Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning

NIRAS is supporting the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark in strengthening the effectiveness and coherence of its new generation of migration programmes through a dedicated Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) Unit. Launched across 2024 and 2025, four large-scale programmes mark a shift towards a more strategic, integrated portfolio aligned with Denmark’s 2025 Development Cooperation Strategy and designed to support partnerships along key migratory routes spanning the EU’s Southern and Eastern neighbourhood, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Asia. These programmes are: the Regional Migration Governance Programme – Mediterranean (RMGP-MED) - DKK 300 million; the Danish Migration Management Programme (the Capacity Programme) - DKK 410 million; the Whole-of-Route Programme - DKK 400 million; and the Regional Migration Governance Programme – Mediterranean (RMGP-MED) - DKK 300 million.

Working across these programmes, the MEAL Unit—led by NIRAS in partnership with Altai Consulting—provides cross-cutting technical support to to the implementing partners (UNHCR, IOM, ICMPD, DRC, and others) to ensure quality, consistency, and accountability at scale. This includes strengthening evidence-based decision-making, harmonising approaches to risk and performance management, and supporting implementing partners to improve data quality and results reporting across the portfolio.

Through technical reviews, targeted studies, and systematic results harvesting, the MEAL Unit helps consolidate insights across programmes—demonstrating impact, informing adaptive management, and reinforcing transparency. By embedding robust MEAL systems across this ambitious portfolio, NIRAS is helping ensure that Denmark’s migration programmes deliver measurable, rights-based outcomes while responding effectively to complex and evolving migration dynamics.

From 2023- 2026, NIRAS supported the UK Government as the monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) partner for the Ocean Country Partnership Programme (OCPP), a key component of the multi-million Blue Planet Fund.  The programme worked through bilateral and multilateral partnerships to help up to 22 ODA-eligible countries—such as Bangladesh, Belize, Ghana, Maldives, Mozambique, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Vanuatu—manage their marine environments more sustainably, addressing challenges such as marine pollution, biodiversity loss, and sustainable seafood production.

As a continuous MEL partner, NIRAS played a central role in strengthening the programme’s evidence base, accountability, and learning. The team developed and managed the MEL framework, supporting the systematic collection of robust data to track progress and inform decision-making on a multi-year basis. This included providing guidance to programme teams on monitoring and reporting, facilitating knowledge exchange across delivery partners, and ensuring that insights were translated into practical improvements in programme delivery for the client and stakeholders.

In addition, NIRAS conducted an independent process t evaluation and a series of targeted thematic case studies and impact assessments on areas such as poverty alleviation and emergency response to pollution, to assess what is working, where challenges remain, and how interventions can be adapted for greater impact. By combining rigorous analysis with continuous learning, the MEL function helped ensure that OCPP delivered effective, science-based solutions—strengthening marine governance, supporting coastal communities, and contributing to healthier and more resilient ocean ecosystems worldwide