The monitoring of outputs will be conducted on the basis of the following indicators:

The National Foreign Trade Policy of India will include more social and political inputs from policy-makers and civil society actors.

The Government of India will be in a better position to mainstream international trade into national development

The influence of various campaigns on sustainable rural livelihoods in India and other related campaigns incorporating inputs from the grassroots will be increased.

After the implementation period, the development partners will be requested to engage an independent agency to evaluate the results and impact of the project. In addition, there will be a continuous evaluation by CUTS CITEE according to the MEALS (Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Systems) Framework.

MEALS Framework

Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Systems (MEALS) is an interactive framework for monitoring and evaluation. The key components of the system are depicted below.

The framework includes the execution of desk reviews, variance analysis and the assessment of technical reports from project partners to identify areas of concern. Key project inputs, processes and outputs to generate factual information are then analyzed. This information is presented at a forum to take informed decisions on project objectives, activities, action plans, cross-learning opportunities, information dissemination and feedback in order to improve the overall programme quality. It involves extensive participation of targeted beneficiaries through assessment workshops and organizational self-assessment of the project partners. These exercises result in institutional capacity development and increased intervention effectiveness. The process also includes the creation of a knowledge base documenting national experiences and key learning aspects.