Monitoring and Evaluation: A Closer Look

The Global Evaluation Initiative 
A global partnership to support
evaluation capacity development

IEG is a proud partner of the newly-launched Global Evaluation Initiative (GEI), an inclusive global partnership committed to developing country-owned, sustainable monitoring and evaluation (M&E) frameworks and capacities to promote the use of evidence in public decision-making, enhance accountability, and achieve better results. Read more about GEI.


Monitoring

  • Involves continuous or ongoing collection and analysis of information about implementation to review progress;
  • Compares actual progress with what was planned so that adjustments can be made in implementation; and
  • Is an internal activity that is the responsibility of those who manage implementation procedures, thus representing  a good management practice.

Evaluation

  • Is a periodic assessment of the relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, impact, and/or sustainability of an activity or intervention;
  • Is a systematic search for answers about an intervention (project, program, or policy); and
  • Measures the effects of an intervention and compares them with the goals and objectives of the intervention.

Evaluation Capacity Development (ECD) efforts strengthen and sustain both individuals and organizations to:

  • Access, build, and implement evaluative knowledge and skills;
  • Design, implement, and manage effective evaluation processes and findings; and
  • Use evaluations as a performance improvement tool.

By cultivating a spirit of continual learning and capacity development, organizations are able to guide their own team members, stakeholders, and others along a more direct path to program effectiveness and accountability.  ECD also fosters the implementation of Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) knowledge and practices.

M&E, an essential component of results-based management, provides information for designing, implementing, and assessing the results of government, civil society, and private sector policies, programs, and projects.  Used well, M&E can help policymakers and program managers determine what works, what is not working, and why. 

M&E in the public sector can also:

  • Support evidence-based policymaking, particularly in the context of national budget cycle and national planning;  
  • Guide ministries and agencies in managing activities at the sector, program, and project levels, including service delivery to beneficiaries; and
  • Enhance accountability and transparency.

IEG Evaluation Methods Paper Series


The IEG Methods Papers Series offers publications on evaluation methodological research led by the IEG Methods Advisory Team, and other resources related to the promotion of evaluation knowledge. The publications are designed to provide evaluation professionals with guidance on methodological practices.

ECD Initiatives Supported by the Independent Evaluation Group


The Global Evaluation Initiative (GEI)

Globally, 91 percent of countries’ national development strategies—approved since 2015—refer to the 2030 agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); however, according to the Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation, only 35 percent of them have reliable data and systems to track the progress of their policies and programs.

In response to this global gap in M&E systems and capacities, GEI is an innovative partnership that brings together a broad and diverse coalition of governments, (inter)national and local development organizations, and M&E experts to pool financial and technical resources to coordinate and expand M&E efforts globally.

The CLEAR Initiative

The CLEAR Initiative is a collaborative global program founded by academic and bilateral and multilateral institutions to support evaluation capacity strengthening in developing countries. Conceived as an innovative approach to developing the M&E capacities of governments and civil society organizations (CSOs), it is based on South-South collaboration and is backed by prestigious academic institutions recognized for their excellence in the evaluation field.

View the list of upcoming evaluation training sessions at regional CLEAR centers, and learn more about gLocal Evaluation Week, an annual week-long event to support local and global knowledge sharing and networking, promote the evaluation practice, and support evidence-based policy making. Events can take place anywhere around the world, in any language.

International Program for Development Evaluation Training (IPDET)

The International Program for Development Evaluation Training (IPDET) is an executive training program in development evaluation. IPDET is managed jointly by the University of Berne (Center for Continuing Education and Center for Development and Environment), the Center for Evaluation at Saarland University (Germany) and the Independent Evaluation Group of the World Bank.

The unique training program runs annually in the summer, and brings together global expertise in development evaluation in Bern, the capital of Switzerland.

IPDET strives to provide a program in which participants:

  • enhance knowledge and skills of development evaluation
  • learn about new topics and global trends, and
  • network for collaboration and knowledge sharing.

For more information about IPDET, visit www.ipdet.org.

IEG’s Cooperation on Evaluation Initiatives 

To promote evaluation learning amongst those interested in evaluation, IEG is committed to working with evaluation partners in other agencies and within the World Bank.

Evaluation Cooperation Group (ECG). IEG was a founding member in 1996 of ECG, developed to promote a more harmonized approach to evaluation methodology within multilateral development banks (MDBs).  Today ECG connects the leaders and staff of MDB evaluation functions for mutual learning and sharing of approaches. 

Evaluation Network (EvalNet) of the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC).The Network on Development Evaluation is an international forum with a rich history that brings together evaluation managers and specialists from development co-operation ministries and agencies in OECD DAC member countries and multilateral development institutions. The network has been instrumental in developing key international norms and standards for development evaluation and promoting collaboration. The network’s guidance documents on evaluation have a wide influence on development evaluation practice and are frequently used in evaluations of development programs world-wide.

Results Measurement and Evaluation Stream (RMES) of the World Bank. IEG is a founding member of RMES, which was launched in June 2014 is the first WBG-wide initiative bringing together talent, knowledge, and innovations to establish standards and provide operational solutions on results measurement and evaluation.

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