Monitoring and Evaluation Department

Monitoring and Evaluation department is specialized department responsible for collection and analysis of information to assist timely decision making, ensure accountability and provide the basis for evaluation and learning. It is a continuing function that uses methodical collection of data to provide management and the main stakeholders of an ongoing project or programme with indications of progress and achievement of objectives.

Evaluation is an assessment, as systematic and objective as possible, of a planned, ongoing, or completed intervention. The aim is to determine the relevance of objectives, efficiency, effectiveness, impact, and sustainability so as to incorporate lessons learned into the decision-making process. Specifically, this kind of evaluation addresses: “why” questions, that is, what caused the changes being monitored; “how” questions, or what was the sequence or process that led to successful (or unsuccessful) outcomes; and “compliance and accountability” questions, that is, did the promised activities actually take place and as planned?

Monitoring gives information on where a policy, program, or project is at any given time (and over time) relative to respective targets and outcomes. It is descriptive in intent. Evaluation gives evidence of why targets and outcomes are or are not being achieved.

Monitoring & Evaluation helps in determining:

The extent to which the programme/project is on track and to make any needed corrections accordingly
Make informed decisions regarding operations management and service delivery
Check the most effective and efficient use of resources
Evaluate the extent to which the programme/project is having or has had the desired impact

Key features that are considered during PM&E are:

To build local capacity of project stakeholders to reflect, analyze, propose solutions and take action.
To learn adjust, and take action by taking corrective actions to ensure the achievement of results such as adding or deleting activities or changing one’s strategies.
To provide accountability to all levels from the community, organizational level to those responsible for the implementation and funding of the project.
To celebrate and build on what is working.
Build local capacity
Learn, adjust and take action
Multi-Stakeholder Accountability

The general functions of MIS department at BEFARe are:

Generation of incentive sheets
Preparation of monthly/Quarterly statistical report
Managing accounts of PM& E training
Conduct different surveys and monitoring different ongoing projects
Development of monitoring tools and designing the formats and procedure for operational monitoring
To facilitate the regular field visits meetings in order to reflect on project activities and gather opinion on future development for positive feedback to management
Planning and Coordinating for conducting specific studies when needed
Evaluation report at the end of the project
Deal in all related IT works i.e. Networking, Web designing, Trouble shooting etc

Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation

The department also uses Participatory monitoring and evaluation to access ongoing projects. It differs from more complex conventional monitoring and evaluation method in that it seeks to engage key project stakeholders more actively in reflecting and assessing the progress of their project and in particular the achievement of results.

MIS stands for Management Information System. The system that provides information to the management about a given project/program. M&E stands for Monitoring and Evaluation. Both MIS and M&E are closely interlinked as the information is collected through MIS and then later detailed monitoring of project is performed by keeping the standard collected through MIS as a benchmark. All these activities are also considered as the systematic shape of MIS as a whole. This system is used in proper implementation as without it the merits and demerits of a program or project will not be known and the course correction and/or decision making with regard to extension, closure etc. will not be possible.

The Management Information System department serves as an internal reporting unit of the organization. MIS enables consistent and reliable flow of information about all the programmes of BEFARe even from the remote areas on monthly basis. This facilitates flexibility and adjustment of any deviation from the planned activities. The department is responsible to report in quantitative as well as qualitative terms and has an extensive database of the existing organizational activities. The monitoring system of the MIS is backed-up by the Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation (PM&E) through the M&E Officers. The system ensures community involvement from the grass-root level.

Monitoring and Evaluation Department