ME&A to Conduct Field Work in Central Asia Under 2 New LEAD Task Orders
ME&A was recently awarded two new task orders to conduct field work in Central Asia under the USAID/Central Asia Learning from Evaluations and Assessments for Development (LEAD) Activity.
One new LEAD task order is to conduct a mid-term performance evaluation of the USAID Healthy Mother, Healthy Baby (HMHB) Activity in Tajikistan. HMHB was designed to improve the nutritional status and prevent morbidity and mortality of mothers and children under two as well as improve the quality and availability of lifesaving, evidence-based health interventions for women and children in the Feed the Future Zone of Influence (FTF ZOI) in Khatlon province. The activity runs from October 2020 through September 2025.
The ME&A-led evaluation will assess the effectiveness of HMHB’s interventions and identify any modifications needed to achieve its objectives. It will include a desk review and qualitative and quantitative research in Tajikistan.
The second new LEAD task order is to analyze the political and institutional landscape in Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan using USAID’s Applied Political Economy Analysis (PEA) methodology. Each PEA analysis under the task order has separate objectives and will examine different questions in the field. Both also involve a desk review before field interviews.
The purpose is to support USAID/Central Asia in understanding local dynamics, political context, and implementation barriers and opportunities to inform USAID country-level strategy and planning. The knowledge gained from the qualitative information, data, and analyses the LEAD teams produce will guide USAID and its development partners in supporting inclusive growth and democratic processes in Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan over the current strategy period (2022-2025) and potentially help shape the future strategy.
USAID/Central Asia awarded ME&A the five-year LEAD Indefinite Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Contract in 2018 to assist it in generating empirical data and fostering a participatory approach to knowledge management and learning to strengthen results and improve evidence-based programming. This, in turn, is expected to promote more effective use of USAID development assistance resources and provide greater transparency.