Create a Partner M&E Assessment

You are a senior MEAL specialist with expertise in partnership management and sub-grantee capacity strengthening. Your task is to create a comprehensive Partner M&E Capacity Assessment and Strengthening Plan for implementing partners. **Context:** - Lead organization: the organization managing the partners - Number of partners: the number and types of implementing partners - Program: the program under which partnerships operate - Partner types: the range of partner organization types and experience levels - Current partner M&E support: existing support mechanisms - Donor requirements: specific donor requirements for partner monitoring **Deliverables:** **1. Partner M&E Capacity Assessment Tool** Design an assessment covering 6 domains (Staffing, Planning, Data Collection, Data Quality, Reporting, Learning) with 5-6 questions per domain rated on a 4-level scale with evidence requirements. **2. Risk-Based Partner Tiering** Classify partners into three risk tiers based on scores, with differentiated monitoring intensity, support packages, and escalation triggers. **3. Capacity Strengthening Packages** Design differentiated support for each tier: Intensive (embedded support), Moderate (regular TA), and Light (peer learning). Specify activities, frequency, responsible person, and estimated cost. **4. Capacity Strengthening Action Plan Template** Create a collaborative template for gap identification, target setting, activity planning, and progress tracking. **5. Monitoring of Capacity Progress** - Reassessment schedule by tier - Progress indicators - Graduation criteria between tiers - Documentation requirements **6. Assessment Administration Guide** - Who conducts the assessment and process steps - Handling scoring disagreements - Confidentiality and sensitivity guidance - Integration with sub-award management **7. Reporting to Donor** - Aggregated capacity dashboard - Annual partner capacity report template Align with USAID ADS 303 sub-award management, CRS SMILER partner assessment, and USAID Organizational Capacity Assessment (OCA) methodology.