Saturday, October 15, 2016

Monitoring and Evaluation


Monitoring and Evaluation :


Monitoring is the systematic and routine collection of information from projects and programmes for four main purposes:
  • To learn from experiences to improve practices and activities in the future;
  • To have internal and external accountability of the resources used and the results obtained;
  • To take informed decisions on the future of the initiative;
  • To promote empowerment of beneficiaries of the initiative.

Monitoring is the systematic process of collecting, analyzing and using information to track a programme’s progress toward reaching its objectives and to guide management decisions. Monitoring usually focuses on processes, such as when and where activities occur, who delivers them and how many people or entities they reach.
Monitoring is conducted after a programme has begun and continues throughout the programme implementation period. Monitoring is sometimes referred to as process, performance or formative evaluation. (Adapted from Gage and Dunn 2009, Frankel and Gage 2007, and PATH Monitoring and Evaluation Initiative)
Monitoring is a periodically recurring task already beginning in the planning stage of a project or programme. Monitoring allows results, processes and experiences to be documented and used as a basis to steer decision-making and learning processes. Monitoring is checking progress against plans. The data acquired through monitoring is used for evaluation.
Evaluation is assessing, as systematically and objectively as possible, a completed project or programme (or a phase of an ongoing project or programme that has been completed). Evaluations appraise data and information that inform strategic decisions, thus improving the project or programme in the future.

Evaluation is the systematic assessment of an activity, project, programme, strategy, policy, topic, theme, sector, operational area or institution’s performance. Evaluation focuses on expected and achieved accomplishments, examining the results chain (inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes and impacts), processes, contextual factors and causality, in order to understand achievements or the lack of achievements. Evaluation aims at determining the relevance, impact, effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability of interventions and the contributions of the intervention to the results achieved. (Adapted from Gage and Dunn 2009, Frankel and Gage 2007)
An evaluation should provide evidence-based information that is credible, reliable and useful.  The findings, recommendations and lessons of an evaluation should be used to inform the future decision-making processes regarding the programme.
Evaluations should help to draw conclusions about five main aspects of the intervention:
  • relevance
  • effectiveness
  • efficiency
  • impact
  • sustainability
Information gathered in relation to these aspects during the monitoring process provides the basis for the evaluative analysis.

Monitoring & Evaluation is an embedded concept and constitutive part of every project or programme design (“must be”). M&E is not an imposed control instrument by the donor or an optional accessory (“nice to have”) of any project or programme. M&E is ideally understood as dialogue on development and its progress between all stakeholders.

In general, monitoring is integral to evaluation. During an evaluation, information from previous monitoring processes is used to understand the ways in which the project or programme developed and stimulated change. Monitoring focuses on the measurement of the following aspects of an intervention:
  • On quantity and quality of the implemented activities (outputs: What do we do? How do we manage our activities?)
  • On processes inherent to a project or programme (outcomes: What were the effects /changes that occurred as a result of your intervention?)
  • On processes external to an intervention (impact: Which broader, long-term effects were triggered by the implemented activities in combination with other environmental factors?)
  • The evaluation process is an analysis or interpretation of the collected data which delves deeper into the relationships between the results of the project/programme, the effects produced by the project/programme and the overall impact of the project/programme.

Importance of monitoring and evaluation 


Monitoring and evaluation are critical for building a strong, evidence base for assessing the wide, diverse range of interventions being implemented .It is a tool for identifying and documenting successful programmes and approaches and tracking progress toward common indicators across related projects. Monitoring and evaluation forms the basis of strengthening understanding around the many multi-layered factors and the effectiveness of the response at the stakeholders level like school management, affiliating bodies, principal,community, parents etc 

At the programme level, the purpose of monitoring and evaluation is to track implementation and outputs systematically, and measure the effectiveness of programmes. It helps determine exactly when a programme is on track and when changes may be needed. Monitoring and evaluation forms the basis for modification of interventions and assessing the quality of activities being conducted.
Monitoring and evaluation can be used to demonstrate that programme efforts have had a measurable impact on expected outcomes and have been implemented effectively. It is essential in helping managers, planners, implementers, policy makers and donors acquire the information and understanding they need to make informed decisions about programme operations.

Monitoring and evaluation helps with identifying the most valuable and efficient use of resources. It is critical for developing objective conclusions regarding the extent to which programmes can be judged a “success”. Monitoring and evaluation together provide the necessary data to guide strategic planning, to design and implement programmes and projects, and to allocate, and re-allocate resources in better ways.

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