Monitoring Data for Decentralized Decision Making

Mercy Corps/Uganda was the Lead Implementing Partner for the USAID-funded Resilience Food Security Activity (RFSA) Apolou in Karamoja, Northern Uganda. In this role, Mercy Corps collaborated on governance interventions and oversaw the work of its three local partners. However, once implementation began in various operation areas, Mercy Corps realized that it could not monitor program quality across all locations and provide timely technical guidance to support adaptive management. Mercy Corps recognized the challenge and, in collaboration with local partners, developed a CLA-informed approach to empower frontline staff to systematically assess the performance of community structures. They introduced a Quality Improvement Verification Checklist (QIVC) that assessed the effectiveness of the community mobilization approach used by the partners and ranked the structures based on defined criteria. Based on the data and evidence collected, the frontline staff would then swiftly adapt and provide tailored support to each community structure. The approach significantly improved the effectiveness and sustainability of governance-related outcomes in Apolou. This was evidenced by key performance indicators and multiple studies at the end of the Activity. Notably, an outcome harvesting study found that the Activity's reliable and useful monitoring data, along with its learning and adaptive management approach, contributed to the achievement of its food and nutrition security outcomes.