zone differences, comprehension, and transmission delays. ME&A has worked on 17 tasking requests since the pandemic began, using fully remote and hybrid methods.
SBAIC featured the BMEL Activity's work assessing human trafficking and gender activities in its July 2021 newsletter and on the SBAIC website. The featured work was conducted using a hybrid approach due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. For more, please click here .
