Monitoring

Monitoring forms part of the project cycle:• Project Identification• Planning• Appraisal - Decision• Implementation – Monitoring• Evaluation

• Difference between Monitoring and Evaluation

Source: Sida Evaluation Manual

Planning spectra

• Strategic plans

• Short and medium term planning (e.g. annual budget of the GoM)

• Projects and Programmes

Monitoring

Monitoring is carried out at different levels

The concept monitoring is predominant in international co-operation

Monitoring for whom and for what?

• Monitoring is primarily a management tool and the point of departure should be at the lowest level possible (practical)

• The monitoring information gathered at lower levels must also serve the needs of higher levels

• Too often lots of information is gathered and very little is ever used. – Wasting scarce resources!

• Too often higher levels over-burden lower levels with demand for information! In some countries extension agents spend a major part of their time preparing reports!!!!

Some levels

• Family (monitoring the activities of children)• Village level• District level• Provincial level• National level• SSA• Global

Bottom-up approach very much needed!

For example

• In a public extension system there may be 50 districts involved out of a total of ??. There may be 250 extension agents. Reaching how many families?

• Each district would have to prepare a report for the national system.

• The number of families, male/female farmers visited per month is obviously one way to monitor the extension system

Cont’d

• At the district level there is a need to think about the impact of the programme.

• What are the results of these visits?

• At the national level (and higher levels) the impact of the programme is obviously an essential question. - Development objective(s) and immediate objectives (outcome) are of key concern.

Cont’d

• In addition there must exist a functioning accounting system – simple in theory but difficult in practice

• At the national level one would like to know that the increase in the standard of living of the families in district 1,2,3 … cost ?? MZM.

Emerging focus on: Performance Monitoring and Evaluation

Performance monitoring and Evaluation - PME

• The following is largely based on a short publication by USAID

• The sub-title is Preparing a Performance Monitoring Plan - PMP

• It is mainly designed for the various operating units (responsible for more than one project)

• Can also be called on-going evaluation

PMP

• A detailed definition of each performance indicator (objectively verifiable indicator)

• The source, method, frequency and schedule of data collection

• The office, team or individual responsible for ensuring data are available or on schedule

• How the performance data will be analyzed• How it will be reported, reviewed, and used to

inform decision makers

The indicators should be SMART

• Specific

• Measurable

• Available at acceptable cost

• Relevant

• Time bound

Why are PMPs important?

• assures that comparable data are collected,

• on a regular and timely basis

• it is important to think through data collection, analysis, reporting and review as an integrated process

Plans for data collection

• A few key indicators for each strategic objective, strategic support objectives and special objectives and intermediate results (see LFA)

• Furthermore, it is useful to include in the PMP lower-level indicators of inputs, outputs, and processes at the activity level, and how they will be monitored and linked higher level objectives.

• Base line data should be available!

Performance Indicators

• Detailed definition

• Including unit of measurement

• The definition should be detailed enough to ensure that different people at different times, given the task of collecting data for a given indicator, would collect identical types of data.

Data Source

• Be as specific as possible (public entities, NGOs, private firms …)

• Switching data sources often lead to inconsistencies

• Strengthening capacity might be necessary

Data collection methods - consider

• The unit of analysis (individuals, families, communities, clinics, wells …)

• Need for disaggregating data (gender, age, location …)

• Sampling techniques

• Methods to be used for the sample

To be considered

• Secondary data – provide and explain the method used, source

• Quality and reliability. Secondary data often cheaper to obtain.

• Provide sufficient detail on the data collection or calculation method to enable it to be replicated

Frequency

• Management needs for timely information for decision-making

• Frequency depends on the objective(s) – every six months – every 5 years.

• Responsibilities have to be assigned.

Use of information

• The PMP should include data analysis, reporting, review and use

• How will the data be analyzed?• Disaggregated data – how will they be

compared?• How will actual performance be compared with

– Past performance– Planned or targeted performance– Other relevant benchmarks

Cost effectiveness

• Plan for using performance data to compare systematically alternative program approaches in terms of costs as well as results.

For discussion

• There are many donors (bi- and multi-lateral) and NGOs active in Mozambique

• Aid and emergency relief have become big business

• There is a tendency for each actor to have:– Its own reporting system involving financial reporting

and monitoring– Review teams– Evaluation teams