The OU team has worked across a number of countries, but that is not the indicator of our success. Our success is the depth to which we work to understand the countries, sectors, economies, and cultures at play and how we harness this information to support sustainable change.
Some Examples of What We Do
Market Development Facility
The Market Development Facility (MDF), one of the Australian Government’s flagship programs, promotes sustainable economic development for men and women. From 2011 to 2018, Harald started and built up MDF from a single country, four-person team to a leading international AUD 48 million private sector engagement program, with more than 120 staff in five countries. He led technical innovation in applying market systems development in thin, shallow markets, developed a systemic business-case approach to WEE, and pioneered a new approach to mapping and measuring systemic change, which put MDF on the global map. Muja held numerous roles with MDF, beginning with results measurement and moving into management as Country Director for Timor-Leste, followed by Papua New Guinea and Fiji. Muneeb worked as a business adviser, Results Measurement/Women’s Economic Empowerment lead, and country coordinator for MDF Pakistan from 2016 to 2019, signing partnership deals with private sector stakeholders, implementing a gender-inclusive framework, and leading the in-country MRM efforts. Nabanita supported the development of MDF’s Results Measurement initiative from 2016 to 2018 helping prepare MDF country teams for successfully undertaking DCED audits.
Katalyst
Katalyst is globally known as one of the biggest and oldest programs applying the Making Markets Work for the Poor (M4P) or, more recently, Market Systems Development (MSD) approach. Harald was a part of the core management team between 2004 and 2008 and implemented and managed hallmark interventions that demonstrated the potential of private sector engagement for sustainable pro-poor outcomes at a significant scale. As part of the management team, he was a key contributor to developing the first M4P program that broke conventional norms and placed an emphasis on in-house learning, nurturing an entrepreneurial culture, and developing a flat team structure to support creativity and learning. Nabanita worked in the results measurement system between 2006 and 2009 and helped in developing a world-class monitoring system which has led to the development of the DCED Standard for results measurement. Muja also worked in the results measurement system from 2009 to 2011, further advancing the system to measure impact on a complex array of interventions. He helped Katalyst prepare and undergo a successful audit against the DCED Standard.
REACH-Uganda
The Resilient Efficient Agribusiness Chains (REACH) program aims to improve farmer’s market engagement, strengthen household resilience, and increase the availability of agriculture support services for farmers by applying a market systems development approach. Harald conducted a mid-term evaluation of the program and has been providing technical backstopping support to formulate strategies and design partnerships for rice and potato value chains since 2019. He has worked with the country team to design innovative interventions and monitoring progress to inform management decisions. Since 2019, Muneeb has supported the country team to strengthen monitoring and results measurement practices according to the DCED Standard. He has also led the team in developing logical results chains, measurement plans, research, and in results aggregation for communicating program impact to external stakeholders and donors.
SHARPE
Through the innovative use of an adapted MSD approach, the Strengthening Host and Refugee Populations program works to inclusively and sustainably empower refugees and host communities to become more economically resilient. Harald has been leading the program through the inception phase since 2019. He developed the market systems development strategy in support of integrating refugee communities in the local economy in three regions. He led the technical program team recruitment and re-arranged the team’s organizational structure for more effective implementation. Muneeb has supported SHARPE since 2019, designing a monitoring and results measurement template for recording against relevant indicators, results chains and framing measurement plans. Harald, Muneeb and Muja are also working with the SHARPE team to design partnership scoping efforts and develop business plans and partnerships with relevant private sector stakeholders in support of program outcomes.
The WorldFish Center, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)
WorldFish Center and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) are members of the global CGIAR research network. Their aim is ‘research for development’ in support of global food security. Harald led a team to develop recommendations on how to strengthen the systemic function of both research centers by reinforcing positive feedback loops between research and the application of the same in development practice. Harald and his team investigated how both centers could develop joint research agendas around shared themes such as genetic animal improvement, sustainable feed supplies, disease control and animal and human health, and sustainable nutrition diets. Harald and the team also investigated how these agendas could be used for comprehensive development programming for food security, offering scope to address national or regional nutrition needs in a balanced and sustainable manner - in line with the EAT Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems.
Donor Committee for Enterprise Development (DCED)
The DCED is a forum for learning about the most effective ways to create economic opportunities for the poor, based on practical experience in Private Sector Development (PSD). Nabanita has been working with DCED since 2010 to support the work on results measurement which aims to identify ways to improve the practice of measuring results on the ground. She supports the development of the DCED Standard for Results Measurement which is a framework outlining the best practices to doing results measurement using a mixed-methods, theory-based approach that is used by 150 projects in more than 50 countries. Nabanita helps in preparing theoretical guidance, examples and knowledge on best practices in results measurement and dissemination of the information across different stakeholders such as programs, consultants and donors. Since 2020, Muneeb has also joined DCED to support further development and rollout of the DCED Standard for Results Measurement.