Supporting informed criminal justice systems through data systems.
Context
The Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) is part of the Department of State’s multi-faceted response to transnational crime. INL’s Office of Western Hemisphere Programs (WHP) plays a key role in leading the development and synchronization of U.S. foreign assistance in the region by strengthening criminal justice systems, impeding the movement of illegal narcotics, and minimizing corruption. INL/WHP’s support is tailored to bolster the capacity of partner countries through regional and country-specific programs. These programs are imperative to the efficient administration of effective assistance and accountable reporting to Congress and others in the oversight community.
Approach
Dexis’ 31-person team supports INL/WHP in developing monitoring and evaluation (M&E) policies and procedures; creating performance measures; supporting, managing, and conducting data collection efforts across the hemisphere; and developing an M&E data management system. Dexis creates performance indicators, translates them into a data management system, and designs corresponding reporting templates. The team works in five sectors: transnational organized crime, counter-narcotics, criminal justice, corrections, and border security.
Achievements
Since 2017, Dexis has placed personnel, including sector specialists and data management experts, in 17 different U.S. embassies across the Latin America and Caribbean region to cover programming across 25 countries in the pursuit of providing consistent and high-quality M&E programs. Working closely with the Department of State, the project team created a set of performance management indicators and a database to provide comprehensive reporting and data visualization capabilities to INL/WHP under the first iteration of this project. Under the current follow-on project, staff continue to develop, research, and refine the best indicators to cover all countries across all programming sectors, as well as support data collection, analysis, and reporting on the progress and impact of INL/WHP programs. The Dexis team has regularly exceeded deliverable targets during the life of this project, and both individual project staff and the broader team have been praised by the client for the high quality of our work.
