M&E Plan

The M&E Plan

Every project or intervention should have a monitoring and evaluation (M&E) plan. This is the fundamental document that details a program’s objectives, the interventions developed to achieve these objectives, and describes the procedures that will be implemented to determine whether or not the objectives are met. It shows how the expected results of a program relate to its goals and objectives, describes the data needed and how these data will be collected and analyzed, how this information will be used, the resources that will be needed, and how the program will be accountable to stakeholders.
M&E plans should be created during the design phase of a program and can be organized in a variety of ways. Typically, they include:

• The underlying assumptions on which the achievement of program goals depend
• The anticipated relationships between activities, outputs, and outcomes
• Well-defined conceptual measures and definitions, along with baseline values
• The monitoring schedule
• A list of data sources to be used
• Cost estimates for the M&E activities
• A list of the partnerships and collaborations that will help achieve the desired results
• A plan for the dissemination and utilization of the information gained

Why Are M&E Plans Important?

• State how a program will measure its achievements and therefore provide accountability
• Document consensus and provide transparency
• Guide the implementation of M&E activities in a standardized and coordinated way
• Preserve institutional memory

M&E Plan Components
Typically, the components of an M&E plan include:

• The introduction
• The program description and framework
• A detailed description of the plan indicators
• The data collection plan
• A plan for monitoring
• A plan for evaluation
• A plan for the utilization of the information gained
• A mechanism for updating the plan

M&E Plan Components: Introduction
The introduction to the M&E plan should include:

• Information about the purpose of the program, the specific M&E activities that are needed, and why they are important
• A development history that provides information about the motivations of the internal and external stakeholders and the extent of their interest, commitment, and participation

M&E Plan Components: Program Description and Frameworks
The program description should include:

• A problem statement that identifies the specific problem to be addressed. This concise statement provides information about the situation that needs changing, who it affects, its causes, its magnitude, and its impact on society.

• The program goal and objectives:

o The goal is a broad statement about a desired long-term outcome of the program. For example, improvement in the reproductive health of adolescents or a reduction in unwanted pregnancies in X population would be goals.
o Objectives are statements of desired specific and measurable program results. Examples of objectives would be to reduce the total fertility rate to 4.0 births by year X or to increase contraceptive prevalence over the life of the program.

• Descriptions of the specific interventions to be implemented and their duration, geographic scope, and target population

• The list of resources needed, including financial, human, and those related to the infrastructure (office space, equipment, and supplies)

• The conceptual framework, which is a graphical depiction of the factors thought to influence the problem of interest and how these factors relate to each other.

• The logical framework or results framework that links the goal and objectives to the interventions.

We will discuss frameworks in more detail in the next section of this course.
Program Description: SMART Objectives
The objectives listed in the program description should be "SMART," an acronym that stands for:
Specific: Is the desired outcome clearly specified?
Measurable: Can the achievement of the objective be quantified and measured?
Appropriate: Is the objective appropriately related to the program's goal?
Realistic: Can the objective realistically be achieved with the available resources?
Timely: In what time period will the objective be achieved?
Here is a sample objective. Do you think it is SMART (i.e., meets all of the criteria above)?
Increase contraceptive prevalence by 15% in women 30-49 years of age
Is this objective SMART?
Increase contraceptive prevalence by 15% in women 30-49 years of age
Specific: Yes, the intended outcome of the program is specified.
Measurable: Yes, contraceptive prevalence is measurable.
Appropriate: Unknown, because the program's goal would need to be provided in order to know whether the objective relates logically to it.
Realistic: Unknown, because the resources available to the program would need to be known.
Timely: No, the time within which the objective is to be achieved is not specified.
So this objective is not "SMART" because, although it meets some of the criteria, it does not meet them all.
M&E Plan Components: Indicators
Indicators are clues, signs or markers that measure one aspect of a program and show how close a program is to its desired path and outcomes. They are used to provide benchmarks for demonstrating the achievements of a program.
One of the most critical steps in designing an M&E system is selecting appropriate indicators. The M&E plan should include descriptions of the indicators that will be used to monitor program implementation and achievement of the goals and objectives.
We will discuss the selection and use of indicators later in this course.
M&E Plan Components: Data Sources and Data Collection Plan
Data sources are sources of information used to collect the data needed to calculate the indicators.
The data collection plan should include diagrams depicting the systems used for data collection, processing, analysis, and reporting. The strength of these systems determines the validity of the information obtained.
Potential errors in data collection, or in the data themselves, must be carefully considered when determining the usefulness of data sources. We will discuss data sources, data collection and data quality later in this course.
M&E Plan Components: Monitoring Plan
The monitoring plan describes:

• Specific program components that will be monitored, such as provider performance or the utilization of resources
• How this monitoring will be conducted
• The indicators that will be used to measure results
• Because monitoring is concerned with the status of ongoing activities, output indicators, also known as process indicators, are used. For example, these indicators might be:
• How many children visit a child health clinic in one month?
• and
• How many of these children are vaccinated during these visits?

M&E Plan Components: Evaluation Plan
The evaluation plan provides the specific research design and methodological approaches to be used to identify whether changes in outcomes can be attributed to the program.
For instance, if a program wants to test whether quality of patient care can be improved by training providers, the evaluation plan would identify a research design that could be used to measure the impact of such an intervention.
One way this could be investigated would be through a quasi-experimental design in which providers in one facility are given a pretest, followed by the training and a posttest. For comparison purposes, a similar group of providers from another facility would be given the same pretest and posttest, without the intervening training. Then the test results would be compared to determine the impact of the training.
M&E Plan Components: Information Dissemination and Use
How the information gathered will be stored, disseminated, and used should be defined at the planning stage of the project and described in the M&E plan. This will help ensure that findings from M&E efforts are not wasted because they are not shared.
The various users of this information should be clearly defined, and the reports should be written with specific audiences in mind.
Dissemination channels can include written reports, press releases and stories in the mass media, and speaking events.
M&E Plan Components: Implementation and Mechanism for Update
The capacities needed to implement the efforts described in the M&E plan should be included in the document.
A mechanism for reviewing and updating the M&E plan should also be included. This is because changes in the program can and will affect the original plans for both monitoring and evaluation.
Standards for M&E Plans:
M&E plans should serve the information needs of the intended users in practical ways. These users can range from those assessing national program performance at the highest central levels to those allocating resources at the district or local level.
M&E plans should convey technically accurate information and should be realistic, prudent, diplomatic, and frugal.
The activities described in M&E plans should be conducted legally, ethically, and with regard to those involved in and affected by them.

Source: www.globalhealthlearning.com