A guide for practitioners

4.3 Fundamental principles of PM&EFour key principles characterize PM&E: participatory, learning, flexibility and negotiation. It is importantto ensure that M&E work adheres to these principles if it is to be truly participatory.ParticipationThe core feature of PM&E is its emphasis on participation. PM&E acknowledges that there are multiplestakeholders who should participate in the M&E process. These stakeholders may include beneficiaries,project/program staff, government agencies and donors.The issue of who initiated and conducted the M&E is one factor which characterizes the level anddegree of participation in PM&E. Depending on who initiated, one can have M&E that is externally led,internally led or jointly led. In externally led PM&E, the efforts are generally initiated and organizedexternally and conducted by individuals or groups considered as having no direct involvement in theintervention. As the name indicates, in internally led PM&E, the efforts are carried out mainly by thosedirectly involved in implementation. These include local people and staff members who are consideredinsiders. The joint PM&E combine approaches of internal and external M&E, and tries to assess from theviewpoints of both insiders and outsiders. The underlying objective in joint PM&E is to achieve a moreholistic perspective and involve a more diverse set of stakeholders. The other point which characterizesparticipation in PM&E is the issue of whose perspective is particularly emphasized. This distinguishesthe type of stakeholders who are emphasized by the M&E. In PM&E all major stakeholders, beneficiaries,or marginalized people can be emphasized.LearningLearning is the other distinguishing feature of PM&E. PM&E can be characterized as a process ofindividual and collective learning, through which people become more aware of their strengths andweaknesses. PM&E also enhances organizational learning. The learning process, it is hoped, wouldcreate conditions conducive to change and action. Learning in the context of PM&E emphasizes onpractical or action-oriented learning. PM&E is a learning platform for those involved in the process.The process of learning is also a means for local capacity building, as participants gain skills whichstrengthen local capacity for planning, problem solving and decision-making. The process also givesparticipants of PM&E greater understanding of the various factors that affect the conditions anddynamics of the intervention, the basis for the success and failures of the intervention, and potentialsolutions or alterative actions. Participants of PM&E learn from their experience and gain the abilitiesto evaluate their own needs, analyse their own priorities and objectives, and undertake action-orientedplanning. Overall, PM&E should serve to increase the analytical capacities of community members,and empower them to question, and become pro-active in development initiatives (Alur et al. 2005).PM&E can be undertaken monthly, quarterly and annually by different stakeholders at different levels,in order to achieve feedback, review and adjust the implementation of interventions.FlexibilityFlexibility and experimentation are also regarded as integral parts of PM&E. PM&E should be contextual,which takes into account the local socio-cultural, economic, political and institutional contexts. Thereis no blueprint to carry out PM&E. The process of PM&E should be continually evolving and adaptingaccording to intervention-specific circumstances and needs. This is because participating stakeholderscan have new ideas on how to approach the M&E exercise. For instance, when participating stakeholders25