It is obvious from you discussion that your current M&E system is not functioning as designed. The challenges you mention are not unique to your country; I have found out in my recent work that in many African countries, existing national M&E systems face many challenges including:
Difficulty in accessing project and program level data for quick decision-making,
Lack of standardization in data generation resulting in data that is of poor quality and unreliable,
Delays in submission of periodic evaluation reports by various sector agencies and ministries,
Little or no support for real time monitoring and reporting, hence, delays in decision-making and remedial interventions,
Existing national M&E system not providing for adequate citizen participation,
Capacity of M&E personnel at all levels.
I also found that some sector ministries and agencies have their own M&E systems which, are specific to their needs and are not linked to the national M&E System therefore making it extremely difficult to compare and analyse national evaluation data.
My proposed solution is for your country to strengthen the existing M&E System to ensure that it is effectively coordinated and efficiently managed by developing a comprehensive, functional and integrated national M&E System that covers all levels of governance (national, district, sub-district), institutions (including sector ministries), projects and programs implementations. This solution must be backed by a legislative instrument/directive to ensure active participation of all stakeholders including Government leaders (Parliamentarians, Ministers and others). Developing a comprehensive M&E system would entail developing a national M&E framework which would define the theory of change, results chain, indicators etc. etc.
RE: How to Measure the Impact of Monitoring and Evaluation Work
Dear Abubakar,
It is obvious from you discussion that your current M&E system is not functioning as designed. The challenges you mention are not unique to your country; I have found out in my recent work that in many African countries, existing national M&E systems face many challenges including:
I also found that some sector ministries and agencies have their own M&E systems which, are specific to their needs and are not linked to the national M&E System therefore making it extremely difficult to compare and analyse national evaluation data.
My proposed solution is for your country to strengthen the existing M&E System to ensure that it is effectively coordinated and efficiently managed by developing a comprehensive, functional and integrated national M&E System that covers all levels of governance (national, district, sub-district), institutions (including sector ministries), projects and programs implementations. This solution must be backed by a legislative instrument/directive to ensure active participation of all stakeholders including Government leaders (Parliamentarians, Ministers and others). Developing a comprehensive M&E system would entail developing a national M&E framework which would define the theory of change, results chain, indicators etc. etc.
Let me know if you need further details
Best regards,
Samuel Boakye
ICED