Utilizing Monitoring Data

This self-guided modular curriculum breaks the project cycle down into easily manageable stages as they relate to the design, monitoring and evaluation of peacebuilding projects and programs. The modules are meant to enable peacebuilders to learn simple, practical, and effective tools to design high quality programs and follow them up with rigorous monitoring and evaluation....

This is the second guidance note in a four-part series of notes related to impact evaluation developed by InterAction with financial support from the Rockefeller Foundation.This second guidance note, Linking Monitoring and Evaluation to Impact Evaluation, illustrates the relationship between routine M&E and impact evaluation – in particular, how both monitoring and evaluation activities can support meaningful and valid impact evaluation. M&E has a critical role to play in impact evaluation, such as: identifying when and under what circumstances it would be possible and appropriate to undertake an impact evaluation; contributing essential data to conduct an impact evaluation, such as baseline data of various forms and information about the nature of the intervention; and contributing necessary information to interpret and apply findings from impact evaluation. ...

Beneficiary Assessment (BA) is a qualitative research tool used to improve the impact of development operations by gaining the views of intended beneficiaries regarding a planned or ongoing intervention. The objective of BA is to assess the value of an activity as perceived by project beneficiaries and to integrate findings into project activities....

Outcome mapping is a methodology for planning, monitoring and evaluating development initiatives that aim to bring about social change. The process of outcome mapping helps a project team or program to be specific about the actors it targets, the changes it expects to see and the strategies it employs....

How do you develop your outcome mapping progress markers? Or what guides you in developing related indicators? Here is a paper - “A Complementary Approach to Developing Progress Markers” – that is based on the analysis of 32 sets of progress markers from 13 different Outcome mapping projects in Africa; Latin America; South and South-East Asia and Canada. ...

This publication offers a number of strong contributions from senior officers in institutions dealing with evidence-based policy making.These institutions are national and local governments, UNICEF, the World Bank and the International Development Evaluation Association. It tries to bring together the vision and lessons learned from different stakeholders on the strategic role of monitoring and evaluation in evidence-based policy making. ...

The Reflecting on Peace Practice Project (RPP) is an experience-based learning process that involves agencies whose programs attempt to prevent or mitigate violent conflict. Its purpose is to analyze experience at the individual program level across a broad range of agencies and contexts....

Over the past twenty years, media interventions have become an accepted tool for conflict management. Interventions have often proven ineffective, however, because they lacked clear definition of their intended outcomes.  This research describes an Intended-Outcomes Needs Assessment methodology (IONA) to help address this by: Integrating conflict analysis and media assessments to sharpen the focus on peacebuilding objectives; and Improving the quality and precision of project plans to enable better comparison of the results achieved. ...

This guide introduces some of the best recent literature on the role of communication in governance. It highlights the major critical debates surrounding the relationship between communication, government accountability and responsiveness, and state-society relations in developing countries....

Project design and proposal writing are core responsibilities for CRS programming staff and take much investment of our human and financial resources. ProPack (Project Package) aims to help CRS staff work in a consistent manner with partners to raise the quality of our planning processes....

The purpose of this manual is to familiarize users with RRA and PRA methods, to demonstrate the applicability of these methods to CRS funded projects, and to encourage the rigorous application of the methods in order to obtain the best results....

Station Days is a child-friendly M&E field activity that assists project staff who have historically been involved in projects targeting orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) to appreciate and understand the critical issues affecting beneficiaries’ lives....

This guide presents an approach to developing a monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system for projects supported by Catholic Relief Services (CRS). The content is derived from guidance in ProPack (CRS, 2004 and CRS, 2007) and streamlined based on experience in CRS country programs in Africa, Asia, and Latin America....

This series provides guidance for designing and implementing a monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system. This series supports and complements CRS’ global M&E standards (CRS 2009). While the global standards represent the agency’s commitment to quality M&E as a key component of program quality, this series provides ‘how to’ guidance for operationalizing this commitment in practice. ...

Peacebuilding: A Caritas Training Manual builds on the Caritas Handbook Working for Reconciliation, and extends the material into peacebuilding training and programming. It is a resource that contains both conceptual and practical tools to help fill the peacebuilder’s toolbox....

This edition of New Routes Journal examines the state of peacebuilding evaluation. It contains contributions from Cheyanne Church, Hannah Tsadik, Christoph Spurk, Reina Neufeldt, Diana Chigas and Peter Woodrow, and others.  ...

Questions of cause and effect are critical to assessing the performance of programmes and projects. When it is not practical to design an experiment to assess performance, contribution analysis can provide credible assessments of cause and effect....

24 individuals from around the world--who are actively engaged with issues related to conflict resolution and evaluation--met to discss issues relating to emerging practice and theory in conflict resolution evaluation. This paper captures the essence of the discussion around those emerging themes and further develops the issues through research and analysis.  Part 1: This paper provides information about current practices in the field and a framework through which to structure evaluation discussions. Part 2: This paper is the result of the second phase of the project. ...

This Issues Note gives readers a basic understanding of Monitoring and Evaluation so that they are equipped to integrate M&E into planning and execution of a stabilisation intervention. It sets out issues and questions that the practitioner may face, and points to other, more detailed sources of information.  ...

The overarching theme of the Toolkit is learning before, during and after implementation of peacebuilding programs. Chapters one to three explore the connections between learning and effective peacebuilding practice, and suggest practices for reflection and learning as individuals and communities....