MEAL Services

Action Against Hunger’s MEAL Services (otherwise known as “The Bubble”) is a self-managed group of consultants specialising in Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning. Based in the UK, we provide a wide range of services to the sector, including our own network.

We offer everything related to Monitoring and Evaluation, learning, and Knowledge and Information Management, from designing and implementing systems, conducting training, delivering evaluations, collecting, analysing and visualising data, to helping our clients and partners to identify and share learning that emerges from programme monitoring and evaluation data.

For more information about what we can offer, browse our brochure, or our portfolio below.

 

OUR PORTFOLIO

 

BASELINE STUDY – EDUCATE A CHILD PROGRAMME, SOMALIA

A baseline study for a three-year $20 million primary education intervention in Somalia implemented by Mercy Corps and Mercy-USA.
2019

 


 

BASELINE STUDY, SYRIA

A baseline study for a $40 million consortium programme that will run from October 1st 2018 to September 30th 2020. The consortium partners will implement activities across the governorates of Aleppo, Damascus, Deir ez-Zor, Daraa, Hama, Hassakeh, Homs, Raqqa and Rural Damascus.
2018-2019

 


 

EVALUATION OF CBI FOR PROTECTION OUTCOMES, GREECE

An evaluation of cash-based interventions as an effective means of delivering assistance and achieving protection outcomes for UNHCR.
2018

 


 

KNOWLEDGE AND INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SUPPORT, COMPAS STUDY, SOUTH SUDAN

Data management support to the South Sudan arm of the ComPAS study, to ensure cleaned data was available for analysis and plan in place for data storage and access.
2018

 


 

SQUEAC SUPPORT, CAMEROON

Support to the Action Against Hunger nutrition team in Extreme Nord, Cameroon, with the planning and implementation of two SQEAC assessments.
2018

 


 

MEL SUPPORT TO THE DISASTERS EMERGENCY COMMITTEE (DEC)

Building improved knowledge and information management systems linked to automated dashboards and dynamic data visualisations.
2016-2018

 


 

LEARNING PROJECT – START NETWORK

Providing MEL support to a £40m, DFID-funded consortium programme involving 45 agencies across 11 countries, to build the preparedness capacity of local actors.
2015-2018

 


 

EVALUATION SYNTHESIS OF UNHCR’S CASH BASED INTERVENTIONS IN JORDAN

A synthesis of existing evaluations related to the UNHCR Jordan CBI programme, along with a quantitative analysis.
2017

 


 

EVALUATION OF AN EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE PROGRAMME, SOUTH SUDAN

Final evaluation of Norwegian Church Aid’s Emergency Preparedness and Response Programme in South Sudan.
2017

 


 

MEAL SUPPORT TO CHRISTIAN AID NIGERIA

Action Against Hunger’s MEAL Services supported the process of putting together a new MEAL team, while recruitment of a permanent MEAL Manager to head the new team was underway.
2017

 


 

 

SLEAC SURVEY AND FP TRAINING IN MADAGASCAR

Two coverage surveys and training of key focal points in country on coverage methodologies..
2017

 


 

RESULTS BASED MANAGEMENT CONSULTANCY: STANDBY PARTNERSHIP

The team examined the monitoring systems within the Standby Partnership and provided recommendations on the extent to which a common measurement could be used to collect and collate outcome level data.
2017


 

 

EVALUATION OF A FOOD AND NUTRITION SECURITY PROJECT IN NIGERIA

Evaluation of Protecting and Promoting the Food and Nutrition Security in Yobe State, Phase II, North-Eastern Nigeria.
2017

 


 

SQUEAC MOHESHKAHLI, COX’S BAZAR

The team supported a SQUEAC assessment in one of the upazilas that Action Against Hunger Bangladesh were responsible for supporting.
2017

 

 


 

SUPPORT TO DEVELOP NATIONAL COVERAGE GUIDELINES IN ETHIOPIA

Development of a national guideline for coverage surveys in Ethiopia along with development and rollout of a capacity development plan.
2017

 


 

OUR PEOPLE

 LENKA BLANAROVA
 GLOBAL COVERAGE ADVISOR
LINK NCA TECHNICAL ADVISOR

 

Lenka is an expert in qualitative research with a rich experience in community engagement and accountability in humanitarian programming. She has conducted nutrition causal analyses (Link NCA) in Haiti and Ethiopia, and numerous coverage assessments (SQUEAC/SLEAC) in Burkina Faso, Chad, DR Congo, India, Madagascar and South Sudan. Lenka has also designed and piloted new community engagement strategies for multi-sectoral projects in rural and urban settings.

KEY COMPETENCIES: qualitative research; nutrition assessments; community engagement and accountability.

 

 NICOLA GIORDANO
 HEAD OF MEAL SERVICES

 

 

For the past 10 years, Nicola has worked across a range of organisations in the international development sector in India, Eastern Africa and Europe specialising in transformative financial inclusion, climate change resilience and data analytics. Currently, as Head of Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning Services in Action Against Hunger UK, he is driving the MEAL agenda across the network to improve overall technical standards and use of evidence.

KEY COMPETENCIES: data and analytics languages; evaluations; MEAL training

 

 ALICE HALE
 LEARNING AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT ADVISOR (on maternity leave)

 

 

Alice specialises in creating tools, systems and materials for Knowledge Management (KM) and learning. As learning focal point on the Disasters and Emergencies Preparedness Programme, she developed learning systems and materials to facilitate the exchange of learning between 14 consortia projects.  She is responsible for coordinating internal KM and learning initiatives, and has also worked on projects to identify, synthesise and disseminate learning for several organisations including UNHCR and Care International.

KEY COMPETENCIES: data visualisation and graphic design; synthesis and dissemination of key learning; knowledge management

 

HUGH LORT-PHILLIPS
GLOBAL COVERAGE ADVISOR

 

 

Hugh is an expert in assessing the coverage of CMAM programmes and using routine programme data to improve service uptake. Working with Action Against Hunger since 2010, he has led coverage assessment field trainings (using SQUEAC and SLEAC methodologies) in Senegal, Cameroon, Ethiopia and Bangladesh. He also coordinated a multiagency project to increase uptake of the coverage assessment methodologies in nine countries in Africa and Asia.

KEY COMPETENCIES: CMAM coverage assessments; qualitative and quantitative data analysis; capacity building of survey teams (French and English)

 

 CHARLES MAUGHAN
 MEAL AND INFORMATION MANAGEMENT ADVISOR

 

 

Charles specialises is quantitative monitoring and evaluation. Alongside working for Action Against Hunger UK, Charles is currently completing his master’s degree in economics. In 2017, he received the Sundstrom Postgraduate Scholarship for talented mathematicians. He also teaches microeconomics to first year undergraduates. He previously worked in monitoring and evaluation at Save the Children UK.

KEY COMPETENCIES: quantitative analysis and econometrics; evaluation of cash transfer programming; MEAL training

 

 

HANNAH WICHTERICH
SENIOR MEAL AND INFORMATION MANAGEMENT ADVISOR (on maternity leave) 

 

 

Hannah is an experienced evaluation manager and evaluator. Recently, Hannah conducted a final evaluation of a four-year Emergency Preparedness and Response Programme in South Sudan, co-led an internal evaluation in Syria, and completed Action Against Hunger’s internal assessment for progress against the Core Humanitarian Standards. She also managed the evaluation of the £40 million Disasters and Emergencies Preparedness Programme, implemented by the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative.

KEY COMPETENCIES: evaluations; qualitative research and analysis; MEAL training

 

 

 JOEL WOOLFENDEN
 SENIOR MEAL OFFICER

 

 

Joel is a recent graduate with a passion to develop a career in the humanitarian sector. He recently spent six months in Uganda leading on an evaluation for a local NGO, assessing the impact of VSLAs on the community. He has experience with managing and analysing both quantitative and qualitative data, and most recently worked on a large-scale baseline of an education project in Somalia.

KEY COMPETENCIES: data analysis; evaluations; qualitative research

 

About this resource

Section: Further Resources

Key Information

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