Adopting a ColMEAL approach to SGBV programming: Lessons from ADRA’s TOGETHER project

The following is part of a series of case studies from CanWaCH partners demonstrating how the thoughtful use of data can inform better policy and programming to prevent and respond to gender-based violence (GBV) in different contexts. Learn more about data opportunities in responding to GBV in this blog post.

During the project design phase, ADRA carries out a gender analysis and a GBV risk assessment using both primary and secondary data sources. Primary data collection involves conducting sex- and age-disaggregated focus group discussions and key informant interviews, ensuring ethical practices and cultural sensitivity. During primary data collection the issue of prioritizing confidentiality and consent, the creation of safe space, the use of trauma-informed methods to prevent re-traumatization, and ensuring anonymity are considered. 

Secondary data sources consist of health and legal system records, demographic and health surveys, and information from local women’s rights organizations (WROs) and specialized sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) organizations that offer referral services. The GBV risk assessment is used to collect data and identify and evaluate the potential risks of gender-based violence in target communities to understand the prevalence, forms and drivers of GBV, as well as the vulnerabilities and capacities of different groups within the population. This helps ADRA to inform strategies for prevention, mitigation and response to GBV in a way that enhances safety and supports survivors.

ADRA employs an innovative approach called ColMEAL (Community-Led Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning) for data collection. This approach enables communities, including those affected by specific and often overlooked issues including SGBV, to collect, analyze, interpret and use their own data to drive meaningful change. ColMEAL emphasizes community data empowerment, enabling communities to generate and leverage their own data for meaningful and transformational change. 

The ColMEAL approach helped ADRA to rethink and redefine the role of data or data-drivenness in driving decision-making. ColMEAL transcends/moves from traditional surveys, complex statistics and written verification methods to innovative, user-friendly, context-specific and accessible tools — particularly in communities with low literacy and numeracy. It avoids reinforcing colonial practices by acknowledging and valuing existing community data methods. ColMEAL understands community data in a practical way. The approach emphasizes understanding what data means for the community. It fosters a mindset of using data as a tool for action and change, rather than collecting data for its own sake.

The data gathered through this approach helps shape gender-transformative SGBV programming and policy advocacy to promote comprehensive protection initiatives for women, adolescent girls and other marginalized groups. Implemented in ADRA’s GAC-funded TOGETHER project, CoLMEAL enables communities specifically women, adolescent girls, and other marginalized groups in Kenya, Uganda, the Philippines, and Cambodia to identify needs, set goals, and develop solutions that have contributed to a reduction in SGBV. 

The adoption ofColMEAL in the project enhances the effectiveness, accountability and sustainability of interventions by promoting survivor-centered and community-driven approaches. The project uses findings from monitoring to adapt and improve SGBV prevention and response programs.
Further, the project documents and shares lessons learned to inform future interventions and foster collaboration among partners. For example, “27 of rural community groups, comprised of marginalized women and girls, have completed gender-transformative Action Plan addressing SGBV and unintended pregnancies in an inclusive process manner, recognizing the voices and knowledge of local women and girls in preventing and responding to SGBV.

For more information: [email protected].