Monitoring and Evaluation Plan

Matebu Gezahegn (BSc, MSc)

Jimma University
March 2024
 Objectives

By the end of this session, students are expected to be

able to:
• Describe Monitoring and Evaluation Plan

• Develop Monitoring and Evaluation Plan for health

programs

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Monitoring & Evaluation helps organisations to:

Be accountable
Make more
informed decisions

Build
capacity

Learn from experience

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Source: UNDP
 Monitoring and Evaluation Plan
• What is M&E plan?

• is a document used to plan and manage all M & E

activities throughout a particular project cycle.
• It is a comprehensive narrative document for all M&E
activities documenting the key M&E questions:
• What indicators are collected; how, how often, from where
and why they will be collected;

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 Cont …

– includes baselines, targets and assumptions;

– how they are going to be analyzed or interpreted;

– how or how often reports will be developed and

distributed on the indicators

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 Cont…
• It is a guide with clear instructions on how to develop
M&E system
• It is used for the purposes of management and good
practice.
• It is a critical tool for planning, managing and
documenting data collection.
• It is useful when measuring progress with the actual
M&E system 6
 Cont…
• It can be the basis for deciding which M&E activities
to implement
• It keeps track of the progress we are making,
monitors the indicators being used as well as their
results.

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 Cont…

• It contributes to the effectiveness of the M & E

system by assuring that data will be collected and on
schedule.
• It works to build ownership, creating additional
responsibility and accountability for the success of
the M&E activities.

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 Cont…
• It formalizes and validates the mandates, authorities
and responsibilities of M&E stakeholders
• M&E Plan should be used as a reference throughout
the length of the program cycle, tracking all programs
and updated to include all M & E data and results.

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 Cont…
• It should be constantly updated and dynamic to include up-to-date
information of M & E progress. Includes:
 indicator results after each activity or intervention

 data collection methods and sources

 who will be collecting data.

• It should be shared and utilized between all stakeholders and sent to

donors.

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 Cont…
• M&E Plan is a document that describes a system
which links strategic information obtained from
various data collection systems to decisions that will
improve health programs.

• Fundamental document to ensure:

Accountability

Measure of success
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 Cont…
• To plan monitoring: need to think “who, when and
how” as regards

1. keeping track of the participants and the quality of each

activity

2. analyzing the results and feeding them back into the

project.

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 Cont…
• To plan evaluation: it is essential to identify
evaluation needs and resources and to decide what
kind of evaluation wanted.
• Then it is necessary to identify what information will
be collected in order to determine whether we have
achieved the objectives and how will collect and
analyze that data.
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 Functions of M&E Plan

• State how the program is going to measure what it

has achieved (ensure accountability)

• Document consensus (encourage transparency and

responsibility)
• Guide M&E implementation (standardization and
coordination)
• Preserve institutional memory (lesson learning)
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Functions of M&E Plan: by level of the health system

• Facility (primary data collection):

• Manage patients/clients

• Supervise providers

• Manage logistics

• Report to district and vertical programs and community

• District:

• Allocate resources

• Report to regional/national

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 Cont…
• National (Comprehensive vs. Vertical Programs)

• Allocate resources

• Collect national data

• Report to international donors and other

stakeholders.

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Important considerations for Monitoring and
Evaluation plan

• Resources: how much money and time will be

needed to conduct the activities?
• Capacity: does the program /project have internal
capacity to carry out the proposed M & E activities,
including analysis of data collected, or will outside
expertise be needed?

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 Cont…
• 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?

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Difference between M&E plan and M&E work
plan

• The M&E plan is a narrative document that

describes, in detail, how the M&E system will
operate.
• The M&E work plan is an action plan that includes:

– Activities, responsibilities, time frames, and costs

for each component.

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 Components of M&E Plan
• Goals and objectives of overall plan

• M&E questions, methodologies & implementation plan

– Data collection procedures

– Data management and analysis procedures

– Reporting and communications plan

• Description of M&E activities

– Input/output monitoring, Process monitoring, Outcome/impact monitoring

• Matrix of M&E indicators and expected results

• Proposed timetable of all M&E activities

• M&E instruments for data collection
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 Cont…
• There is no standardized template or structure for
M&E Plan, so the plan can be modified to best fit the
program, communication, and organizational needs.
• However, an effective M&E Plan should include:

1. Executive Summary

2. Project Background

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 Cont …
3. M & E Planning
4. Monitoring and Evaluation System
5. Project Risk Matrix
6. M & E Information Map
7. M & E Work Plan Matrix
8. M & E Timetable
9. References
10. Annexes
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 Checklist for M&E Plan
• We can use the following checklist to ensure that all
major components of the M&E Plan are covered:

1. Executive Summary

2. Project Background
• Name

• Funding agency

• Date preliminary work (needs assessment and project

design) began
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 Cont …
• Implementation start date and project termination date

• Main goal and specific objectives of the project

• Principal Strategies

• Target population and groups

• Final number of beneficiaries

• If possible, map of region with project areas located on

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 Cont…
3. M&E Planning
• Date of M&E Plan preparation

• Period of time in which the M&E plan proposes

activities
• Who made decisions and how will decisions made
regarding M&E plan

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 Cont …
4. Monitoring and Evaluation System
• Description of all activities in M&E System

• Overview of key indicators

5. Project Risk Matrix

• Analysis of potential risks

• Contingency plans for each risk

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 Cont…
6. M & E Information Map
• Proposal documents
• Project documents
• M&E data collection sources (Reports, Surveys,
Meetings)
• M&E reports (Annual Report, Mid-term Evaluation,
Final Evaluation)
• M&E stakeholders

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 Cont…
7. M & E Work Plan Matrix
• Indicator and definition

• Who is responsible for data collection?

• How is data collected?

• Where is data collected?

• When is data collected?

• Disaggregation
• Targets
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 Cont…

8. M & E Timetable

• Each M&E Activity is accounted for

9. References

10. Annexes

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 Developing and Implementing a
Monitoring & Evaluation Plan
• Monitoring and evaluation plan should be created after
the planning phase and before the design phase of a
program or an intervention.
• That means ideally done at the planning stage of a
project, before commencement of implementation.

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 Cont …
• This will allow planning ahead of time and data
collection activities that may need to undertake, such as
pre-intervention surveys.
• However, it is never too late to develop the M&E plan.

• The plan should include information on how the program

or intervention will be examined and assessed.

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 Cont…
• Each project may have different M&E needs, depending
on the operating context, implementing agency capacity,
donor requirements, and other factors.
• In preparing M&E plan, it is important to identify these
needs and coordinate the methods, procedures, and tools
used to meet them;
• this conserves resources and streamlines M&E planning.

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 Standards for M&E Plan
• Utility - serve practical information needs of intended
users
• Feasibility - be realistic, practical, diplomatic and
frugal
• Propriety - conducted legally, ethically, and with
regard to those involved in and affected by the
evaluation
• Accuracy - reveal and convey technically accurate
information

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 Steps in Developing M&E Plan
Step 1. Identify the evaluation audience/
Stakeholders
• Identify who the evaluation audience or stakeholders
are.
• Stakeholders are individuals, groups, or organizations
having significant interest in how well a program
functions.
• A stakeholder is any person or organization, who can be
positively or negatively impacted by, or cause an impact
on the actions of a program, or organization. 34
 Cont…
Stakeholder Consultation
• Advocate for the need for M&E
• Understand program goals and objectives
• Identify user needs and perspectives
• Learn about existing data collection systems & their
quality
• Understand indicators that are being collected and
used (or not used)
• Determine capacity for collecting and using data

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 Cont…
Stakeholder Participation
• Developing M&E framework

• Selecting indicators

• Setting targets

• Reviewing results

►It requires building consensus & commitment and

maintaining effective relationships with intended users
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 Cont…
Step 2. Define the evaluation questions
• Evaluation questions should be developed up-front, and in
collaboration with the primary stakeholder(s) and other intended
users.
• Evaluation questions go beyond measurements to ask the higher
order questions such as whether the intervention is worth it, or could
if have been achieved in another way.
• Overall, evaluation questions should lead to further action such as
project improvement, project mainstreaming, or project redesign.

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 Cont…
Step 3. Identify the monitoring questions
• In order to answer evaluation questions, monitoring
questions must be developed that will inform what data
will be collected through the monitoring process.
• Unlike evaluation questions, monitoring questions are
quite specific in what they ask.
• The monitoring questions will ideally be answered
through the collection of quantitative and qualitative data.
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 Cont…
• Don’t leap straight into the collection of data, without

thinking about the evaluation questions.

• Jumping straight in may lead to collecting data that

provides no useful information, which is a waste of

time and money.

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 Cont…
Step 4. Identify the indicators and data sources

• At this step, what information we need to answer the

monitoring questions (indicators) and where this
information will come from (data sources) are
identified.
• Consider data collection, in terms of the type of data
and any types of research design.
• Thus should be decided on the most appropriate
method to collect the data from the data source.
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 Cont…
Step 5. Identify who is responsible for data collection
and timelines
• Assign responsibility for the data collection so that
everyone is clear of their roles and responsibilities.
• This also allows new staff to come onto the project and
get a sense of who is responsible for what, and what
they may have to take on and when.

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 Cont …

• Also note any requirements that are needed to collect

the data (staff, budget etc).

• Have some idea of the cost associated with monitoring.

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 Cont…
Step 6. Identify who will evaluate the data, how it will
be reported, and when
• This step is optional but highly recommended, as it
will round off the M&E plan as a complete document.
• Since evaluation is the subjective assessment of a
project’s worth, it is important to identify who will be
making this ‘subjective assessment’.
• For an evaluation to be used (useful) it is important to
present the findings in a format that is appropriate to
the audience.

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 Cont…
Step 7. Review the M&E plan
• Once we have completed the M&E plan, highlight
data sources that appear frequently.
• Finally, should be checked for the following:

Does the M&E plan:

 Focus on the key evaluation questions and the
evaluation audience?
 Capture all that we need to know in order to make a
meaningful evaluation of the project? 44
 Cont…
 Only asks relevant monitoring questions and avoids
the collection of unnecessary data?
 Know how data will be analyzed, used and reported?

 Work within the budget and other resources?

 Identify the skills required to conduct the data

collection and analysis?

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 Assigning M&E Responsibilities:
Implementing the M&E Plan
• Monitoring data
– Who will collect data?
– Who will analyze data?
– Who will report data?
• Special studies
– Who will oversee data collection?
– Who will conduct analysis and reporting?
– Is anyone else planning a similar evaluation?

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 Cont…
Developing a Data Dissemination & Utilization Plan

• Define users of M&E findings

• Define feedback mechanism to meet user needs

– Strategically timed users meetings/workshops

– Annual report and review meeting

– Database to manage data and facilitate access and use

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 Cont…
Planning for Mid-Course Adjustments
• Program changes can affect the M&E plan
performance monitoring and impact evaluation
• Internal M&E capacity facilitates adjustments

• Flexibility and regular review of program results are

necessary

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 Cont…
How Well is the M&E Plan Working?
• Are M&E activities progressing as planned?

• Are the evaluation questions being answered

sufficiently?
• Have other evaluation questions been raised and
should they be incorporated into the plan?
• Are there any methodological or evaluation design
issues that need to be addressed? 49
 Cont…
• Are there any outside factors (political, environment)
that are affecting the plan?
• Are appropriate staff and funding still available to
implement the M&E plan?
• Are M&E finding being disseminated and used by
stakeholders for decision making and program
improvement?
N.B. M&E plan is a living document and needs to be
adjusted when a program is modified.
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 Cont …
• Monitoring-and-Evaluation-ME-Plan-
Template.docx

• Monitoring-and-Evaluation-ME-Plan-
Template-multiple-projects (2).docx

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Question?

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 Assignment
 Read about Evaluation Questions and Monitoring
questions.
 Prepare presentation by summarizing and giving examples
of Evaluation Questions and Monitoring questions for:
• Malaria Prevention and Control program --- Group I

• TB Prevention and Control program --- Group II

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