Integrity Insights: Our Year in Review

One of Integrity’s core strengths is the ability to adapt and respond in challenging situations. The last year has been a case in point. We are privileged to work with a diverse range of partners who are committed to making the world a better place and we feel enormously proud of our people and projects.

As the world continues to grapple with Covid-19, there can be no doubt that the past year has been tough for everyone. Taking time to pause and reflect is an important step in all of our learning and so, as we come to the end of 2021, we have reviewed the year gone by and taken stock of what we have achieved:

• Over the year, we have delivered important and high-quality services to 27 key clients. We have worked across several diverse and challenging assignments, ranging from evaluating flagship UKG humanitarian and basic assistance in crises programmes, to supporting data and knowledge management (DKM) at the Lego Foundation, to tracking aid funding in Afghanistan for the World Bank.
• We have welcomed 17 new staff members to the Integrity team. We are thrilled to have increased expertise in Monitoring and Evaluation, DKM and Communications and Learning. Joining an organisation remotely is not an enviable task, but our robust online systems has enabled new faces to pop up from around the globe and quickly become part of the Integrity family.
• Our growing US team are working hard to mobilize the USAID South Sudan Monitoring and Evaluation Support Activity. We welcome the opportunity to work with trusted partners on the ground to support greater evidence-based decision-making.
• Our research and evidence work often means that we help our clients to address defining challenges. This year we closely followed the debates and action resulting from the COP-26 climate talks. As we look ahead to 2022, we are excited to have launched our updated capability statement on Climate Security and we look forward to building our experience in this crucial area to help bring about long-lasting impacts.
• Covid-19 has inevitably pushed the limits of our risk management capabilities. In March 2021 we completed a third-party monitoring programme to support FCDO-Somalia navigate unprecedented challenges. The integrated approach encouraged international development partners and peers to increase their resilience to disruptions by scrutinising the overlap between context, technical delivery, and operations to enhance understanding of the operational environment.
• A key growth area for us in 2021 has been in communications and learning. We have purposefully taken time to document and share our own learning. This led to the launch of our Integrity Matters newsletter in 2021 and our exciting series of Integrity Insights stories.

And so, as we work through the final few days of the year, we hope you can see that, despite everything, we have much to be grateful for. It has been a year of learning and overcoming challenges. Our commitment to deliver high quality services and share our insights remains as strong as ever and we will continue next year to help others to reflect and build sustainable solutions for our ever-challenging world. In the meantime, on behalf of all of Integrity let me thank all of our partners and clients for the opportunities to work together. We wish you a restful end to 2021 and renewed peace and clarity in 2022.

As ever,

Anthony Ellis.