The first of its kind, a new Pacific qualification for Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) is being developed through an industry-led co-design process, initiated in February 2023 by the Pacific Community (SPC) and the Industry Advisory Committee (IAC).
The IAC members were selected from the extensive Pacific MEL network under the guidelines for the development of accreditation for regional qualifications and units of learning. The committee selection also considered the need for representation from various sectors across the Pacific, such as government agencies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), tertiary institutions, sub-regions and individual MEL practitioners.
The newly appointed IAC is made up of government officials from the Ministry of Planning and Ministry of Finance from Kiribati, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea and stakeholders from SPC, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the University of the South Pacific (USP) and the private sector. Its role is to guide the development, accreditation, and delivery of the Pacific MEL micro-qualifications, reviewing competencies and content, and providing direct feedback as required.
During the four-day workshop that concluded in February, the IAC has committed to the methodologies and steps for designing a qualification, shared an understanding of monitoring evaluation and learning in the Pacific context and agreed on key concepts that will be included in the micro-qualification.
The MEL qualification training will build the next generation of MEL leaders and practitioners who will promote the applications and use data for evidence-based decision-making at all levels of government. At the same time, it will document, promote and harness indigenous knowledge and skills. This micro-qualification aims to strengthen capacity and practice MEL while recognising cultural relevance at the national and regional levels in the Pacific.
“I am looking forward to bringing our key MEL development people up to skills to deliver from planning, throughout the process to reporting and make a contribution for MEL to national social and economic development sectors, especially towards downstream processing,” shares Maria Wau, First Assistance Secretary Macroeconomics in Papua New Guinea.
The IAC has initiated the first phase of an intensive 4-phased co-design process, due for completion in mid-2023. Once completed, the newly developed micro-qualification will be ready to be rolled out for a strengthened monitoring, evaluation and learning practice designed specifically for the Pacific.
“I am looking forward to identifying the gaps we have back home and contributing to closing them through this workshop” Vanessa Vaai Senior Economist Ministry of Finance – National Economic Planning Office, Kiribati.
Those interested in being part of the external stakeholders for the review of the MEL qualification, please do contact the Pacific Va’a team Fiona Fandim and Kaita Sem on [email protected]
