Date/Time
Date(s) - 29/11/2022
9:00 am - 10:30 am
Categories
لقراءة الملخّص باللغة العربية، يمكنكم/نّ تحميل الملف أدناه
ملخص لقاء شهر نوفمبر ٢٠٢٢ – منتدى التنمية بالإيمان
The Middle East Hub on Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) & Faith is hosting its second talk under the MEAL & Faith Talk Series.
One of the main objectives of the Middle East Hub on MEAL and Faith is to help improve engagement and collaboration on MEAL between local faith actors and their secular local, national and international partners in the region.
Titled “MEAL and Faith in the Middle East”, this discussion aims to better understand the importance of MEAL in humanitarian, peacebuilding, and development work. We will specifically explore the added value of faith-sensitive MEAL approaches, implemented by or in collaboration with local faith actors themselves. We will explore this on two levels:
- What makes local faith actors capable of contributing to MEAL processes?
- How can the element of faith and spirituality inspire natural MEAL approaches that build on existing strengths of faith actors, such as genuine care of community wellbeing.
Background
Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) is crucial for any programme’s success and sustainability globally and in the Middle East too.
It tells implementers whether their projects are achieving the desired impact on the ground; and if not, it allows a space, through a variety of methods and inclusion of actors, to tell what may not be working well, why, and how can we make it more effective. MEAL also plays an important role in maintaining sustainability of the project. The collected data comprises an evidence base on which other phases of the project can be built on. The inclusion of well structured and locally-rooted MEAL methods can ensure the alignment of projects and activities with communities’ needs and priorities.
While there is a growing body of evidence on the contributions of local faith actors to development, humanitarian work and peacebuilding, specific information on their contribution to MEAL is limited and often not available in shareable formats. In most cases, local faith actors are largely marginalized by international MEAL practices which often limit their role to service providers who are expected to follow the lead of the secular organizations they work with without reflecting on the added value, capacities, and innovation they can bring to the process.
Can local faith actors be recognized, active MEAL practitioners?
The session will host two expert guest speakers who will contextualize the topic and engage with hub members. Guest speakers will address the below key questions:
- Why MEAL? What is the added value of MEAL in humanitarian, development, and peacebuilding work – work that leads to social change? Why is it important to think about MEAL in the Middle East?
- How MEAL? Who is the best positioned to design and implement MEAL methods on the ground? Who is best positioned to collect and analyze MEAL data?
- How do MEAL and faith intersect? How are faith and local (or/and) faith actors considered within MEAL? How should this be? How can they become full owners of MEAL procedures?
Speakers
Malik Alkhawaja
Malik Alkhawaja is a MEL Specialist with over eight years of professional experience in all deriving aspects of MEL, ranging from leading and participating in research and evaluations, to supporting international NGOs in designing and implementing robust MEL systems and learning agendas. In addition to his regional background in the MENA region, he supported a large number of humanitarian, development, and peacebuilding-focused programming, including inter-faith projects where he designed and implemented specific MEL approaches that enabled stakeholders to constantly capture and make sense of evidence-based, adaptive-focused and context-sensitive MEL outcomes.
Antoine Abdelmassih
Antoine Abdelmassih completed his graduate studies in Business Administration from the University of Saint Joseph (USJ). He has been working for 14 years in the development field. He is currently the Program Manager at Danmission MENA.
Note: this discussion is private and exclusive for hub members. If you’re interested in the hub and its thematic focus, please contact Zainab Chamoun at [email protected]
