How to Build M&E Systems to Support Better Government How to ...

HOW TO BUILD M&E SYSTEMS TO SUPPORT BETTER GOVERNMENT
functioning government M&E system. Chapter 5
examines what exactly a “successful” M&E system
looks like. Several country examples—including
Chile (chapter 6), Colombia (chapter 7), and Australia
(chapter 8)—illustrate such a system. However,
note that a special theme of this volume is
that there is no “best” model of what a government
or sectoral M&E system should look like. In
relatively weak countries, a more cautious focus
on incremental changes can be appropriate if
they have the potential to demonstrate that M&E
is cost effective. Africa, where there are many severe
capacity constraints, is examined (chapter 9)
in that light.
Part III analyzes the lessons from building government
M&E systems in these and many other
countries, both developing and developed. Thirteen
key lessons are emphasized (chapter 10);
these are also consistent with international experience
in other types of public sector capacity
building. The lessons include, for example, the prerequisite
of substantive government demand for
monitoring information and evaluation findings
and the central role of incentives. They also include
the value of conducting a diagnosis of M&E in a
country and of having a powerful champion for
M&E. Weak government demand for M&E is common
and is often perceived as an insuperable barrier
to efforts to build an M&E system. This is not
the case, however; there exist a number of ways
to create demand for M&E, using a mix of carrots,
sticks, and sermons (chapter 11).
Ways to strengthen a government M&E system are
presented in Part IV. Particular attention is paid to
the benefits from conducting a country diagnosis
(chapter 12). Such a diagnosis can provide a
sound understanding of current M&E efforts in a
country, the civil service environment, and the opportunities
to use M&E information for core government
functions such as budget decision
making and ongoing management of programs
and projects. A diagnosis would naturally lead
to an action plan that identifies the main options
for strengthening a government’s M&E system
(chapter 13).
Part V maps out those issues where international
experience with government M&E systems is not
well understood or well documented. These include
frontier, cutting-edge issues such as the
cost-effectiveness of alternative approaches to
strengthening government systems and good
practice models of M&E at the sector and subnational
levels (chapter 14). Answers are provided
to a number of questions that are frequently
raised on the topic of government M&E systems
(chapter 15). These include a list of the main
dangers and pitfalls to avoid when trying to
strengthen M&E in a country, such as the mistaken
belief that M&E has intrinsic merit, or taking a technocratic
approach to capacity building.
Finally, Part VI provides a series of commonly
asked questions on M&E—and their answers.
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