Mr. Himanshu Dube, President, IDCG International LLC; Mr. Aneesh Vijayan, Director, IDCG;
Mr. Swapnil Dube, Managing Consultant, IDCG
| You can’t manage what you don’t understand. You don’t understand what you don’t measure. What gets measured gets done. What gets measured gets rewarded. |
Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) is the strategic core of a development program, serving to facilitate the attainment of envisioned goals. M&E can be broadly characterized as a mechanism employed to assess whether a project, program, or activity is adhering to its predetermined course and progressing towards its desired outcomes. Although monitoring and evaluation are frequently mentioned together, they carry distinct meanings. According to the definition provided by the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Learning Lab, they are defined as follows:
- Monitoring is the ongoing and systematic tracking of data and information to inform adaptive management and promote accountability[1].
- Evaluation is the systematic collection and analysis of strategy, project, and activity information to improve effectiveness and inform decisions about current and future programming[2].
| “Monitoring and evaluation are a sine qua non of any organized structure. Laconic monitoring and prudent evaluation are the key to success of any project or assignment.”
? Henrietta Newton Martin, Author, Project Monitoring & Evaluation – A Primer |
The function of M&E has evolved and undergone a paradigm shift in the last two decades. For example, reputed multilateral organizations like the World Bank and USAID previously relied on ‘logical frameworks’ or ‘log frames’ to assess project success. These frameworks were meticulously deigned for each project, delineating goals, objectives, inputs, outputs, and outcomes/impacts. However, this approach has witnessed a transformation, and the concept of “Results Framework” has been introduced, which includes results packages, intermediate results, and strategic objectives. Similarly, the terminology for the M&E domain activities have also changed notably over time within different donor organizations:
Figure 1: Monitoring and Evaluation Terminologies
Further, each donor agency, has its own M&E protocols. Thus, organizations working in the M&E domain need to customise and adapt to their client’s protocols. In addition, it necessitates the formulation of a strategy that aligns with the objectives of the engagement and the sector in which the assignment is operating.
Though, IDCG International is a small consulting organization with its home base in India, it has successfully partnered on M&E assignments with an array of donor organizations such as USAID, The World Bank, ADB, UNWFP, UNDP, FAO, AfD, KfW, and GIZ, across a range of sectors including:
Figure 2: Broad Gamut of M&E Offerings and IDCG Experience
IT-enabled M&E: IDCG also supports its clients and partner organizations by standardizing and customizing IT-enabled online and offline data collection and reporting mechanisms. Some of our recent engagements include:
We have in-house capability for developing IT-enabled data collection applications that can work on Android platforms as also capture GIS coordinates. |
| M&E is not only a means to showcase what has/has not been achieved; it is also a mechanism to help identify and co-create strategies to achieve what was intended.
-Himanshu Dube, President, IDCG International LLC |
IDCG offers much more beyond the standard premise of M&E to help its clients and partner organizations implement and achieve their MEAL/CLA activities and goals. These include leveraging technology and data-driven evidence-based insights through activities such as:
- Outcome-based Program/Project Design
- Strategic Planning: Integrating M&E into the overall project or program strategy to ensure alignment with objectives and outcomes.
- Conceptualisation, Development and Roll out of End-to-End M&E Solutions including development of adaptive M&E strategies and results frameworks; M&E reporting templatization and repository development
- Stakeholder Identification and Consultations
- Data Collection and Management: Gathering data through surveys, interviews, observations, and other methods offering almost real time transfer of data from field to analysis server.
- In-person (on-field) using handheld devices and remote/off-field (web-based/telephonic) data collection
- Visual/Ocular observation of on-ground activities like plantations, availability/usage/status of infrastructure, etc.
- Data Quality Assurance (DQA): Ensuring that data collection and analysis adhere to rigorous standards and protocols.
- Dashboarding and Knowledge Management: Organizing and disseminating knowledge and lessons learned to inform decision-making and future projects.
To know more about IDCG or for any queries, partnership enquiries, please contact: himanshu@idcg.co.in; or aeesh@idcg.co.in; or swapnil@idcg.co.in; and visit our website at www.idcgintl.com.
