The effectiveness of the humanitarian initiatives of ADRA Ukraine largely depends on the work of the MEAL department. After all, thanks to the analysis and visualization of the collected data on the ground by project teams, the charitable organization constantly improves the approach to the implementation of projects and increases the level of accountability to beneficiaries, partners and donors. Today we communicate with Mark Kulik, coordinator of the ADRA Ukraine MEAL department.

– Mark, tell us what your department does and what role does it play in the charity?

– MEAL is an acronym for Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning. The department consists of: MEAL coordinator – the one who heads the department, two MEAL officers – specialists who directly interact with projects and carry out MEAL for each of them. Each project has a component of MEAL – data monitoring, evaluation, analysis of information during the project implementation and post-monitoring. There are several types of evaluation, for example, evaluation within a project, which helps to adjust it in the process of implementation and contributes to decision-making.

MEAL-officers communicate with project managers and / or coordinators of directions, analyze the collected data, conduct post-monitoring and evaluation of the assistance provided and the project as a whole. A MEAL database specialist interacts with each MEAL officer. This is somewhat different from the usual position of a database specialist, because within our organization there are specialists who simply collect data and enter them into the database within a specific project. Instead, the MEAL database specialist analyzes this information together with the MEAL officer, checks its integrity, correctness of entering and correctness of processing.

Further, in cooperation with the MEAL officer, data verification (QA – Quality Assurance) takes place. For example, if a certain number of food or hygiene kits were distributed, the beneficiary, upon receipt, provides his personal data, such as name or identification code, to confirm his identity. This avoids fraud, provides transparency and accountability.

Thus, we can make sure that a particular person really got assistance. If necessary, we will be able to confirm this documented: we have completed databases and copies of supporting documents. This is the accountability component that MEAL officers and MEAL database specialists deal with in collaboration.

Our department also includes two MEAL call center operators. They are responsible for processing appeals, feedback from beneficiaries, entering data into the database of received complaints or proposals and working on the hotline. In addition, they help in post-monitoring, which is currently ongoing. This is a survey of beneficiaries after receiving assistance, which allows you to evaluate its effectiveness and find out whether it really went to people who need it most. The survey is conducted only for a sample of recipients, since there is no sense and opportunity to call all thousands of beneficiaries.

– How is the training component implemented in your department?

– Learning component involves the analysis of lessons learned. Now we are developing a template for such an assessment. We plan to organize meetings with project teams to discuss strengths that should be preserved and used in future projects. We will also examine the problematic aspects to understand what could have been done differently and what solutions would have been more effective.

– Can you describe the work of MEAL department on the example of a particular project?

– MEAL is an integral part of every project. MEAL officers evaluate it from an independent point of view. For example, one of the big projects I worked on was “LEAP” (supported by the Government of Canada and ADRA Canada).

I joined this project in the middle of the second phase. It consisted of two components: A and B. The first part was implemented from 2022 to April 2023, and the second – from April 2023 to July 2024. Within the framework of the project, the following activities were carried out: evacuation (along with the return of people home), MPCA (cash assistance), MHPSS (psychosocial assistance), and component B added more funding for shelters (CCCM) in the Dnipropetrovsk, Lviv and Chernivtsi regions.

On the part of MEAL, we helped to develop databases for psychologists, collected and analyzed statistics weekly, and conducted post-monitoring of MPCA activity. Due to the change in the amount of payments, we prepared two post-monitoring reports for the project manager. We also helped verify evacuation databases and developed a feedback form and checklist for shelters. Throughout the project, we worked closely with project managers and coordinators, analyzed the situation and found ways to improve processes.

– You have announced a new tool – dashboard. What is it and how does it work?

– It is a visual tool to display data regarding covered beneficiaries and assistance provided. It will be used by our partners, donors and offices that support us. The dashboard contains all available collected data from 2022 to the present day.

The idea of its creation arose even before my arrival in the department. In 2024, our database specialists began to actively study Microsoft Power BI – a tool for data visualization and analytics. They experimented, created dashboards for each project, and in parallel developed a common dashboard that displays information about all covered categories, amounts of assistance and regions of its provision.

On the first page of the dashboard there is a map of Ukraine, where you can see help for sectors, donors and projects. All elements are interactive, that is, you can select a sector, view activities, deadlines and basic indicators.

The second tab contains information about the budgets of all projects of the organization. Here you can find out information about all projects from 2022 to the present, their donors, time frames and budget.

This tool allows partners and donors to conveniently and quickly view information, select the desired categories and receive analytics. Dashboard is hosted on corporate SharePoint and our managers can provide access to stakeholders.