Twenty staff members from education-focused NGOs in Afghanistan have successfully completed advanced training in monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) organized by UNESCO, equipping them to train other education providers across the country. The program addresses a critical gap in Afghanistan’s education sector, where many NGOs struggle to systematically monitor performance, adapt programs based on evidence, and meet donor accountability requirements.
Launched in June 2025, UNESCO’s capacity-building initiative aims to strengthen MEL systems within national NGOs. The program is supported by the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) Systems Capacity Grant and receives technical assistance from the UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP).
The initiative began with a nine-week online course engaging 45 participants from 38 national organizations. The course focused on results-based project design, gender-responsive indicators, data collection methods, and evidence-based planning. Following this, UNESCO conducted two in-person Training of Trainers (ToT) workshops in Kabul, where 20 top-performing participants from the online phase were trained as master trainers. These trainers then led MEL sessions across all regions of Afghanistan, reaching 114 staff from local education organizations.
Post-training assessments indicated a significant improvement in participants’ knowledge of MEL concepts, rising from 65 percent at baseline to 95 percent after the training. Furthermore, 97 percent of participants reported their intention to apply the skills learned to improve their work, demonstrating the program’s immediate impact on building technical capacity within Afghanistan’s education sector.
