Category one

Category one comprises six components of M&E. They are organizational structures with M&E functions; the human capacity for M&E; a partnership for planning, coordination and managing the M&E system; the M&E frameworks/logical framework; the M&E work plan and costs and communication; and advocacy and culture for M&E. The need for an established M&E unit with the aim of coordinating all monitoring and evaluation functions at all levels of project implementation is advocated. While M&E services can be outsourced to external project management consultants, there is still the need for an internal unit within the organization to oversee its M&E functions. It is imperative therefore to have within the organization adequate staff to oversee M&E functions if the effective

• 7. Routine Monitoring
• 1. Structure and Organisational Alignment tor M&E Systems

6. Advocacy, Communication and Culture tor M&E Systems

• 5. Costed M&E Work Plans
• 11. Evaluation and Research

Figure 3.7 Components of the M&E system.

Source: Gôrgens et al., 2009; UNAIDS, 2009

• 8. Periodic Surveys
• 3. M&E

Partnerships

12. Using Information to Improve Results

• 2. Human Capacity for M&E Systems
• 9. Databases Useful to M&E

Systems

10. Supportive Supervision and Data Auditing

4. M&E Plans

M&E implementation is expected. Staff’s M&E technical know-how, knowledge and experience are critical and this can be enhanced through continuous M&E capacity development training. This component also describes the level of partnership as a pre-requisite for successful M&E systems. Partnerships complement the M&E efforts of the organization. This is seen in the partnerships that exist among the local, regional and national planning commissions. They also serve auditing purposes where line ministries, technical working groups, communities and other stakeholders can compare M&E outputs with reported outputs.

An M&E framework is needed to describe the objectives, inputs, outputs and outcomes of the proposed project and the pointers that will be used to measure their achievements. Without the framework, project performance cannot be measured to ensure projects are on track or otherwise. Similarly, the M&E work plan and associated cost are important to outline how the resources allocated for the M&E functions will be used to achieve the goals of M&E. The work plan shows how personnel, time, materials and money will be used to achieve the set M&E functions. Finally, the communication of M&E results, advocacy and the culture for M&E refer to the incidence of policies and strategies within the organization to promote M&E functions. Communication and strategies need to be supported by the organization’s hierarchy. The existence of an organizational M&E policy, together with the continuous use of the M&E system outputs on communication channels, are some of the ways of improving communication, advocacy and culture for M&E.

Category two

Five components comprise the second category of the M&E. Routine M&E refers to the continuous and routine data gathering during project implementation. To indicate whether project activities are producing the right indication of meeting project objectives requires the continuous collection of project data or information. Surveys and surveillance from a higher M&E body such as the regional or national planning commission need to be continuous to evaluate the progress of related projects. For example, construction project delivery initiated by the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) at the local government level will require survey and surveillance by the GETFund to help measure the level of success of the implemented project.

The need for the national and sub-national database is imperative as the world is becoming an open source. Partnership with funding organization would require relevant data. Hence, M&E systems need to develop strategies for submitting appropriate, dependable and valid data to national and sub-national databases. Incorporating data auditing infers that the data is subjected to verification to certify its reliability and validity. Supervision corroborates the auditing process and is important as it ensures the M&E process is run efficiently. Evaluation and research are important components of the M&E process as they establish whether the desired objectives of projects have been met. They usually provide for organizational learning and sharing of successes with other stakeholders.

Category three

Finally, disseminating and utilizing M&E data generated from project implementation for the benefit of future project management is critical. It helps either to reinforce, revise or change the implemented strategy. Moreover, both monitoring and evaluation results need to be made available to key stakeholders for accountability purposes.