Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL)
Track progress, demonstrate impact, and ensure accountability through effective data collection and analysis systems. Online certificate course.
Enroll NowSelf-Study Certificate Course
Start: Immediate Access
Time Commitment: Around 15 hours
Investment: $225 (or $150 for limited budgets)
Good Data Should Lead to Good Decisions
In humanitarian and development work, projects can fail to demonstrate their impact—not because they lack results, but because they can't measure or communicate them effectively. Without strong MEAL systems, projects face:
- Missed opportunities to adapt and improve programs in real-time
- Inability to prove project impact to donors and stakeholders
- Accountability gaps that erode community trust
- Repeated mistakes when lessons learned are missed
This practical training equips you with tools to design and embed MEAL systems that monitor progress, capture results, communicate transparently with stakeholders, and capture lessons learned. Develop your data collection and analysis skills, and learn to create feedback mechanisms that drive adaptive management and put communities at the center. Through effective MEAL implementation, you can:
- Adapt programs based on real-time data and feedback
- Make evidence-based decisions that improve outcomes
- Demonstrate clear impact to communities and donors
- Build trust through transparent accountability mechanisms
- Capture and share learning across teams and projects
Who This Is For
This training is for people working in relief, development, or humanitarian contexts who want to enhance their MEAL capabilities. It's ideal for:
- Monitoring and evaluation officers seeking to strengthen technical skills
- Project managers and coordinators integrating MEAL into project cycles
- Field staff responsible for data collection and analysis
- Program development teams designing MEAL systems
- Anyone whose work involves demonstrating results, accountability, and learning
No prior experience needed—the course delivers clear, practical guidance for newcomers while providing strategic insights and advanced applications for seasoned practitioners.
How You'll Learn
This course offers a self-paced, practical learning experience, combining study materials, reflections, exercises, and end-of-module assessments. Designed around the real-world challenges faced by humanitarian and development professionals, the course encourages you to pause, reflect, and actively develop skills you can confidently apply to your own context as you learn.
Flexible self-study
Access practical downloadable video presentations, transcripts, handouts, exercises, templates and tasks, allowing you to learn and apply skills at your own pace.
Knowledge checks
Assessments at the end of each module test your understanding, reinforce learning, and help you reflect on key concepts.
Course Discussion Forum
Share questions, insights, and challenges with peers. Instructor Neil Kendrick monitors and responds regularly to support your progress.
Certificate of completion
Successfully complete all modules and assessments to receive your certificate.
Impact Stories
9.2/10 Rating (based on 47 reviews)
"I now understand MEAL in depth and can apply it to projects without needing specialized staff. The course gave me confidence to handle both qualitative and quantitative indicators and data analysis independently." — Participant, Médecins Sans Frontières
"This course taught me to design logical frameworks and indicators to track long-term impact of our SDG projects. I've built skills in data collection and analysis and can now embed MEAL throughout our project cycle for strategic decision-making." — Kathrin E.
"I feel like I have gone through a whole degree program by just taking this course. I am already applying it in my work. Value for money 100%." — Alice Wanjiru Ngahu
Course Details
Start: Immediate access upon enrollment
Duration: Self-paced (around 15 hours total)
Investment: $225 (or $150 for limited budgets)
Includes:
- Lifetime access to comprehensive modules with downloadable videos, handouts, and transcripts
- Practical templates and planning tools for immediate application
- End-of-module assessments and certificate of completion
- Course discussion forum to share insights and questions with peers
Course developed and presented by Neil Kendrick, founder of ELD Impact, with 25+ years of experience training humanitarian professionals across 20+ countries.
Program Overview
Click any module to see content
- Getting Started
- Pre-Course Self-Assessment: Rate Your Current Skills
- The What and Why of MEAL
- MEAL in Action
- Reflection Task
- Integrating MEAL into Project Design
- MEAL during Implementation and Close-out
- MEAL and Sustainability
- The MEAL Framework
- Progress Assessment
- Reflection & Application
- Understanding Monitoring Systems in MEAL
- Indicators
- Data Collection Methods in MEAL
- Developing a Monitoring Plan
- Data Collection Tools in Humanitarian and Development Projects
- Case Study and Practical Exercise
- Data Management
- Data Analysis
- Data Visualisation
- Case Study - Data Management in Action
- Case Study - Data Quality and Integrity
- Data-driven Decision-making
- Progress Assessment
- Reflection & Application
- Types of Evaluation in the Project Lifecycle
- Evaluation Ethics and Standards
- Planning and Designing Evaluations
- Case Studies - Reflection and Application - Evaluation Checklist
- Steps for Conducting Evaluations
- Defining Evaluation Questions
- Selecting Data Collection Methods
- Selecting Sampling Approaches
- Data Analysis in Evaluations
- Linking Data Analysis to MEAL
- Reporting Evaluation Findings
- Evaluation in Action - Case Study
- Progress Assessment
- Reflection & Application
- Accountability in MEAL
- The Cycle of Accountability
- Understanding Stakeholder Expectations
- Feedback and Complaint Mechanisms
- Ensuring Transparency
- Ensuring Participation
- Implementing Feedback Mechanisms in Humanitarian Response - A Case Study
- Progress Assessment
- Reflection & Application
- Why Learning Matters in MEAL
- Learning Frameworks and Approaches
- Capturing and Sharing Lessons Learned
- Learning from Evaluations: A Case Study
- Adaptive Management in MEAL
- Adaptive Management Techniques
- Real-time Data and Decision-making
- Case Study and Reflection
- Progress Assessment
- Reflection & Application
- Practical Application and Case Studies
- Key Concepts of MEAL
- Final Self-Assessment: Reflect on Your Progress
- Reflection and Action Planning
- Course Discussion Forum
- Your Next Steps
Get Started
Payment Options: Pay by credit card or contact us for group rates (2+ participants) or alternative payment arrangements.
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