At the Centre for Transnational Development and Collaboration (CTDC), we see Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) not as a bureaucratic checklist, but as a set of living processes that shape how institutions learn, care, and grow.
The first module of our new self-paced course, Feminist MEAL, invites practitioners to look beyond numbers and reports and to consider how power, care, and justice shape every stage of MEAL.
🌍 What Does Feminist MEAL Mean?
Traditional MEAL frameworks often measure success in outputs, such as how many activities were completed or people trained, without asking deeper questions about how and why change happens.
A feminist approach redefines this by centring ethics, inclusion, and relational accountability. It asks us to reflect on who participates, who decides, and who benefits.
From this perspective, MEAL becomes a way to:
- Enhance the quality and sustainability of institutional work
- Strengthen decision-making through reflection and inclusion
- Foster healthier organisational cultures grounded in transparency and care
- Document and learn from both successes and challenges
💜 Core Feminist Principles in MEAL
Module 1 introduces key ethical values that underpin feminist approaches to MEAL:
- Participation and informed consent – ensuring communities are co-creators, not subjects, of knowledge
- Responsiveness – adapting to changing contexts and needs
- Inclusion and anti-discrimination – recognising difference and confronting inequity
- Transparency and integrity – sharing information openly and fairly
- Openness to learning – embracing mistakes as opportunities for growth
These principles turn MEAL from a monitoring exercise into a transformative practice that challenges power hierarchies and embeds justice in institutional processes.
🧩 Why It Matters
When applied through a feminist lens, MEAL becomes a tool for transformation, not control. It nurtures accountability as a shared responsibility rather than a top-down requirement. It redefines learning as collective reflection, ensuring that institutions evolve in ways that are just, inclusive, and sustainable.
“Feminist MEAL isn’t just about tracking progress; it’s about transforming how we understand impact, care, and accountability.”
✨ Explore the full course:
📚 Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) from a Feminist Perspective
Developed by CTDC for the Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation, this free self-paced course (1.5–2 hours) is available in Arabic and English on the Kampus platform.
Learning is where transformation begins.
CTDC offers bespoke educational and feminist MEAL services that help organisations lead with care and justice.
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