1.1 The Need for Monitoring and Evaluation

There are many reasons for carrying out project M&E.

• Project managers and other stakeholders (including donors) need to know the extent to which their projects are meeting their objectives and leading to their desired effects.

• M&E build greater transparency and accountability in terms of use of project resources.

• Information generated through M&E provide project staff with a clearer basis for decision-making.

• Future project planning and development is improved when guided by lessons learned from project experience.

1.2 Project Monitoring

Monitoring represents an on-going activity to track project progress against planned tasks. It aims at providing regular oversight of the implementation of an activity in terms of input delivery, work schedules, targeted outputs, etc. Through such routine data gathering, analysis and reporting, program/project monitoring aims at:

Project Monitoring

1) Providing project management, staff and other stakeholders with information on whether progress is being made towards achieving project objectives. In this regard, monitoring represents a continuous assessment of project implementation in relation to project plans, resources, infrastructure, and use of services by project beneficiaries.

2) Providing regular feedback to enhance the ongoing learningexperience and to improve the planning process and effectiveness of interventions.

3) Increasing project accountability with donors and other stakeholders.

Project Monitoring4) Enabling managers and staff to identify and reinforce initial positive project results, strengths and successes. As well, monitoring alerts managers to actual and potential project weaknesses, problems and shortcomings before it is too late. This would provide managers with the opportunity to make timely adjustments and corrective actions to improve the program/project design, work plan and implementation strategies.

5) Checking on conditions or situations of a target group, and changes brought about by project activities. In this regard, monitoring assists project management to check whether the project continues to be relevant to the target group and/or geographical area, and whether project assumptions are still valid.

Project Monitoring

Monitoring actions must be undertaken throughout the lifetime of the project. Ad hoc evaluation research might be needed when unexpected problems arise for which planned monitoring activities cannot generate sufficient information, or when socio economic or environmental conditions change drastically in the target area.

Effective monitoring needs adequate planning, baseline data, indicators of performance, and results and practical implementation mechanisms that include actions such as field visits, stakeholder meetings, documentation of project activities, regular reporting, etc. Project monitoring is normally carried out by project management, staff and other stakeholders.

Suggested Monitoring Table

Microsoft Office Word 97 - 2003 Document

Activityالنشاط :

Actions taken or work performed through which inputs, such as funds, technical assistance and other types of resources are mobilized to produce specific outputs.

محددة، مخرجات إلنتاج تنجز أعمال تتخذ،أو إجراءاتوالمساعدة كاألموال مدخالت تعبئة خالل من وذلك

. الموارد من وغيرها الفنية

Inputsالمدخالت :

The financial, human, and material resources used for the development intervention.

االنمائي للتدخل تسخر ومادية وبشرية مالية موارد

كمية • ما ) – Quantitativeمؤشرات أمر تكرارالنمو – - ....( نسبة المشاركين عدد

نوعية • الرضا ) – Qualitativeمؤشرت مدىاألداء – - ...( تغيير القرار اتخاذ عل القدرة

• – – – : محددة كافية مناسبة تكون أن يجبمتوفرة – – مكلفة غير للقياس قابلة

زمنية: – – QQTمصطلح • مدة نوعية أو كيفية كميةThe Term QQT is often used to ensure that

indicators are specific .QQT stands for:QUANTITY: The extent of the change – by how

much , how many.QUALITY: the kind of changeTIME: by when the change should take place

Indicators & Evidenceفزمني • فكيفي كمي محدد إضافة ثم بسيط بمؤشر البدء

Example 1:

Step 1: BASIC INDICATOR Health strategic plans developed

Step 2: ADD QUANTITY 75% of Health Committees have documented strategic plans

Step 3: ADD QUALITY 75 % of Health Committees have documented strategic plans approved by primary stakeholders, including community representatives

Step 4: ADD TIME 75 % of Health Committees have documented strategic plans approved by primary stakeholders, including community representatives, by the end of year 2

قد ) • العامة األهداف مستوى على المؤشرات) المشروع مدة خارج تكون

التحديد • صعبة الهدف مستوى على المؤشراتوالنتائج • المخرجات مستوى على المؤشرات

الشروط – دفاتر في تستخدم l تحديدا أسهلتتضمن • النشاطات مستوى على المؤشرات

مؤشرات l وأحيانا الموازنة أو المدخالت عادةالمعقدة والمخرجات للنتائج التقدم

Indicators & Evidence

• :l أيضا التحقق طرق تسمى Means)البراهينof Verification)

سيقوم • ومن ونوعها المعلومات مصدر تحددوزمانه الجمع تكرار ومدى وتوثيقها بجمعها

مكلفة – – • غير متوفرة تكون أن يحبالمطلوب الزمن ضمن وتتحقق

Developing "Good" Indicators

In deciding what indicators you want to put in, ask yourself these questions:

•How will I know if the program worked? •How will I know if the program has been successful?

Imagine the project is funded and it has been completed.  You are very happy because it was successful and had an improved the quality of life of people who are paralyzed?  Specifically, what does this mean?  What will have changed?  What does "success" mean for the project?

"Outputs" And "Outcomes“

Most of the indicators you'll include will be either "outputs" or "outcomes". An output is a number. Examples include:

•An increase in the number of people served •An increase in the amount of time each client is served •A decrease in a waiting list •An increase in the geographical area served

An outcome, on the other hand, is typically a change in someone's attitude, knowledge or behavior.  Examples include:

•Increases in someone's knowledge about a topic •Higher levels of satisfaction, happiness or quality of life •Changes in behavior •Changes in attitude

1.3 Project Evaluation

Program/project evaluation represents a systematic and objective assessment of ongoing or completed projects or programs in terms oftheir design, implementation and results. In addition, evaluations usually deal with strategic issues such as program/project relevance, effectiveness, efficiency (expected and unexpected), in the light of specified objectives, as well as program/project impact and sustainability.

1.3 Project Evaluation

Periodic evaluations of ongoing projects are conducted to review implementation progress, predict project's likely effects and highlight necessary adjustments in project design. Terminal evaluations (or final evaluations) are evaluations carried out at the end of a project to provide an overall assessment of project performance and effects/impact, as well as to assess the extent to which the project has succeeded in meeting their objectives and their potential sustainability.

Project EvaluationThere are many reasons for conducting an evaluation,

including:

1) Providing managers with information regarding project performance. Project plans might change during the implementation process. Evaluations can verify if the program is really running as originally planned. In addition, they provide signs of project strengths and weaknesses, and therefore, enable managers to improve future planning, delivery of services and decision-making.

2) Assisting project managers, staff and other stakeholders to determine in a systematic and objective manner the relevance, effectiveness, and efficiency of activities (expected and unexpected) in light of specified objectives.

Project Evaluation3) Mid-term evaluations may serve as a means of validating

the results of initial assessments obtained from project monitoring activities.

4) If conducted after the termination of a program/project, an evaluation determines the extent to which the interventions are successful in terms of their impact and sustainability of results.

5) Assisting managers to carry out a thorough review and re-thinking about their projects in terms of their goals and objectives, and means to achieve them.

Project Evaluation6) Generating detailed information about project

implementation process and results. Such information can be used for public relations, fundraising, promotion of services in the community, as well as identifying possibilities for project replication.

7) Improving the learning process. Evaluations often document and explain the causes as to why activities succeeded or failed. Such documentation can help in making future activities more relevant and effective.

1.4 Relationship between Monitoring andEvaluation

Monitoring and evaluation are two different management tools that are closely related, interactive and mutually supportive. Through routine tracking of project progress, monitoring can provide quantitative and qualitative data useful for designing and implementing project evaluation exercises. On the other hand, evaluations support project monitoring. Through the results of periodic evaluations, monitoring tools and strategies can be refined and further developed.

1.4 Relationship between Monitoring andEvaluation

Project Description

Indicators Means of Verification

Assumptions

Goal: The broader

development impact to which the project/

program contributes at a national and/or sectoral level.

Measures of the extent

to which a contribution

to the goal has

been made. Used

during evaluation.

Sources of information and methods used to collect and report it.

Purpose: The development outcome

expected at the end of the project. All

components will contribute to this.

Conditions at the end

of the project indicating

that the Purpose

has been achieved.

Used for project completion

and evaluation.

Sources of

information and

methods used to

collect and

report it.

Assumptions

concerning

the purpose/

goal linkage.

Component Objectives:

The expected

outcome of producing each component's outputs

Measures of the extent to which component

objectives have

been achieved. Used

during review and

Evaluation.

Sources of

information and

methods used to

collect and report it.

Assumptions

concerning

the component

objective/ purpose

linkage.

Outputs: The direct

measurable results

)goods and services(

of the project which

are largely under

project management's

control.

Measures of the

quantity and quality of

outputs and the timing

of their delivery. Used

during monitoring and

review.

Sources of

information and

methods used to

collect and

report it.

Assumptions

concerning

the output/

component

objective

linkage.

Activities: The tasks

carried out to implement

the project and

deliver the identified

outputs.

Implementation/work

program targets. Used

during monitoring.

Sources of

information and

methods used to

collect and

report it.

Assumptions

concerning

the activity/

output linkage.

: المنطقي Log Frameاإلطار

Link Between the Logical Frame andMonitoring and Evaluation

• Output indicators show the immediate physical and financial outputs of the project.

• Early indications of impact (outcomes) may be obtained by surveying beneficiaries’ perceptions about project services

• Impact refers to long-term developmental change. Measures of change often involve complex statistics about economic or social welfare and depend on data that are gathered from beneficiaries, such as mortality rates or improvement, of the household income

المشروع (دورة أخرى) تسميات

Steps in EvaluationSteps in Evaluation

• Phase A: Planning the Evaluation

• Phase B: Selecting Appropriate Evaluation Methods

• Phase C: Collecting and Analyzing Information

• Phase D: Reporting/disseminating Findings

• Phase E:  Implementing Evaluation Recommendations  

Phase A: Planning the Evaluation

 • Determine the purpose of the evaluation. • Decide on type of evaluation. • Review existing information of programme

documents including monitoring information. • Describe the programme. • Develop/refine conceptual framework. • Assess your own strengths and limitations. • Put together an evaluation team including

stakeholders.

 Phase B: Selecting Appropriate Evaluation Methods

• Identify evaluation goals and objectives

• Formulate evaluation questions and sub-questions

• Decide on the appropriate evaluation design.

• Develop an evaluation schedule

• Develop a budget for the evaluation.

Phase C: Collecting and Analyzing Information

• Develop data collection instruments.

• Pre-test data collection instruments.

• Undertake data collection activities.

• Analyze data.

• Interpret the data.

Phase D: Reporting/disseminating Findings 

• Write the evaluation report. • Decide on the method of sharing the evaluation

results. • Decide on communication strategies. • Share the draft report with stakeholders and

revise as needed. • Disseminate evaluation report. • Meet with project stakeholders to discuss and

follow-up on findings once they have accepted the findings.

Phase E:  Implementing Evaluation

Recommendations 

• Develop a new/revised implementation plan in partnership with stakeholders.

• Monitor the implementation of evaluation recommendations and report regularly on the implementation progress.

• Plan the next evaluation.

Some Evaluation Methods

• Theory-based evaluation• Formal surveys• Rapid appraisal methods• Cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness

analysis• Participatory methods• Public expenditure tracking surveys• Impact evaluation