CDKN is supporting the development of a Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation (PM&E) tool for climate change interventions in Bangladesh. Many of the most vulnerable people, communities and ecosystems likely to be impacted by climate change are found in the deltas of the world’s major river systems, especially in Asia. Bangladesh lies in the delta of one such major river system, the Ganges-Brahmaputra. With its dense, largely poor population living in both urban and rural areas, the country is highly vulnerable to the potentially adverse impacts of human-induced climate change.

NGOs across the developing world have begun to focus on Community Based Adaptation (CBA), a bottom-up approach to adaptation. CBA uses indigenous knowledge and practices to develop a ‘climate adaptive’ community. But one of the critical problems with assessing CBA activities is the lack of suitable Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) systems.

The Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation for Community Based Adaptation (PM+E4CBA) project is looking to fill this gap. A partnership operating in Bangladesh under the ARCAB (Action-Research on Community Adaptation in Bangladesh) consortium, including nine major International NGOs (INGOs), will test out a PM&E system. These INGOs operate in over 100 developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, so the tools developed by this project will be used across the developing world.

Rather than outsourcing the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) to an outside organisation, the project will involve people who are involved with the project monitor and evaluate the performance of the research teams. This peer monitoring will help to develop a solid understanding about local practices, cultures and strategies against climate change in order to ground local adaptation on a scientific basis. As continuous close monitoring is proposed for the project, new learning will evolve on a regular basis.

Photo credit: Waterdotorg.