Monitoring and Evaluation in Complex, High-threat Environments

Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) is critical to all USAID programs for accountability reporting, measuring impact, and informing ongoing strategic management decisions. The principal lesson learned from the Office of Transition Initiatives’ (OTI) 15 years of experience operating in complex, dynamic, and frequently high-threat environments is that M&E requires an approach that is as dynamic as the environment in which a program operates and that is designed to help country teams learn, adapt, and re-target in real time. M&E should be integrated at all stages of the programming cycle, from design through closeout. The three broad principles and corresponding best practices described below summarize this approach.