Yemen Communities Stronger Together (YCST) MEAL Plan

The program is being implemented by Global Communities in partnership with the Field Medical Foundation, Build Up, and Partners for Good. The purpose of YCST is to support local-level initiatives that mitigate conflict, strengthen social cohesion, promote the peaceful resolution of differences, and capitalize on stabilization opportunities in Yemen. YCST's approach to achieving its objectives is centered around three main objectives: Engaging Communities, Building Capacity, and Promoting Peace. Objective 1, Engaging Communities, involves using the Participatory Action for Community Enhancement (PACE) approach to build the capacity of community members and local leaders to develop a vision for their community and collaboratively identify and address issues through conflict mitigation and service delivery projects. Objective 2, Building Capacity, focuses on strengthening the capacity of formal and informal local leaders, organizations, and networks to serve as neutral arbitrators and peace builders and meet community and constituent needs. YCST manages a Peacebuilding Grants Fund (PGF) and Women, Peace and Security Sub-fund (WPS) as well as an Innovation Grant Sub-fund (IGS) to support initiatives that increase women's participation in peacebuilding, form youth networks for positive engagement in civic life, and use technology and creative approaches in peacebuilding. Objective 3, Promoting Peace, involves piloting stabilization activities to identify effective models to create where credible and local authorities and systems can peaceably manage conflicts and prevent a resurgence of violence. Stabilization activities are implemented by YCST in areas controlled by the Republic of Yemen Government, including assisting local authorities to understand the priorities of their constituents, facilitating authorities' plans for a response to those priorities, and providing capacity building of local authorities to sustain investments, build communications with constituents, and demonstrate transparency and accountability. The program is being implemented in four governorates in Yemen: Abyan, Aden, Hadramout, and Lahj. YCST's MEAL (Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning) plan is designed to track progress towards the program's objectives and provide a framework for continuous learning and improvement. The plan includes a results framework, performance monitoring, baseline study, other studies/assessments, evaluation plan, accountability mechanisms, and action learning plan for adaptive management. The MEAL plan outlines the program's performance indicators, which include metrics such as the number of communities engaged in conflict mitigation and service delivery projects, the number of local leaders and organizations strengthened, and the number of stabilization activities implemented. The plan also outlines the data collection methods, including primary and secondary data collection, and the data analysis, management, and utilization plan. Overall, YCST's MEAL plan provides a comprehensive framework for monitoring and evaluating the program's progress towards its objectives and ensuring that it is meeting its goals and making a positive impact in Yemen.