The Resilience Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning unit (RMEL) served as an outsourced MEL unit for the British Embassy Kathmandu’s (BEK) Climate Resilience and Inclusion Team’s programmes and projects (‘the portfolio’) from August 2017 until June 2022. During this time, it provided MEL services to the BEK in support of the (adaptive) management of the portfolio. It was implemented by a core team based in Nepal and supported through a flexible shell of expert associates.

The portfolio which RMEL worked with included four programmes funded by the BEK: Climate Smart Development, Strengthening Disaster Resilience, Post-Earthquake Reconstruction, and WaSH. Each of these programmes contained one or more multi-million-pound projects implemented by a range of partners including the UN, global consultancy/development firms, and INGOs. From 2020 onwards RMEL and the BEK agreed to structure portfolio MEL around the Resilience of People, Services, and Institutions. COVID-19 further resulted in significant changes in terms of the BEK’s and the portfolios’ priorities.

RMEL’s services to the BEK encompassed the development of monitoring frameworks and tools, synthesising monitoring data, carrying out (real-time) monitoring and evaluation (including on Gender Equality and Social Inclusion and Value for Money), supporting learning across the portfolio, and providing on-demand support based on the BEK’s needs. In total, RMEL delivered 122 reports, studies, guidelines, infographics, and further pieces of documentation to the BEK and its partners. This does not capture all the work which was not explicitly captured in annual workplans but arose from ad-hoc requests by the BEK.

RMEL’s focus was concentrated around the following areas:

1. Portfolio monitoring: developing monitoring frameworks and tools to streamline reporting across the portfolio and providing consolidated management information to the BEK.

2. Evaluation: conducting project evaluations, including in real-time using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods and data, sometimes in collaboration with other MEL units within the BEK.

3. Learning: carrying out process learning studies and subject-specific studies as well as facilitating learning and sharing across the portfolio / within the wider BEK.

4. Research: conducting ‘deep dive’ research into what works best for building resilience and social inclusion using a mixture of desk-research, remote methods for primary data collection, and in-person fieldwork depending on the task, resources, and circumstances.

5. Gender Equality and Social Inclusion: using a combination of MEL and dedicated research, RMEL sought to understand how to advance GESI within the context of the portfolio and supported the development of wider frameworks across the BEK.

6. Value for Money: developing methodologies to monitor and improve VfM across the portfolio.

7. On-demand support: the BEK and portfolio had a constant stream of ad-hoc requests for support, including around developing Theories of Change, infographics, and providing input into specific discussions.