Banyan Global and its partner, Social Impact, implement the Program Cycle Support (PCS) Activity to help the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and its partners be more efficient, effective, and transparent in achieving program results through the use of evidence, performance management techniques, and Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting (CLA) practices. The PCS Activity has two main objectives:

1. Support the achievement of program development results through the use of evidence, performance management techniques, and CLA; and
2. Strengthen USAID/Vietnam staff and partners’ capacity to achieve expected development results.

To achieve these objectives, the PCS Activity:

• Conducts research and evaluations to inform decision-making throughout the program cycle, including desk reviews, context monitoring, activity reviews, gender and inclusion analyses, and midterm and final evaluations.
• Supports USAID in activity, project, and strategy design through co-creation and co-design with local stakeholders, integrating CLA into solicitation documents, and supporting the project approval process with the Government of Vietnam.
• Provides technical assistance in performance tracking and learning, including support to developing and refining MEL plans, enhancing USAID and implementing partners’ use of the Development Information Solution (DIS), and conducting data reviews and data quality assessments.
• Strengthens USAID and implementing partner MEL and CLA capacity through training and peer exchanges, activity MEL plan clinics, coaching and on-the-job support, and organizational development support for local implementing partners.
• Facilitates pause and reflect sessions, retreats, and the development of learning agendas with USAID and implementing partners to strengthen learning throughout the program cycle.