Why is monitoring and evaluation

important?
Monitoring and evaluation are critical for building a strong, global evidence base around
violence against women and for assessing the wide, diverse range of interventions being
implemented to address it. At the global level, 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 underlying violence against women,
womens experiences with such violence, and the effectiveness of the response at the service
provider, community, national and international level.

This is critically important because while the global evidence base on the proportion of
women having ever experienced various forms of abuse is strong, evidence on what kinds of
strategies are effective in preventing such violence and offering adequate support to victims
and survivors is still weak. This is especially relevant in resource poor areas, where difficult
decisions need to be made with respect to funding priorities.

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.

(Adapted from Gage and Dunn 2009, Frankel and Gage 2007)

For initiatives addressing violence against women, monitoring and evaluation is more
than a costing or cost-effectiveness exercise. It is a way of ensuring women and girls are
able to live their lives free from violence and abuse.

What can be learned in general from monitoring and evaluation of initiatives on violence
against women?
 What interventions and strategies are effective at preventing and responding to violence
against women and girls?

What puts women at greater risk than others

What services are needed to help women and girls recover from violence?

What could be the role of different sectors in addressing and preventing violence?

What other factors (social, economic, political, cultural etc.) play a role in perpetuating
vulnerability to violence or hindering access to services?

What kinds of investments produce more promising results/ how much do they cost?
(Adapted from Watts 2008)

What can be learned about specific interventions from monitoring?

Are the proposed activities being carried out in the manner outlined? Why/ why not?

What services are provided, to whom, when, how often, for how long, in what context?

Are services accessible? Is the quality adequate? Is the target population being reached?

Are women being further harmed or endangered because of the intervention?

Have there been any unforeseen consequences as a result of the activities?

Are activities leading to expected results?

Do the interventions or assumptions need to be amended in any way?

What can be learned about specific interventions from evaluation?

The outcomes that were observed?

Whether the intervention is making a difference?

If yes, what actual difference the intervention is making; how it is making this difference and
for whom.

The extent to which the intervention is responsible for the measured or observed changes.

The unforeseen consequences, if any, that resulted from the intervention?

 What are some important questions that an evaluation can help answer?

Is the intervention feasible and acceptable?

Did it have an impact?

Why or why not? How and for whom did it have an impact?

Are the results credible?

Is it affordable and cost effective?

Can the cost be compared with alternatives to investment?

Is it replicable to other settings?

Where is it replicable? Where is it not replicable?

Are the results likely to be generalizable?

Can it be scaled up? That is, can the intervention be adapted, replicated or built on to increase
its reach or scope (for a larger population or a different region)?

If yes, how can it be scaled up? What aspects can be scaled up?

(Adapted from Watts 2008)

Next Topic What are some of the challenges?

Previous Topic What is monitoring and evaluation?

Print this Page

Email a Friend

Download PDF

Share
 Short link

New Search

Where you are

Programming Essentials, Monitoring & Evaluation

Overview of Violence against Women and Girls
Guiding Principles
Main Strategies to End Violence against Women and Girls
Monitoring & Evaluation
Introduction
Why is monitoring and evaluation important?
References
Glossary

Funds for NGOs

Grants and Resources for Sustainability

Home
Latest Funds for NGOs
Featured
Webinars
Premium
Jobs
Submit
Subscribe
About us
Contact

Your are here: fundsforngos.org Featured Articles Why is Monitoring & Evaluation important for
NGOs?
Why is Monitoring & Evaluation important for NGOs?
April 1, 2013 By fundsforngos

Share

Tweet

+1

Share

Email

Shares 48

Monitoring and evaluation are separate practices dedicated to the assessment of your NGOs
overall performance. Monitoring is a systematic and long-term process that gathers information
in regards to the progress made by an implemented project. Evaluation is time specific and its
performed to judge whether a project has reached its goals and delivered what expected
according to its original plan.

First of all, Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) are important for you to assess that your project
is achieving set targets. For instance, by monitoring the development of the project you will
easily understand whether strategic changes need to be made and act accordingly. Second,
M&E are relevant to donors who need to assess whether your NGO is a reliable partner. By
reviewing milestones and final outcomes of your projects, donors will decide on the
accountability of your NGO, upon which further collaborations could be established. As such,
to develop a strong M&E plan is of vital importance.
Monitoring is for NGOs, not for donors!

What you have to consider while developing an M&E strategy:

1) Evaluation. Clearly state what are the milestones of the project and what are the final
outputs. On the one hand, this will strengthen the overall consistency of the project proposal.
On the other hand, you will make sure that the donor has concrete ways to assess the partial
and final results of the project, thus contributing to guarantee a successful communication.

2) Monitoring of outputs. Clearly elaborate on a methodology able to constantly monitor the

development of the project so that the evaluation of partial and final outputs is consistent with
the monitoring process. For instance, if your output is to train 10 students to use a specific
software, make sure to monitor the progress they make every week. In this way, you will be
able to provide evidence on how the final output has been reached.

3) Monitoring of outcomes and impacts. Outcomes and impacts are more difficult to assess.
Whereas it is clear how to measure the success of an implemented project by stating that a
certain goal was reached, to measure the impact of an activity in community dynamics is more
challenging. Thus, find your way to monitor what happens around the project. For instance,
you can elaborate on a strategy able to prove that not only these students are learning how to
use new software, but also that by acquiring a new skill the quality of their lives is somehow
improving. By designing a monitoring strategy able to assess outcomes and impacts, you will
succeed in proving to your donor that the implemented activities will have a positive, long-
term effect in the community. Further, you can draw on the results of your monitoring practice
to design new follow-up projects or to ensure potential new donors on the NGOs capacity to
proactively engage with real problems and positively affect the lives of those you and with
whom you are working.

Overall, you should also consider the M&E exercise as a way to make the activities of your
NGO transparent and easy to account for. There is nothing worse for a donor than not being
able to understand how an NGO is administering a given budget or implementing a project.
Thus, everything you do including difficulties you face and changes you made to overcome
contingent problems needs to be visible. Monitoring serves the purpose of making what you
do visible in the sense that it provides tools and instruments to communicate with your donor
and the wider public throughout the implementation of the project.

Share

Tweet

+1

Share

Email

Shares 48
Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Subscribe to our mailing list

* indicates required

Your Name

Email Address *

Your Country *

Latest Funds for NGOs

- Agriculture
- Children
- Community Healthcare
- Democracy and Good Governance
- Education
- Environmental Conservation
- Food Security and Nutrition
- HIV and AIDS
- Humanitarian Relief
- Human Rights
- Livelihood Development
- Media and Development
- Peace and Conflict Resolution
- Poverty Alleviation
- Women and Gender
- Water, Sanitation and Hygiene
- Youth Empowerment

Opportunities in Your Country

About us
- Contact us
- Subscribe
- Submit
- Premium Membership
- Facebook
- Twitter
- YouTube
- Google Plus
- Slideshare
- LinkedIn
- Instagram

Legal
- Terms of Use
- Privacy Policy
- Anti-Spam and Anti-Phishing Policy
- How to unsubscribe from Free Newsletters
- Premium Terms of Service

Return to top of page

All Rights Reserved FUNDSFORNGOS, LLC. Unless otherwise specified, this website is
not affiliated to any of the organizations mentioned above in any manner. The material
provided here is solely for informational purposes only without any warranty. Visitors are
advised to use it at their own discretion. FUNDSFORNGOS, LLC, 866 United Nations Plaza,
Suite 470, New York, NY 10017 USA.

* indicates required

Your Name

Email Address *
Your Country *

Share

Tweet

+1

Share

Email

Shares 48

PROJECT MONITORING AND EVALUATION AND ITS IMPORTANCE

MONITORING

This is the regular systematic collection and analysis of information to track the progress of
program implementation against pre-set targets and objectives. It aims to answer the question
did we deliver?

Monitoring; Clarifies program objectives, Links activities and their resources to objectives,
Translates objectives into performance indicators and sets targets, Routinely collects data on
these indicators, compares actual results with targets

And Reports progress to managers and alerts them to problems

Monitoring gives information on where a policy, program or project is at any given time (or
over time) relative to respective targets and outcomes. Monitoring focuses in particular on
efficiency, and the use of resources.

While monitoring provides records of activities and results, and signals problems to be
remedied along the way, it is descriptive and may not be able to explain why a particular
problem has arisen, or why a particular outcome has occurred or failed to occur.

Evaluation deals with questions of cause and effect. It is assessing or estimating the value,
worth or impact of an intervention and is typically done on a periodic basis perhaps
annually or at the end of a phase of a project or program.

EVALUATION

This is the objective assessment of an ongoing or recently completed project, program or

policy, its design, implementation and results. It answers the question What has happened as
a result?

Evaluation Analyzes why intended results were or were not achieved, Assesses specific
casual contributions of activities to results, Examines implementation process, Explores
unintended results, Provides lessons, highlights significant accomplishments or program
potential and offers recommendations for improvement

Evaluation looks at the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability of an

intervention. It will provide evidence of why targets and outcomes are or are not being
achieved and addresses issues of causality.

THE IMPORTANCE OF MONITORING & EVALUATION

Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) helps those involved with any type of projects to assess if
progress desired is beingachieved.

M&E benefits the key actors involved in community development in the following ways:
For project executors (i.e., a company Community Relations Team, a company/NGO
partnership, or a company foundation), M&E can improve management. By monitoring
progress against defined goals, a project manager can assess what is working and what is not,
and from there can determine what changes should be made to a project. This inturn makes it
possible to improve the way things are being done in the project organization.

For companies, whether executing a project or supporting it through partnership or funding,

M&E can be used to demonstrate progress to internal management and to external
stakeholders. Internally, measurable results can justify continued funding and clarify the
return on investment of community development efforts to managers and shareholders.
Externally, the results of M&E can demonstrate commitment to and competence in
community development, and thus help a company maintain its social license to operate. This
makes the companies to make sound decisions concerning major projects undertaken and to
know where to invest.

For community members and NGOs, participating in M&E is an opportunity to influence

the design and execution of community development projects. Furthermore, by providing
feedback on whether programs are achieving aims in line with community needs and desires,
M&E is a powerful accountability mechanism.

Harare
Wednesday, April 5, 2017

About Us
Contact Us
Advertising
Listen to Radio
Privacy Policy
Who is Who
News Alerts

Nehanda Radio
 Home
News
Politics
Business
Opinion
Bizarre
Courts
Local
Diaspora
World
Showbiz
Sports

Home Opinion Why ZimAsset is doomed to fail: Mashakada

Opinion

Why ZimAsset is doomed to fail:

Mashakada
Jul 10, 2014
1
1669
171 93 20 0

By Tapiwa Mashakada

The soundness of an economic policy is determined by its strategic development

trajectory, its end game.
Tapiwa Mashakada

Without an end game, an economic policy becomes a decorative document full of rhetoric.

In our case, ZimAsset appears to be a policy document which is not grounded on any known
development trajectory.

The fundamental problem is that ZimAsset is not clear on the key drivers of its economic
growth target and other macroeconomic targets.

Yet, the mapping of a growth trajectory and its drivers is an indispensable element of
economic planning.

In other words, there must be something which is going to drive the success of ZimAsset.

Unfortunately, the ZimAsset document does not spell out that which is going to be the pillar
of its success.

In the so-called Asian Tigers, namely South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong and
Malaysia, a defined economic development strategy was identified. That particular strategy
was religiously pursued as the anchor of their economic development blueprints.

South Korea for example, chose shipbuilding as its comparative advantage in order to kick
start its journey towards economic growth.

Malaysias growth trajectory was underpinned by a developmental state. China has surpassed
Japan as the second largest global economy.

The high growth rates registered in China were made possible by foreign direct investment.
FDI became a key plank in Chinas growth story.
In fact, Chinas appetite for FDI was so strong that in its southern province of GuangZhou, a
whole new special economic zone was established in a small town called Shenzhen bordering
Hong Kong. This town was built as a special economic zone by Singapore and was only
handed back to China after 30 years.

These international examples serve the purpose of demonstrating the need for ZimAsset to
identify its key success drivers.

Eight months after the launch of ZimAsset, legitimate questions are being asked regarding the
character and nature of its trajectory. What is it that we could say is the real driver of growth
under ZimAsset.

In my view, ZimAsset development strategy must have been predicated upon the natural
resources of the country and foreign direct investment.

These two areas are the only ones that could spur Zimbabwes growth. The focus on
agriculture would have been first to carry out a comprehensive land audit to determine the
levels and degree of land productivity.

Such an audit would have released idle land for reallocation to trained black farmers and
agricultural graduates. The State would give production targets and open commercial
agriculture to FDI in order to inject fresh capital, research and technology and build new
agricultural infrastructure. As it stands, agriculture will not recover because of liquidity
challenges.

Government cannot raise sufficient capital to revamp agriculture. Attempts to have private
sector financing of agriculture has serially hit a brick wall.

Without FDI, agricultural production in this country is doomed. It is clear that the only
success story in agriculture has been the tobacco sub-sector and the reason being that apart
from the economies of scale, FDI has been the key driver. Most tobacco has been grown
under contract farming where mostly Chinese firms have contracted small-scale tobacco
farmers to produce.

The farmers are given capital in the form of inputs and finance to grow tobacco using modern
farming practices.

The contractors are involved from the beginning of the planting season to the final stages of
auctioning. This is the reason why tobacco has been a success story producing total output of
almost $400 million in 2014.

Cotton would have been another model of introducing FDI into agriculture but the cotton
merchants have failed farmers dismally due their pricing models.

My thesis is that the tobacco sub sector provides us with the empirical evidence regarding the
potential role of FDI in the transformation of agriculture. Other crops have not performed up
to the expected levels because of the drought or poor financing.
The point is that ZimAsset has failed to define the role of FDI in agriculture hence the
prospects of growth in this sector are encumbered. Poor agricultural growth always has a
boomerang effect on the rest of the economy because Zimbabwe is an agro-based economy.

ZimAsset also fails to identify the role of FDI in mining. Mining is a capital intensive sector.
In order to recover the sector to its 1998 levels, Zimbabwe needs $6 billion.

Most mines had closed by 2008. During the inclusive government, we witnessed most gold
and nickel mines re-opening and starting a slow process of capitalisation.

The little confidence brought by the inclusive government saw the mining sector recovering.
However, since the July 31 elections, the mining sector is in turmoil.

Most recapitalisation deals in the mining sector have stalled. The political direction of the
country is not clear to mining investors.

Resource nationalism is the right question but indigenisation in its current form is the wrong
answer. In order to attract FDI, government must amend the indigenisation law and lower the
51 percent threshold.

The problem with 51 percent is that no investor wants to surrender controlling interest.

Any threshold less that 51 percent will find traction from investors. As an economist, I have
great difficulty to understand the pundits of indigenisation. What needs to be understood is
that ownership must be a means to an end and not an end in itself.

The State can own all mineral deposits and all agricultural land and that ends there because
all those resources will remain dead capital until and unless capital has been invested to
create value. Without investment, those minerals cannot be extracted from the ground.

Without capital, those minerals cannot be beneficiated. The same thing applies to agriculture.

ZimAsset is therefore bereft of an investment strategy making it very difficult for our natural
resources to play their role as the key drivers of growth in Zimbabwe.

Other African countries like Angola, have realised the cardinal rule that unless value is
attached to natural resources, they remain dead capital.

I therefore conclude that ZimAsset is doomed to fail because it has underplayed the role of
FDI in the natural resources sector where our comparative advantage lie. ZimAsset has failed
to articulate a clear growth trajectory based on FDI and its role in capital raising for
transforming mining and agriculture.

It lacks the requisite strategy to make agriculture and mining the real growth drivers for
Zimbabwe.

*Tapiwa Mashakada is the acting secretary general of the MDC led by Morgan
Tsvangirai.

171 93 20 0
Sponsored Links
You May Like

Noah's Millionaire Lifestyle RevealedCelebDodge

Small Investments Can Make You Huge. Read HowInspiration Weekly

FOREX Trading Isnt for Every Investor But Maybe You Arent JusFinancika Online
Trading

This Game Will Get You AddictedVikings

2017 Ranking : South Africa's 5 Best Dating SitesBest Dating Sites

Why you should invest 3000 Rand in Trading?za-trading.com

by Taboola

TAGS
Tapiwa Mashakada
zimasset

Previous articleMDC still popular but must deliver

Next articleNo sympathy for self-serving MPs

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

The need for a new paradigm shift in Zimbabwe

Govt to grab private land for civil servants homes

MDC-T warns of looming humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe

Sponsored Links
You May Like

Noah's Millionaire Lifestyle CelebDodge

Small Investments Can MInspiration Weekly

Follow a Simple Trading PFinancika Online Trading

11 Unexpected Foods THealthy Panda

This Game Will Get You AddiVikings

2017 Ranking : South AfrBest Dating Sites

by Taboola

Most Read Today

Mugabe, 93, gets belated birthday gift a wheelchair 4,870 views | 1

comment

Smiles, tears and laughter as Leonard Dembos fans honour his mother
4,697 views | 0 comments

Prophet Uebert Angel back in Zimbabwe, mocks bond notes 3,335 views | 10
comments
 Luxury life of Makorokoza. owns 12 luxury cars, establishes highway
restaurant 3,072 views | 4 comments

New diamond find in Mutare 2,784 views | 1 comment

Follow us on Facebook

EDITOR PICKS

Cuthbert Dube wont give up on $3,5m windfall

Apr 5, 2017

Drama at Macheso show

Apr 5, 2017

Ex-Minister Nyanhongo arrested

Apr 5, 2017

POPULAR POSTS

Baby tortured by maid in Uganda still alive

Nov 22, 2014

I am not white: Zanu PF MP

Mar 26, 2017

South Africas President Jacob Zuma sacks finance minister

Mar 31, 2017

POPULAR CATEGORY

News25214
Politics6721
Opinion4138
Popular3831
Sports3789
Local3563
Showbiz3276
Crimes & Courts3265
Business2553

ABOUT US
Whatsapp +263-773-011-022
Contact us: editor@nehandaradio.com
FOLLOW US

About Us
Contact Us
Advertising
Listen to Radio
Privacy Policy
Who is Who
News Alerts

Nehanda Radio: All Rights Reserved

By Taboola