Evaluation and MEL support with ten NGOs advancing refugee rights and protection in Asia
The challenge
The Porticus Refugee Cluster was a multi-project program supporting ten NGOs working across Asia (including Thailand, Malaysia and Hong Kong) to advance refugee rights and protection. These partners provided diverse programs and services, including legal assistance, advocacy for law and policy reform, education and vocational training, employment support, and capacity building with refugee-led organisations. As Learning Partner for the Cluster in its final year, we supported partners in their monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) work and provided an overarching external evaluation of the initiative.
How we helped
Our mixed methods evaluation focused on two core dimensions of the Cluster’s performance:
Learning and adaptation
Contribution to systems change
For learning and adaptation, we carried out a rapid literature review to identify six key ingredients for effective learning and adaptation in the NGO and philanthropic sectors. These informed the development of our evaluation questions, criteria, rubrics, and data collection.
To assess contribution to systems change, we used the Water of Systems Change model in tandem with an adapted outcomes harvesting approach to identify key outcomes across the Cluster.
The evaluation was intentionally participatory, designed to provide double value by generating insights and building evaluation capacity through stakeholders’ participation in evaluation processes. We facilitated:
Community engagement sessions with refugee representatives to co-design evaluation criteria and assess outcomes
A participatory sensemaking process involving civil society organisations and donors
MEL workshops for Cluster NGOs
A multi-stakeholder workshop on power, partnerships and participation.
Looking forward
The evaluation led to clear shifts in how Porticus supports learning across its programs. Future initiatives now include funding for learning practices, tailored MEL support, and a focus on better capturing learning in grant reporting.
The process also offered rich lessons on applying systems thinking in evaluation and engaging diverse stakeholders meaningfully, which have carried forward in our other projects.
Publications
Client: Porticus
2022-2023
