M&E Skills-Building Day | ALNAP 32nd Annual Meeting

Most of the evaluations reviewed for The State of the Humanitarian System 2018 painted a positive picture of the relevance and appropriateness of humanitarian action. But the way in which this positive assessment was reached left much to be desired. Many of the evaluations we reviewed treated relevance as if it meant delivery of a static package of “basic needs”. Only very few looked at the variability of priority needs for different people, in different contexts, and across time. And the overwhelming majority relied on triangulating expert opinions on relevance, rather than prioritising the views of affected people.

This year’s skills-building day will focus on how we evaluate the relevance and appropriateness of humanitarian action through a mix of peer-learning and expert-led discussion. We’ll look at good practice in this area and common pitfalls met. We’ll ask what it really means to be relevant and appropriate to context and people. What are the ethical consequences of accepting different needs in different places? What are the methods and tools available to prioritise the views of affected people on this question? And we’ll end the session with a summary of thoughts to carry forward for the ALNAP Annual Meeting on responding to diverse perspectives and priorities in humanitarian action.

For more information please see the attached agenda.