A Monitoring Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Framework for Humanitarian Innovation Programmes
From the outset, an important priority of the Mobile for Humanitarian Innovation programme has been to generate evidence that would not only improve the programme, but also be useful for other organisations working to innovate in the humanitarian sector. There are few rigorous frameworks for guiding the development and assessing the impact of programmes that leverage innovative change.
This report outlines the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) framework developed for the GSMA’s M4H programme. It builds on recent work to generate evidence for and measure the impact of innovation projects, on methods for evaluating projects in complex systems and more widespread frameworks for evaluating humanitarian advocacy and research initiatives.
The MEL framework is used to not only evaluate the innovation that M4H supports, but also the impact and contribution of the programme itself, including its research and advocacy initiatives. This report outlines the key elements of the MEL framework. It is unique in its approach and it is hoped that other organisations may benefit from using the thinking to adapt their own approach to generating evidence regarding humanitarian innovation.