The Livelihoods and Food Security Trust Fund (LIFT) is
a multi-donor fund established in 2010 to address food insecurity and income
poverty in Myanmar. LIFT has received funding from 14 donors – the United
Kingdom, the European Union, Australia, Switzerland, Denmark, the United
States, the Netherlands, Sweden, France, Luxembourg, Italy, New Zealand,
Ireland and Mitsubishi Corporation. The United Nations Office for Project
Services (UNOPS) is the Fund Manager to administer the funds and provide
monitoring and oversight.
The overall goal of LIFT is to sustainably reduce the
number of people living in poverty and hunger in Myanmar. LIFT’s purpose is to strengthen the resilience and sustainable
livelihoods of poor people in Myanmar. LIFT’s purpose-level outcomes are
increased income, decreased vulnerability, improved nutrition, and pro-poor
policy developments.
LIFT works with implementing partners that include
international and national non-government organisations, United Nations
agencies, the Government of Myanmar, private sector organisations, academic and
research institutions.
LIFT is active in the four main agro-ecological zones
of Myanmar: the Ayeyarwady Delta, the Rakhine State, the central dry zone
(including Mandalay, Magway and the southern Sagaing region), and the upland
areas of Chin, Kachin, Kayah, Kayin and Shan States and Tanintharyi Region.
So far, LIFT has reached more than 7.2 million people,
or roughly 20 per cent of Myanmar’s population; and is active in almost half
the country’s townships. LIFT is funding projects through to June 2019. For
more details visit www.lift-fund.org.
LIFT’s Monitoring and Evaluation for Learning
and Accountability
In early 2015, LIFT redesigned its approach and
methods for monitoring and evaluation in order to better fit LIFT’s revised
strategy, to increase the accuracy and relevance of M&E results, and to
provide a more intentional focus on learning. This change in focus resulted in
the development of a new Monitoring and Evaluation for Accountability and
Learning (MEAL) framework. The aim is to
increase the capacity of LIFT and its partners to generate and use robust
evidence both to measure and improve performance and to influence rural
development policy and practice in Myanmar. The development and implementation
of this framework entails a significant upgrading of M&E systems,
capacities and practices within the FMO, programmes and amongst implementing
partners. The different components of
LIFT’s MEAL framework are implemented by FMO’s Programme Unit and/or
implementing partners staff.
Currently, LIFT has over 60 grant agreements with
implementing partners. Implementing partners include international and national
NGOs, research institutes, Government partners and UN agencies. In the MEAL Framework, mid-term and final evaluations are important
tools in the project cycle to monitor, evaluate and learn from the various
outputs and outcomes.
LIFT is
now looking to hire evaluators on a retainer basis to assist Mid-Term
Evaluation and Final Evaluation of these projects.