How do we practice regenerative evaluation when an overstretched team is operating under high stress, with few resources, and rigid donor compliance? In this upcoming Case Clinic, we dive into a live challenge around building a feminist, trauma-sensitive monitoring system, exploring how to introduce energising systems and practices without creating "one more demand" for frontline practitioners.
Let’s hear from Maria - the case giver
I am a MEAL (Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning) specialist working in international development and humanitarian aid, focusing on migration, peace and security, gender, and SGBV (Sexualised and Gender-Based Violence) across West Africa, Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Middle East. My biggest passion is working with organisations to design and implement their MEAL systems, but I also deliver independent external evaluations, and support organisations in integrating AI into their MEAL processes.
Further context about the case clinic
I am currently building a feminist, trauma-sensitive PMEAL (Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning) system with a women's rights organisation supporting survivors of SGBV. While we've improved systems over the last 6 months and had some nice successes, I feel that much of what could make a real difference is out of reach and I'm currently hitting a wall. My analysis is that the team is overstretched and operating in a tense political and security context, so every change is nothing else than "one more demand". Other tensions I am navigating are upward donor reporting compliance, power dynamics between the German INGO, the funder, and the local partner, and my own in-between role as an external consultant. I'd love to be more of a "regenerative evaluator" and hope the community can help me explore how this could work within my specific context.
