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Chapter 1

 

 

 

 

1.1     Introduction

 

Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of development projects are increasingly recognized as indispensable management functions. For many years, M&E of development projects in Palestine have been given little attention. Some of the main constraints and problems that hampered M&E in development project include: weak interest and commitment to the evaluation function by both donors and Palestinian civil society organizations, weak culture of carrying out, sharing, discussing and using the results of evaluation activities among Palestinian NGOs and donors, a relative shortage of professional evaluation experts (in comparison with researchers, trainers, etc.), insufficient technical resources, limited monitory allocation to M&E work by donors, limited training opportunities in evaluation, shortage of trained staff, etc.

 

The last few years have witnessed an increased interest in strengthening project M&E by donors and Palestinian civil society organizations. More Palestinian nonprofit and civil society organizations are interested in strengthening their M&E capacity. This document reviews the nature of program M&E, presents basic concepts, principles, tools and methods of M&E, reviews the process of planning and implementing effective M&E processes for nonprofit programs, and suggests ways for using M&E results. Many of the principles presented in this document are also applicable for “for-profit” organizations.

 

There are many reasons why development project staff and managers of civil society organizations should know about M&E. First, knowledge about M&E helps project staff to improve their ability to effectively monitor and evaluate their projects, and therefore, strengthen the performance of their projects. We should remember that project staff need not be evaluation experts in order to monitor their projects; with basic orientation and training, project staff can implement appropriate techniques to carry out a useful evaluation. Second, program evaluations, carried out by inexperienced persons, might be time-consuming, costly and could generate impractical or irrelevant information. Third, if development organizations are to recruit an external evaluation expert they should be smart consumers aware of standards, and know what to look for and require in this service.

 

 

1.2     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.

 

 

1.3     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:

 

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 learning experience and to improve the planning process and effectiveness of interventions.

 

3)     Increasing project accountability with donors and other stakeholders.

 

4)     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.

 

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.

 

 

1.4     Project Evaluation

 

Program/project evaluation represents a systematic and objective assessment of ongoing or completed projects or programs in terms of their 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. Those terms are described in detail in the following sections and in the glossary.

 

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.

There 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.

 

3)     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. 

 

6)     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.

 

As in monitoring, evaluation activities must be planned at the program/ project level. Baseline data and appropriate indicators of performance and results must be established.

 

Evaluation goals and objectives should be determined by project management and staff. Many organizations do not have the resources to carry out the ideal evaluation. Therefore, it is preferred that they recruit an external evaluation consultant to lead the evaluation process. This would increase the objectivity of the evaluation. Project strengths and weaknesses might not be interpreted fairly when data and results are analyzed by project staff members that are responsible for ensuring that the program is successful.

 

In case the organization does not have the technical expertise to carry out the evaluation and can not afford outside help, or prefers to carry out the evaluation using its own resources, it is recommended to engage an experienced evaluation expert to advise on developing the evaluation plan, selecting evaluation methods, and analyzing and reporting results. 

 

 

1.5     Relationship between Monitoring and Evaluation

 

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.

 

Some might argue that good monitoring substitutes project evaluations. This might be true in small-scale or short-term projects, or when the main objective on M&E is to obtain information to improve the process on implementation of an ongoing project. However, when a final judgment regarding project results, impact, sustainability, and future development are needed, an evaluation must be conducted. 

 

Project evaluations are less frequent than monitoring activities, considering their costs and time needed. 

 

 

The following table provides a comparison between monitoring and evaluation:

 

 

 

Source: UNICEF, A UNICEF Guide for Monitoring and Evaluation: Making a Difference? New York, 1991, p.3.