Monitoring, Evaluation, and Research

As an established leader in monitoring, evaluation (M&E), and research, WI-HER is recognized for rigorous processes that ensure excellence and impact in development programs across multiple sectors — from health to energy, the environment, economic development, and beyond.

WI-HER’s team includes M&E and research experts with years of experience conducting qualitative and quantitative analyses; surveys at multiple levels; key informant interviews, focus group discussions, collaborative and participatory research, and group consultations; and various types of systematic and literature reviews. 

Our approach

Our M&E systems and tools promote diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility throughout all stages of monitoring, evaluation and research, maintain excellence in the quality of our work, drive equitable impact in the results that we measure, and foster strong collaborating, learning, and adapting (CLA). 

WI-HER has carried out numerous mixed-method assessments and analyses to examine how programs impact and are impacted by various public and private service delivery outcomes. We are recognized for expertise in designing assessments that examine how biases and inequalities affect sectoral outcomes. WI-HER serves as the lead partner for gender on the USAID EVAL-ME II project, which supports USAID missions by conducting performance and impact evaluations, supporting performance monitoring, building M&E capacity, and exchanging lessons learned. 

Our services

The WI-HER team:

• Evaluates project performance and impact.

• Prepares monitoring and evaluation frameworks, including logic models and theories of change.

• Designs both paper-based and electronic data collection instruments and evaluation reports.

• Conducts in-person or remote data collection using crowdsourcing, individual and group interviews, and participatory research methods.

• Executes both academic and implementation research with ethics approval.

• Develops local capacity on M&E, including on data collection methods and the use of data for decision making.

• Designs systems for government, organizational, and community data monitoring, reporting, information exchange, and feedback loops.

Examples of our monitoring, evaluation and research work

WI-HER has developed tools, guides and materials to enhance staff and organizational capacity in conducting baseline assessments, analyses, evaluations and developing recommendations to strengthen integration of gender equity, youth and social inclusion and monitoring, evaluation and research in projects in over 54 countries. 

WI-HER developed the USAID Applying Science to Strengthen and Improve Systems Project’s monitoring, evaluation and learning approach directly responding the USAID MEL policy to ensure effectiveness and accountability and enhanced institutional capability to use data for decision-making, including the development of gender sensitive and responsive indicators as well as enhanced the analysis of sex- and age- disaggregated data to close gender gaps.

For the USAID Tuhifadhi Maliasili Activity in Tanzania, WI-HER conducted a broad, rapid landscape assessment of gender equity, youth, and social inclusion factors – including gender equality, women’s empowerment, and social inclusion. Findings from this assessment were used to inform the Activity’s overall Youth Engagement Strategy and Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment and Social Inclusion Action Plan. The assessment identifies and presents opportunities, challenges, and potential approaches to achieving equitable and inclusive involvement of women, youth, and excluded groups – such as pastoralists, farmers, persons with disabilities, and the elderly. The action plan describes specific activities and their associated indicators, outcomes, and links to the overall Activity results framework to incorporate opportunities that engage and empower women and girls and excluded groups.

Through the USAID Resilient, Inclusive and Sustainable Environments Challenge Project (RISE), WI-HER informed the improvement of a World Bank feedback, grievance, and redress mechanism in Fiji. Our inputs helped the mechanism become more sensitive to gender-based risk and violence. 

In Haiti, for the USAID Haiti Infrastructure program, we supported USAID assess where to direct investments by developing a customized monitoring tool that analyzes gaps in the country’s infrastructure sector.

WI-HER also led the development of a diagnostic and monitoring tool to assess national programs for social accountability in health. We have been invited to discuss measuring national programs at the World Bank annual meeting for Global Partners in Social Accountability, the CORE Group annual meeting, as well as the Health Systems Research Global Forum.

Click here to read more from our latest annual report.