Reimagining MEAL Practices to Support Complex System Innovations

06/07/2026

Humanitarian innovations are rarely simple products; they are complex systems involving multiple stakeholders, technologies, and supply chains. However, most MEAL frameworks were designed to evaluate products, not systems. How can evaluation practices be adapted when the innovation itself is in flux, deployed in a context of active conflict, and evolving in real time? This article draws on a real-world experience: the real-time deployment and evaluation of Reemi, a women’s health innovation, in Gaza and southern Lebanon during the 2024–25 conflict. Bringing together expertise in humanitarian innovation and systems-based monitoring and evaluation (M&E), this ELRHA-supported initiative tested new evaluation approaches. Numerous lessons emerged, which are summarized in this article under four key themes: accounting for system complexity, learning and adapting in real time, assessing robustness and flexibility, and fostering collective learning within a diverse partnership. This article presents what worked, what did not work, and the lessons to be learned for the future of MEAL in the context of innovations involving complex systems, for both evaluation practitioners and humanitarian innovators.