This community innovation has been accepted at the 2026 DHIS2 Annual Conference as a digital poster.
From Excel Chaos to Data-Driven MEL Using DHIS2
The journey from disaggregated data collection instruments to a solid and integrated Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) system is fraught with challenges to many organizations, both governmental and non governmental, that work in resource constrained environments. This abstract is a case study on an organization that was running projects related to Maternal and Child Health (MCH) and supply chain management that initially used different tools that were not similar (Excel, Google sheets, ODK, and even Asana) to manage projects. This led to data silos, inefficiency and lack of analytical capabilities to support effective programmatic decision making, until they implement DHIS2. Intervention: Using my previous knowledge of DHIS2, I led the customization and implementation of DHIS2 as the overall MEL platform of the organization. This strategic change was to centralize data, simplify reporting and maximize the use of data on district, zonal and regional levels. Findings: The shift to DHIS2 had the positive effect. The ease of use and feel, the ability to collect offline data, and the ability to visualize the data significantly contributed to the high user satisfaction levels. The improved information security and flexibility of DHIS2 allowed ensuring that the system would satisfy more specific demands of different stakeholders, including field level data collectors and national program managers. This transformation allowed to leave behind the data collection routine and built a dynamic MEL system that allowed to make evidence based programmatic changes and enhance accountability. DHIS2 demonstrated its flexibility as it can be not only used as a traditional health facility related data but also as a fundamental MEL infrastructure of a big organization.
Primary Author: Tsegaye Shewangzaw
Keywords:
MEL, Integration, ease-of-use, DHIS2, Customization
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