MEAL in Action (2026)

Self-Study Certificate Course
Start: Immediate Access
Time: Approximately 3 hours to complete

Your MEAL Plan Was Solid. Then Reality Hit.

You designed a good system. Indicators were clear. Baseline was done. Data collection was planned. Then six months in, attendance collapsed in half your sites. The data looked suspicious. Community leaders showed up with complaints. The donor emailed asking why you're behind target. Most MEAL training ends at the plan. This one starts where they stop—when implementation gets messy. Without adaptive MEAL skills, you face:

• Monitoring data that shows problems but no framework for deciding what to do
• Suspicious numbers you report anyway because you don't know how to validate them
• Overall averages that hide the fact some groups are being left behind
• Cultural tensions or unintended effects that weren't in your theory of change
• End-of-project reports that explain what happened but not what you learned

This course puts you in the role of MEAL Manager for a women's economic empowerment program. Over 24 months of simulated program time, you'll face the decisions that define effective MEAL practice—and learn frameworks you can apply immediately. No abstract theory. Real decisions with real consequences. After this course, you'll confidently:

• Design sampling strategies that reveal patterns instead of hiding them in averages
• Decide "adapt now" versus "investigate first" using a clear adaptive management framework
• Triangulate suspicious data before it undermines your credibility
• Use disaggregation to show who is benefiting and who is being left behind
• Capture unintended consequences—positive and negative—that fall outside your logframe
• Communicate disappointing results to donors as learning, not failure

How You'll Learn

This self-paced course combines video lessons with comprehensive reference materials:

• Video lessons following a realistic 24-month case study simulation
• 40-page Participant Handbook — complete course transcript for reference
• 5 Field Note PDFs — printable guides on sampling, adaptive management, triangulation, disaggregation, and unintended consequences
• 15-question knowledge assessment
• Reflection and action planning tool
• Certificate upon completion

Ideal For

• MEAL/M&E officers and managers in NGOs or humanitarian programs
• Program staff who handle reporting and donor relations
• Anyone who's built a MEAL plan but struggles when reality deviates
• Practitioners ready to move beyond basic indicators to adaptive, evidence-based decision-making

Prerequisites: Basic understanding of MEAL concepts (outcomes, outputs, indicators, baselines) and some exposure to program implementation. New to MEAL? Start with Planning for MEAL first.

Course developed and presented by Neil Kendrick, founder of ELD Impact, with 25+ years of experience training humanitarian professionals across 20+ countries.

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