Monitoring and Evaluation
Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) is an important two-part management tool. Monitoring assesses progress to date and facilitates an environment in which it’s possible to make necessary changes in strategies and activities, while evaluation determines achievement and cost effectiveness of results. Our approach to monitoring and evaluation (M&E) is characterized by participation. We work with stakeholders to look at both developmental results and success factors. We conduct an objective analysis of issues affecting performance including:
- achievement of results
- cost effectiveness
- relevance
- sustainability
- partnership
- appropriateness of design
- resource utilization and timely action
We have developed and implemented numerous M&E frameworks for projects that we manage, and provided M&E services for other projects, programs and organizational assessments, including for the World Bank, the Swedish International Development Agency, the Dutch Government and the Asian Development Bank.
Our assignments have included:
- health sector assessments in Russia and the Balkans, and project- and program-level evaluations
- thematic evaluations, such as a gender audit of two ministries in Fiji
- project and/or programs evaluations, such as CIDA’s contribution to Nepal’s water and energy sector over 20 years
- a recent evaluation of CIDA’s three agriculture projects in Ukraine
- an institutional assessment of the Acid Survivors Foundation in Bangladesh
Agriteam currently has a three-year contract with the $100 million World Bank/Global Environment Fund (GEF)-funded Gansu and Xinjiang Pastoral Development Project in China, where we are providing a complete M&E program that reports on the performance, financial efficiency, and efficacy of project investments.
We managed a unique mid-term assessment of the LGSP II project that brought together representatives from the Government of the Philippines, CIDA and partner agencies to jointly develop evaluation questions, conduct interviews and focus group discussions, analyze performance information and reach consensus on findings and recommendations.
When we manage projects, we collaborate with partners in all phases of developing and implementing results-based M&E frameworks including:
- logical framework analysis
- performance measurement frameworks
- risk management frameworks
- indicator guides for data collection and analysis
- results-based reporting
- results-based management training
To guarantee that accurate performance data are collected, we work with partners to develop indicator guides that provide step-by-step instructions on collecting performance information. For example, in the CIDA-funded Basic Human Needs Project in Tibet, each indicator guide outlines in detail the method for collecting data, a system for coding the data for a database and guiding questions to provide additional information needed to interpret performance data.