Short Abstract

Mercy Corps’ GIRL-H evaluation embedded learning within adolescent girl programming in six countries in East and West Africa. By applying participatory methods, a learning agenda and iterative reflection cycles, the evaluation enhanced adaptive learning, supported inclusion, and program development.

Description

This paper presents how the Mercy Corps Girl-H programme integrated learning and programme development through a deliberately cultivated evaluation culture. GIRL-H provides tailored interventions for adolescent girls and young women to gain skills and transition on pathways to formal education, economic opportunities, and civic engagement. GIRL-H has operated in Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, South Sudan and Sudan since 2020.

The multi-country GIRL-H evaluation, which was published in 2024, informed program adaptation. The evaluation employed participatory qualitative tools, notably the River of Life, enabling adolescents to narrate their own journeys using locally accessible materials. This co-creative method surfaced insights on programme relevance within peer networks and communities. The collected data was analysed using MAXQDA AI Assist to draw trends and common patterns across the dataset. The findings were used to reflect contributions and constraints for participatory analysis. Informed by data from regular review meetings, monitoring visits and learning sessions, the program made significant adaptations, such as in financial inclusion and social and behaviour change communication (SBCC). Crucially, learning sessions brought together mentors, enumerators, and programme participants to co-interpret results and guide course corrections in real time. The paper includes reflections on power dynamics, inclusion (e.g. whose voices were heard), and ethical tensions in conducting and using the evaluation.

Evaluation findings affirmed the importance of mental health and psychosocial support and SBCC to address harmful gender norms, while noting that more time and resources are required for meaningful norms change in communities. Based on participatory interpretation, the evaluation influenced mid-course adjustments and shaped partner decisions about scaling these components. This case contributes to evaluative practice by demonstrating how embedding routine evidence-based learning informed by programme monitoring and learning data into programme management processes and decision-making can shift an organisation toward being reflexively evaluative and how participatory methods enrich both uptake and ownership.