In a dynamic operating environment, MELS provides USAID/South Sudan with flexible, demand-driven technical, analytic, and advisory support in order to strengthen collaboration, learning and adapting (CLA); promote institutional memory; produce monitoring, evaluation, learning products as appropriate; strengthen knowledge management and organizational learning (KMOL), organizational effectiveness and operational efficiency; and strengthen data-driven decision-making through Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and other innovative spatial analyses.

Key activities currently planned for Year 1 include: –

• Third-Party Monitoring (TPM) of USAID activities, including implementation of a community monitoring system for USAID’s humanitarian assistance activities to provide ongoing TPM of critical emergency interventions throughout South Sudan.
• Piloting a participatory monitoring and evaluation approach through the development of community scorecards to track progress toward community action plan outcomes.
• Performing evaluations, desk reviews, and assessments of USAID development and humanitarian assistance activities as requested by the Mission.
• Supporting the development of a CLA approach that utilizes the data generated from USAID activities to inform and adapt programming, including convening a learning forum and supporting community-level learning spaces.