2026-03-12 · 6 min read
Utilisation-focused MERL: designing evidence for the decisions that matter
Evaluations create value when they answer the questions decision-makers will actually face. A practical framing for UN agencies, ministries, and INGOs.
Too many monitoring and evaluation exercises optimise for compliance rather than decision quality. Utilisation-focused MERL starts with a different question: what will leaders need to decide, and when?
For government ministries and UN programmes — especially multi-country, multi-partner portfolios — that often means aligning indicator systems to governance moments, building learning reviews into implementation cycles, and writing recommendations that are prioritised, costed, and owned.
At Altamont Advisory, we design MERL so that evidence is timely, comparable where portfolios require it, and concrete enough to change course — whether that is an OECD-DAC aligned end-term review or a live adaptive management system in a high-stakes operating environment.
The standard is not a longer report. It is a clearer next decision, taken with confidence — and systems that still work after the evaluation team leaves.