KAICIID Dialogue360 Monitoring & Evaluation Mission | Nouakchott, Mauritania | May 2026

When Mauritanian civil society organisations gathered in Nouakchott for the third Dialogue360 monitoring and evaluation mission, the question before them was not only what had been implemented. It was what had remained.

In El Jadida's El Mellah neighborhood, inside the old Portuguese city, the sea was close enough to leave its smell on the damp stones. There, at the ancient cistern, a little tale of water began, not as an abstract environmental subject, but as a daily practice that could bring different people together in one meaning.

The warm aroma of spices drifts along Abbas El; Akkad Street in Nasr City; one of Cairo’s main commercial arteries; forming a strange yet familiar blend: the smoky smell of charcoal; grilled shawarma mingles with the rich smell of mandi rising from underground ovens.

For a moment, the silence felt unfamiliar, almost intrusive, after days of reading voices that carried loss, urgency, and a quiet insistence on dignity. As a programme officer, I am trained to evaluate: to assess feasibility, impact, sustainability. To remain structured, fair, and consistent. But this year, the task resisted neat frameworks.