Checklist: Invest in knowledge and learning
Use this checklist to assess whether your approach aligns with Principle 6: Invest in knowledge, evidence, and learning across programme design, implementation, and evaluation.
Apply it when designing programmes, developing monitoring and evaluation frameworks, and coordinating learning across actors.
☐ Is the intervention informed by relevant and up-to-date evidence, including local and contextual knowledge?
☐ Are monitoring, evaluation, and learning approaches designed to support both accountability and adaptive management?
☐ Are learning objectives and deliverables integrated into programme design, not only end-of-project evaluation?
☐ Are both quantitative and qualitative methods used to capture outcomes, including changes in trust, resilience, and institutional capacity?
☐ Are local media organisations and media development actors involved in generating, interpreting, and applying knowledge?
☐ Are research findings, evaluations, and insights shared in accessible and usable formats, including for local partners?
☐ Are there mechanisms in place to ensure that learning is fed back into programme design and decision-making?
☐ Are knowledge and learning approaches coordinated across donors and programmes to reduce duplication and build a shared evidence base?
☐ Are data collection and reporting requirements proportionate to partner capacity and clearly linked to use?
☐ Are evaluation findings treated as a shared resource, contributing to broader sector learning where appropriate?
☐ Are data management practices aligned with data protection, security, and the safety of journalists and sources?
Common risk flags
Monitoring and evaluation treated as a compliance exercise rather than a learning tool
Research and evaluation findings not shared or not accessible to relevant stakeholders
Data collection requirements that increase burden without informing decisions
Limited use of qualitative or context-based insights
Local actors positioned only as data providers, not users or co-producers of knowledge
Duplication of studies or lack of coordination across programmes
Learning not integrated into programme adaptation or future design
Weak data protection or handling practices in sensitive environments
Download and print the checklist from here:
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