🌟 Editor's Note
Back in London, and hello to our 42 new subscribers! It’s very exciting to see this community grow, and also a great source of motivation to keep quality content coming your way. On that note, I’m excited to announce our Monitoring & Evaluation Master’s Programs Global Guide! It’s a first pass and not as comprehensive as other content out there, but we plan to add some tactical bits and pieces like admissions rates. Enjoy! 🦭
✍ Phonics programme shows promise despite messy implementation in Liberia
A randomised trial of an accelerated reading curriculum in 74 Liberian schools found modest learning gains, even when schools didn't follow the programme as designed.
What's new: Rising Academy Network's FasterReading programme improved reading scores by 0.28 standard deviations among over-age early childhood students when fully implemented. The phonics-based approach also boosted attendance by 11 percentage points but curiously reduced reading at home.
Why it matters: This study offers rare evidence on early literacy interventions in West Africa and demonstrates how evaluators can handle non-compliance — a common challenge when programmes don't unfold as planned.
The reality of implementation: Only 45% of treatment schools delivered all five programme cycles, while 27% of control schools implemented parts of the intervention despite not being assigned to do so. Rather than abandoning the evaluation, researchers used multiple analytical approaches including a "treatment intensity" estimator that measured the percentage of the programme each school actually delivered.
Between the lines: The researchers were transparent about their messy reality. They noted that confusion among teachers and principals about which students should receive the programme led to significant deviation from the original design. This honesty about implementation challenges makes their findings more credible and useful for practitioners.
By the numbers: At 0.91 standard deviations of learning per $100 spent, the programme's cost-effectiveness sits in the middle range compared to other education interventions. The analysis excluded start-up costs and normal staffing expenses, focusing only on what future implementations would require.
What to watch: The study highlights two key lessons for scaling phonics instruction in similar contexts. First, teachers need extensive support when shifting from traditional whole-language approaches to phonics-based methods. Second, changing how students learn at school can have unexpected effects on home learning behaviours.
The bottom line: This evaluation shows how rigorous M&E can extract valuable insights even when programmes don't go according to plan. The researchers' treatment of non-compliance and transparent reporting of challenges offers a model for evaluators facing similar situations.
💼 Jobs & Opportunities
Jobs & Opportunities board coming soon!
Director of CLEAR-AA
University of the Witwatersrand
CLEAR-AA is an implementing partner of the Global Evaluation Initiative and one of six regional centres with a remit to support the development of local demand for and practice of M&E. The University seeks to appoint a senior academic on a five-year fixed-term, renewable position to lead CLEAR-AA and enhance the University’s footprint to support M&E capacity development.
Deadline: 31 August 2025
MEL Consultant
For-Purpose Evaluations
For-Purpose Evaluations works with organisations to understand and enhance their social impact. The role will work across multiple projects, applying theory-based evaluation, outcomes/social impact measurement, and data analysis to help clients improve services for communities with complex needs. The role will contibute to business development and internal innovation.
Deadline: 26 August 2025
🏗 When the earth moved: Lessons from Turkey-Syria earthquake response
On 6 February 2023, two catastrophic earthquakes struck southeastern Turkey and northwest Syria, killing over 50,000 people and affecting millions more. A new evaluation of the humanitarian response reveals critical gaps in preparedness—and surprising innovations that could reshape future disaster responses.
What's new: The Inter-Agency Humanitarian Evaluation examined how IASC members responded across three distinct contexts: Turkey, government-controlled Syria, and opposition-held northwest Syria. Each presented unique challenges that tested standard humanitarian protocols.
The big picture: Despite Turkey's middle-income status and strong disaster management capacity, the scale of destruction overwhelmed national systems. In Syria, 12 years of conflict had already devastated infrastructure and depleted response capabilities before the earthquakes hit.
Where the system broke down
Preparedness was lacking everywhere. UN agencies had no joint emergency plans despite Turkey's seismic history and Syria's ongoing vulnerabilities. The focus remained on refugee responses in Turkey and conflict management in Syria—not natural disasters.
Coordination structures failed to adapt. Standard humanitarian coordination mechanisms, designed for countries with limited government capacity, proved unwieldy in Turkey's context. The government and Turkish NGOs largely bypassed UN coordination, creating parallel response systems.
Vulnerable groups were systematically underserved. Elderly people and persons with disabilities faced significant barriers accessing aid. Only 42% of survey respondents rated the response to elderly needs as good, compared to 59% for women and girls.
What worked against the odds
Cash programming proved its worth. Pre-existing delivery mechanisms in Turkey enabled rapid cash distributions. Markets remained functional even when borders closed, making cash assistance both feasible and preferred by communities.
Local actors were genuine first responders. Schools, mosques, and community volunteers provided crucial lifesaving assistance in the immediate aftermath—often before international agencies could mobilise.
In northwest Syria, an innovative risk management system emerged post-earthquake. The "rumour tracker" systematically catalogued community concerns about aid diversion, whilst the Safeline hotline created secure reporting channels. Over 70% of aid diversion incidents were captured through community reporting.
The human cost of system failures
Why it matters: Perhaps the most damaging failure was Member States' refusal to deploy search and rescue teams to northwest Syria. This left communities with inadequate equipment to rescue survivors, leading to preventable deaths.
“We have so far failed the people in northwest Syria. They rightly feel abandoned.”
Duty of care disparities created lasting resentment. Humanitarian workers—themselves earthquake victims—received vastly different support depending on their employer. Some agencies provided generous packages whilst others offered minimal assistance, generating anger that persisted 18 months later.
Money matters
Total humanitarian funding reached $1.4bn for Turkey and $2.2bn for Syria. However, funding patterns revealed troubling inequities. The Turkey Flash Appeal received only 61% of requested funds, whilst Syria achieved 104%—though Syria's appeal had been arbitrarily capped at $400m despite higher estimated needs.
Between the lines: Country-based pooled funds proved most agile. The Syria Cross-border Humanitarian Fund innovatively used a CERF loan to accelerate funding release—a precedent other pooled funds can replicate.
What this means for M&E practice
The evaluation exposed significant data gaps that hampered both response coordination and results measurement. Standard Flash Appeal procedures don't require collective reporting, making it impossible to assess whether objectives were met.
Key insight for evaluators: The 12-year Syrian conflict made it nearly impossible to distinguish earthquake-specific needs from existing vulnerabilities. Evaluators working in protracted crises face similar challenges when discrete events occur within ongoing emergencies.
Go deeper: The full evaluation contains detailed recommendations for improving emergency preparedness, coordination mechanisms, and vulnerable group assistance—essential reading for anyone working on disaster risk reduction programming.
The earthquake response ultimately delivered relevant assistance to millions. But the gaps revealed—in preparedness, coordination, and principled programming—offer crucial lessons as climate disasters intensify globally.
📆 Webinar: Impact Measurement in Complex Organisations: Lessons from The Benevolent Society & the Social Impact Hub
This webinar examines how large organisations can effectively measure social impact through a case study of The Benevolent Society (Australia's oldest charity, founded 1813) and Social Impact Hub. Attendees will learn about developing impact frameworks, essential measurement tools, and practical implementation strategies including board engagement timing and system development timeframes. The session addresses real-world challenges and demonstrates how complex organisations can track outcomes and allocate resources strategically.
🗓 Fri, 29 Aug
🕛 12pm AEST
📍 Online
Panelists: Jeremy Halcrow (Executive Director, The Benevolent Society), Shannon Harvey (Director of Impact Data & Evaluation, The Benevolent Society), Maya Marcus, Debbie Jamieson, and Dr Christina Jarron (all Professional Impact Network Members at Social Impact Hub).
Thanks for reading!