available in

English Español Français

Search content

Home /
Programming Essentials, Monitoring & Evaluation /
Monitoring and Evaluation Plans

Programming Essentials, Monitoring and Evaluation

Plans
Monitoring & Evaluation

1. Overview of Violence Last edited: October 31, 2010

against Women and Girls

This content is available in
2. Guiding Principles Options
English Español Français
3. Main Strategies to End
Violence against Women Monitoring and evaluation plans should be created after the planning phase and before
and Girls
the design phase of a programe or intervention.  The plan should include information on
4. Monitoring & Evaluation how the programme or intervention will be examined and assessed.  Generally, the plan
5. References should outline:

6. Glossary the underlying assumptions on which the achievement of programme goals depend;

the anticipated relationships between activities, outputs, and outcomes (the

framework);

well-defined conceptual measures and definitions, along with baseline data;

the monitoring schedule;

a list of data sources to be used;

cost estimates for the monitoring and evaluation activities;

a list of the partnerships and collaborations that will help achieve the desired results;
and

Related Tools a plan for the dissemination and utilization of the information gained.

What does a monitoring and evaluation

plan include?
The stated theory of change

A monitoring and evaluation framework

Evaluation questions and tools

Baseline tools and indicators

A description of the monitoring activities and key moments

A timeline

A budget and explanation of the needed resources – money and personnel, capacity
development, infrastructure, etc.

 
What are important considerations for a
monitoring and evaluation plan?
Resources: how much money and time will be needed to conduct the activities?

Capacity: Does the programme/project have internal capacity to carry out the
proposed monitoring and evaluation activities, including analysis of data collected, or
will outside expertise be needed?

Feasibility: Are the proposed activities realistic? Can they be implemented?

Timeline: Is the proposed timeline realistic for conducting the proposed activities?

Ethics: What are the ethical considerations and challenges involved with implementing
the proposed activities, and is there a plan in place for addressing those
considerations? Has a protocol been submitted for review by a research ethics
committee?

When should monitoring and evaluation

be undertaken?
Monitoring and evaluation is an integral part of programmatic and strategic planning.

It should be incorporated into all aspects of planning from the project’s inception.

When should monitoring activities be

carried out?
Monitoring activities should be conducted at key moments during the intervention
that will facilitate an assessment of progress towards the objectives and goal.

Programmes ideally involve continuous monitoring – or routine collection of data and

information that will allow them to gauge if activities are being implemented
according to expectations, and if barriers or challenges need to be addressed.

With a series of trainings for example, key monitoring moments should be set after a
certain number of trainings.

With an awareness-raising campaign, key monitoring moments should be set after

each aspect of planning and implementing the campaign (e.g. determining exposure
to information disseminated through the media after key periods).

When should evaluations be conducted?

Evaluations should be conducted at the beginning and end of an intervention process.
They should include collection of baseline data for comparison purposes.

Evaluations are usually conducted to answer key questions on the programme’s

performance and carried out when the staff or the donor wants to make key decisions
around the programme – such as how to improve the programme, which activities to
continue or discontinue and whether or not to scale up the programme.

Can monitoring and evaluation plans be

amended?
Yes, monitoring and evaluation plans can always be amended and additional indicators
or information can always be added.  However, information that has already been
 collected cannot be changed.

(Frankel and Gage, 2007)

Additional Resource:

See an example monitoring and evaluation plan in Putting the IPPF Monitoring and
Evaluation Policy into Practice: A Handbook on Collecting, Analyzing and
Utilizing Data for Improved Performance (International Planned Parenthood, 2009;
p. 46).

Previous Topic

Programming Essentials,
Monitoring & Evaluation

Indicators

Terms of Use Disclaimer developed by