USAID Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Activity: Annual Progress Report FY 2021

The Activity was launched in February 2020 and is scheduled to run until February 2025. The prime implementing partner is The Kaizen Company, with Dexis Consulting Group serving as a subcontractor. The Activity's geographic focus is Jordan, and its reporting period is Fiscal Year 2021, which spans from October 1, 2020, to September 30, 2021. During the reporting period, the Activity conducted six evaluations and assessments, which involved a total of 2,982 person-hours of training. The Activity also reviewed and supported 15 MEL Plans, with the goal of enabling the Mission to make future programmatic decisions based on evidence derived from the analysis of existing programs. The Activity's focus on strengthening the MEL ecosystem in Jordan is critical to its success, as it seeks to enable local MEL organizations to take over the functions currently exercised by the Activity. The Activity's Accelerator Program played a key role in achieving its objectives. The program onboarded 20 organizations to its Accelerator Program in November 2020, with 10 of these organizations eligible to implement MEL services under the Rapid Procurement Mechanism (RPM). The Activity launched its online accelerator platform, which facilitated all aspects of acceleration, including a streamlined application form and monitoring achievements. The Activity announced five Requests for Task Order Proposals (RFTOPs) and awarded four Task Orders through the RPM in Fiscal Year 2021. The awards represented increasingly complex tasks demanding correspondingly sophisticated responses. The Activity engaged intensively with the selected local MEL organizations (LMOs) in all aspects of the work, providing training and coaching sessions to improve their capacity and performance. The Activity's training courses focused on selecting effective indicators and designing theories of change. The program added value to local companies by providing knowledge and practical implementation skills. The Activity continuously learned from the experience of LMOs, conducting key informant interviews, focus group discussions, pause-and-reflect sessions, and surveys to identify areas for improvement. The Activity incorporated lessons learned into the design of the second round of the Acceleration Program and RPM. As a result, the Activity launched the next round of its annual cycle at the end of Fiscal Year 2021. The next round of the Accelerator Program will be even more engaging, inclusive, streamlined, and transparent. The Activity's cross-cutting results included strategic communication on MEL and gender and inclusion enhancement. The Activity also made significant progress in sustainability, with a focus on enabling local MEL organizations to take over the functions currently exercised by the Activity. The Activity's administrative updates included planned activities for the next quarter, which will focus on continuing to strengthen the MEL ecosystem in Jordan. The Activity's success is evident in its ability to provide high-quality MEL support to USAID while diversifying its partner base. The Activity's efforts to strengthen the MEL ecosystem in Jordan will have a lasting impact on the country's development and will enable USAID to make more informed decisions based on evidence.