ME&A Assists USAID Celebrate 50-Year Partnership with Bangladesh at Portfolio Review
By Monica Jerbi, ME&A Communications Manager

To assist USAID/Bangladesh in generating and applying continuous learning across its portfolio, the ME&A-led USAID Bangladesh Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (BMEL) Activity recently put on a two-day portfolio review event for more than 100 officials from USAID and the Government of Bangladesh (GOB). Portfolio reviews enhance strategic collaboration with host countries, advance data-informed decisions and policies, strengthen knowledge transfer among staff and partners, and ensure lessons learned and changes in a Mission’s internal and external environments are reflected in programming.

The event, held on March 30 and 31, 2022, in the Lakeshore Hotel in Dhaka, also coincided with the celebration of USAID’s 50th anniversary in Bangladesh, making the review an opportunity to celebrate some of the long-term impacts that USAID’s partnership with the GOB has achieved. It also enabled USAID/Bangladesh to share information about the Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) 2020-2025 and allow USAID and GOB counterparts to assess progress and results achieved and discuss challenges ahead. 


More than 100 officials from USAID and the Government of Bangladesh attended a portfolio review event in Dhaka also celebrating USAID's 50th anniversary in Bangladesh.

As part of BMEL’s broader mandate to provide USAID/Bangladesh with learning and knowledge management support services, ME&A handled all the portfolio review event’s logistics and facilitation as well as drafted a portfolio review report summarizing the event’s key takeaways for USAID. BMEL, implemented from Dhaka, is a $9.4 million USAID contract enabling USAID/Bangladesh to collect and use relevant data to achieve Mission development objectives, forward evidence-based programmatic decision-making, and enhance the capacity of Mission staff members in learning and knowledge management. Under BMEL, ME&A has completed:
• More than a dozen performance evaluations of USAID-funded activities/programs in Bangladesh.
• Conducted nationwide sectoral assessments in multiple sectors, including rule of law and justice, labor, media, and natural resources management.
• Conducted extensive third-party monitoring for the Mission, including 110 direct site visits in 11 districts in Bangladesh covering the democracy, human rights and governance, economic growth, and health sectors. This third-party monitoring resulted in 273 recommendations for the improvement of USAID-funded activities in Bangladesh to date.

ME&A, Inc. is a minority woman-owned international development firm based in the Washington, D.C., area, providing innovative solutions for economic development and social progress in more than 80 countries. ME&A has conducted more than 220 evaluations and assessments in over 60 countries worldwide. USAID/Bangladesh awarded BMEL to ME&A under the U.S. General Services Administration Federal Supply Schedule 874, Professional Services Schedule (PSS/MOBIS).