Monday, June 26, 2017
As a results-oriented cooperation mechanism, our focus is on delivering results that positively impact citizens and institutions. This goes hand-in-hand with our emphasis on mutual accountability of and towards all partners, and was backed by a rigorous monitoring and evaluation system which helps us to learn and improve decision making.
Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) identifies trends, measures changes, and captures knowledge to improve programmmes’ performance and increase transparency. We give priority to management for development results, and engage in a continuous monitoring and evaluation process that provided feedback to programme interventions and contributed to knowledge creation and management.
The aim is to assess effects and progress in terms of advances towards the generation of public policies and improvements in people’s livelihood, focusing on programme outcomes and not just activities.
All joint programmes are responsible for designing their own M&E framework, including quantitative and qualitative baseline indicators, and for ensuring that a final evaluation of the joint programme is undertaken.
In addition, the SDG Fund Secretariat has established a Monitoring and Evaluation framework with key indicators that will allow us to obtain a comprehensive overview of our contribution to sustainable development.
The main elements of this framework consist of:
Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) identifies trends, measures changes, and captures knowledge to improve programmmes’ performance and increase transparency. We give priority to management for development results, and engage in a continuous monitoring and evaluation process that provided feedback to programme interventions and contributed to knowledge creation and management.
The aim is to assess effects and progress in terms of advances towards the generation of public policies and improvements in people’s livelihood, focusing on programme outcomes and not just activities.
All joint programmes are responsible for designing their own M&E framework, including quantitative and qualitative baseline indicators, and for ensuring that a final evaluation of the joint programme is undertaken.
In addition, the SDG Fund Secretariat has established a Monitoring and Evaluation framework with key indicators that will allow us to obtain a comprehensive overview of our contribution to sustainable development.
The main elements of this framework consist of:
- Joint programme biannual monitoring reports that provide information against a set of indicators relevant to specific programme areas, collaborative “ONE UN” efforts, and on national ownership.
- Mid-term narrative reports of all joint programmes which aims to improve programmes during their implementation period.
- Final evaluations upon completion of each of the joint programme, which assesses the final performance of the programme.
- Final narrative reports on our joint programmes, assessing results against expected outcomes and outputs and gathering best practices and important lessons learned.
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)
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.
Monitoring and evaluation of initiatives on violence against women and girls take place on a number of different levels, depending on the goals and objectives of the programme and the scope of activities and strategies being designed or implemented.
For example, monitoring and evaluation would look different for:
a school-based prevention programme
a training programme on the systematic use of screening protocols throughout the health sector
the implementation of domestic violence legislation
an awareness-raising campaign aimed at engaging men
the institutionalization of a coordinated community response
Credit: endvawnow.org
Creative M&E is understood as a participatory approach which combines traditional, standardised M&E tools with alternative, innovative M&E tools. Such innovative instruments are not at all intended to substitute traditional M&E tools, but should complement them.
The creative M&E approach allows for monitoring gaps to be filled, and to appraise projects/programmes from different perspectives. Creative monitoring can provide a more complete image and understanding of what the project achieved.It is widely recognised that the effects of sport and development programmes may not be easily measured and evaluated due to their focus on social and psychosocial change triggered by sports. Methods used in creative monitoring can help to monitor and consequently evaluate the achieve change in knowledge or behaviour.
Outcomes and impact in the social and psychosocial field are notoriously hard to measure and assess. The so-called “soft outcomes” such as changes in attitudes, self-perception or certain skills areas are typically defined as crucial, but are often intangible to measure.
It is becoming increasingly acknowledged that a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches to M&E has the potential to capture a wider set of outcomes (especially unexpected outcomes) and is more likely to provide a more complete picture of the effects of the intervention.
Combining approaches
Accordingly, the range of “commonly acceptable” M&E tools needs to be broadened and adapted to innovative methods. Therefore, besides traditional, commonly standardised M&E tools (such as questionnaires, focus group discussions, interviews, etc.), alternative M&E tools (e.g. story telling, performing arts, fine arts, photo monitoring, video documenting, etc.) should be considered.
Traditional approaches to M&E, involving often highly technical and specialised methods, may:
- not be fully conducive to being implemented on the ground, due to lack of knowledge or understanding of M&E among non-specialist implementers;
- not be seen as integral to the intervention;
- not be entirely capable of reflecting both intended and unintended outcomes of the intervention;
- not participatory or inclusive enough.
In light of the peculiarities of sport and play focusing on the recreational approaches towards learning, building relationships, developing understanding and generating greater autonomy, creative techniques to M&E can offer a useful additional means of engaging with quality control and programme improvement that is especially in line with the playful nature of sport and play activities. Furthermore, innovative M&E tools could be motivating for the staff as well as cost-effective.
Examples of a creative M&E approach currently being used in Sport & Development programmes or projects include:
- photo monitoring;
- storytelling;
- participatory video
- problem tree
- poetry club
This section provides a brief introduction to what M&E is, together with a selection of recommended reading and further links to help you get started.
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.
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.
Evaluations should help to draw conclusions about five main aspects of the intervention:
- relevance
- effectiveness
- efficiency
- impact
- sustainability
Monitoring & Evaluation
M&E 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?)
Credit: sportanddev.org
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