Exigo provides M&E services for humanitarian and development practitioners, to inform their programming throughout their design, implementation and closing phases by offering services such as baseline and needs assessments, third-party monitoring, and mid-term and final evaluations.
Exigo produces various multimedia such as digital images, video, audio, and animation to disseminate evidence-based information for awareness-raising campaigns, advocacy, and educational purposes.
Stakeholder analyses, knowledge, attitude & practices (KAP) studies, mapping and exploratory studies are examples of research services provided by Exigo.
Stakeholder consultations: During the inception phase of our research and M&E projects, Exigo meets experts, beneficiaries, local community representatives and other informed individuals to ensure a relevant and appropriate design. Desk review: A thourough desk review process helps us identify research gaps, understand the context and validate our findings.
Extensive researcher network: Exigo maintains a roster of trained and experienced data collectors across the communities where we work. This roster allows us to recruit enumerators and qualitative interviewers with relevant professional backgrounds, language skills and sectorial experiences at short notice.
Through our communication strategy we reach various target groups to disseminate our research findings. Exigo is aware that certain information useful for a stakeholder may not be useful to others. Information is therefore presented in a format to meet the specific information needs of intended audiences. At Exigo we strive to document lessons learned from past experiences, from both research and M&E efforts, to inform future interventions and policy. Learning and sharing of valuable knowledge is an integral part of our mission.
Technical expertise informed by local knowledge: We adapt our work to local realities, dynamics and sensitivities, and for this we rely on our local researchers from the communities where the research is undertaken. Our projects teams consist of a mix of international technical experts who work closely with local researchers. This approach ensures the relevance, appropriateness and sensitivity of our projects to local contexts.
Accuracy and accountability: At Exigo we put great importance in data quality and accountability. In addition to providing project specific trainings for field teams, we also rely on technological tools that help us monitor data collectors while in the field. Data is received on a daily basis and reviewed in real-time to ensure completeness, consistency and accuracy.
Safe and ethical data management: We use safe and reliable cloud services for data storage and sharing, as well as data security software to protect our data from unauthorized access, prevent data loss and ensure compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other international frameworks.
The Health sector in the humanitarian field is wide-ranging and comprises interventions ranging from Mental Health and Psycho-social Support (MHPSS), Primary Health Care, and sexual and reproductive health services, to responses to public health threats, communicable and non-communicable diseases, and emergency services. Within each of these areas, clarity and timeliness of information is essential, and M&E helps to gather data together, evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of various interventions and health care systems for different population groups, and advise accordingly. Important mechanisms also offered by Exigo include the formulation of lessons learned and best practices, captured from data collection and summarised for clients. Exigo adheres to strict confidentiality and sensitivity when carrying out studies related to the Health sector.
The field and approach of early recovery addresses needs that arise during the early stages of a humanitarian crisis. It aims at building initial development procedures that give way to strengthening resilience and establishing sustainability throughout the phases of recovery from an emergency or disaster. M&E is very important during these early stages to ensure that programmes are accurately and appropriately addressing the needs of beneficiaries and those impacted by crises - in a timely and evidence-based manner. Exigo provides services here to recovery interventions and offers concrete recommendations for humanitarian actors working within this sector - based on community consultation and data-driven findings.
Exigo’s services in the Education sector frequently lie in reporting on educational initiatives and collecting high-quality and reliable data to be able to assess the effectiveness of programmes across the humanitarian field. We particularly value the importance of understanding and gathering data on sustainability of interventions in the education field. Other key areas to evaluate - often at the baseline or endline of a project - include stakeholder relationships/coordination, educational infrastructure, capacity and inclusivity in a given area or location. Past examples of research we have worked on include evaluating NGO projects which focus on enhancing access for vulnerable and/or crisis-affected youth and children to programmes aimed at building life skills or offering early learning and development, non-formal, or remedial education sessions.
The sector of Food Security encompasses responses to the nutritional needs of populations who are affected or at risk of being affected by humanitarian crises. M&E in this field is essential for coordination purposes, understanding preparedness, formulating responses and recovery strategies, and addressing priority needs. It allows stakeholders to fully understand the operational context and economic vulnerabilities present in the areas where they are working, and plan accordingly. Exigo has in the past offered services such as vulnerability assessments, developing frameworks and indicators for humanitarian actors, monitoring and measuring outputs and outcomes, such as the effectiveness of cash-based assistance schemes, as well as conducting market assessments and evaluations of commodity availabilities, constraints, and prices. Food security assessments here also include analysis of at-risk groups, livelihood strategies, and coping mechanisms and their interconnectedness with food security.
The Nutrition sector in the humanitarian field relates to strategising on a community, national, regional, and global level to address malnutrition rates, particularly in emergency situations or among vulnerable groups, such as those displaced. The sector is often interlinked with Food Security, WaSH, Shelter and Health responses. Exigo offers services to those in this field by conducting assessments to measure the nutritional statuses of groups or individuals, including identifying and analysing prevalence rates of malnutrition, care practices, and underlying causes of malnutrition.
The field of Protection in the humanitarian sector can encompass a range of foci, including but not limited to: Child Protection; Mental Health and Psycho-Social Support (MHPSS), Sexual and Gender-based Violence (SGBV); LGBTQ+ rights and treatment; and Disability Inclusiveness. M&E here is essential to identify gaps in protection services, such as referral mechanisms and cross-stakeholder coordination, and to suggest changes in and routes for interventions in the sector. Exigo offers mechanisms and resources for monitoring the effectiveness and sustainability, for example, of services, programmes, and policies within the protection approach. Our work here contributes to improving policy and future interventions in Protection topics, as well as ensuring and enhancing accountability. Exigo itself follows strict procedures for managing sensitive and confidential information, recognising that work in Protection requires the utmost professional standards. Past examples of research we have carried out in this sector include baseline and endline assessments for Child Protection and Psychosocial Support Interventions.
Within many of the contexts in which Exigo works, Shelter - for example in refugee camps or Informal Tented Settlements - is a priority sector in the humanitarian sphere, guided by the principle of and right to access to adequate housing and safe, sustainable living environments in humanitarian contexts. We provide services for monitoring and evaluating different phases of shelter, infrastructural and distribution projects, assessing whether key indicators are being met, identifying challenges, as well as offering summaries of best practices and recommendations to clients. Our evaluations here in the past have been based on in-person and onsite observation and evaluation, community participation and consultation, as well as extensive qualitative and quantitative data collection.
The WaSH sector aims at securing the access of all people, including at-risk groups such as women and children in refugee and IDP communities, to sufficient and safe water, gender-appropriate sanitation and hygiene facilities. Generating knowledge and collecting data on existing WaSH facilities, gaps and needs, and various humanitarian interventions allows stakeholders to strengthen strategies to improve WaSH systems and continue to improve the lives of vulnerable persons. Given the importance of community engagement in the WaSH sector, M&E assignments in this sector are best when participatory and consultative with the given population, allowing humanitarian actors to understand pre-existing perceptions, needs, practices, mechanisms and capacities related to WaSH, and thus to respond appropriately. Exigo offers this in the form of research and M&E consultancies related to the WaSH sector, and including market-based assessments of hygiene products, identification of at risk groups and needs, and assessments of WaSH programmes and infrastructure.
Allowing for sustainable development in crisis or poverty-affected areas requires an environmental approach. The Environment sector focuses on integrating environmental knowledge and procedure into humanitarian operations - and also into other sectors such as Early Recovery, Health and Nutrition - in order to ensure effectiveness, sustainability and accountability. Understanding how people are affected by their environment allows for relevant mitigation procedures and can help formulate sustainable responses for past and future crises. Exigo recognises the value and necessity of producing and disseminating environment-based knowledge and information and thus offers services in research, monitoring and evaluation related to this field.
The Governance sector focuses on local or national level decision-making, with the aim of making it more inclusive and participatory. It often involves advocating for the greater transparency, accountability, responsiveness, and accessibility of governance policies, communications, and institutions, opening them up to disadvantaged or marginalised groups (such as youth, women, refugees/IDPs, and persons with disabilities) and ensuring that the voices of community members are heard in decisions that affect them. The sector is interconnected with topics which authoritative bodies directly influence, such as Health, Livelihoods, Shelter, and Education, as well as Social Cohesion among different population groups. Exigo has worked on a number of projects in this field by, for example, conducting stakeholder mapping of key governance institutions and stakeholders, alongside carrying out baseline and endline assessments for development organisations working on improving collaboration between local leaders and their constituents.
The Livelihoods sector prioritises longer-term stabilisation and recovery in crisis or post-crisis environments through improving access to employment and income opportunities. Often, it focuses on alleviating socio-economic struggles of particularly vulnerable groups, such as displaced persons and persons with disabilities. Exigo recognises that this approach can be multi-sectoral, integrating, for example, social cohesive agendas. Exigo has worked on M&E consultancies for organisations working in the Livelihoods sector, providing value chain analysis, needs assessments, as well as baseline and endline reports which assess the effectiveness and the impact of responses related to employment and income generation. Humanitarian actors are thus able to learn, innovate and implement improvements based on monitoring and evaluation results, which can act as feedback mechanisms for beneficiaries. Disaggregation of data across area (for example, rural versus urban), sex, nationality and disability is particularly relevant for tailoring programming interventions for those with specific needs.
The peacebuilding sector, often incorporated into development and humanitarian fields, works in conflict and post-conflict societies at addressing the socio-economic and political causes of violence. It often aims at fostering rehabilitation and reconciliation to halt conflict as well as prevent the return of violence in its many forms. Exigo has worked with a number of organisations that focus on securing and maintaining peace in different communities and among different groups, offering both its research and M&E services. Other services provided by Exigo include stakeholder mapping as well as conflict analyses of given regions and locations - incorporating evaluation of themes such as host-refugee relations, social cohesion, youth empowerment, women, peace and security - and offering recommendations for peacebuilding and policymaking.
Promoting social cohesion among different population groups, such as refugees and host communities, or across political, religious and economic divides, is often at the heart of sustainable development projects. The sector focuses on triggers that drive tensions and divisions, such as: perceptions and stigmatisation across community groups; economic pressures and competition; perceptions of unbalanced aid or assistance; long-held or generational conflicts; and so on. Exigo offers its services here in both research - particularly in relation to uncovering perceptions and root causes of inter and intra-communal tensions - as well as M&E expertise for projects centred on or involving social cohesion and stability interventions. Our focus on data disaggregation across nationality, sex, age, disability, and religion, for example, can help show distinct needs or trends in divisions, in turn identifying context-driven paths forward.
