Why Monitoring and Evaluation is the Next Big THING?

When I first learnt about Monitoring and Evaluation close to 10 years ago, I was but a boy who was trying to discover what career path to take. It wasn't easy because people back then wanted me to do the most prestigious careers like, Engineering, Medicine, Pharmacy and so on and so forth. Well, it was only during my final year at the University that a lecturer of mine, who taught Monitoring and Evaluation, actually taught a course that left a lasting impression on me. M&E was something new for me, and interestingly very easy to understand.

You see folks, when I first learnt about M&E, I soon realized that this tool is actually cross cutting. It cuts across every career path that is being championed around the world. For as long as there is a Project that is funded and being implemented by a group of personnel, M&E can be used as an important tool. Why do I say that Monitoring and Evaluation can actually be applied in;

(I) Engineering

(II) Medicine

(III) Pharmacy

(IV) Economics

(V) Fashiion 

(VI) ETC

Well, its because we all want to achieve results and experience success in everything that we do. We all have goals and dreams that we want to achieve even if its going to take us forever to achieve it, we believe deep inside our hearts that we can achieve it. That what Monitoring and Evaluation aims to achieve, it aims to help us achieve the results that we plan. Whether we want to build a house, or whether we want to find a cure to a disease, M&E solves all that by making sure you really achieve your goals and aspirations. 

WHAT MAKES MONITORING AND EVALUATION SO UNIQUE?

Monitoring  and Evaluation is cross cutting and can be applied any where in the world. It is more than just trying to achieve your goals and objectives either as an individual or an organization, but its about continuous learning and continuous improvement. At the end of the day you are going to answer the what, why, when and how questions. 

For many people, when you wake up in the morning, the first thing you do is go to the bathroom to take a shower. Afterwards, you get dressed and prepare to go for work. During that time, you come up with a plan of how you are going to spend the day and plan on some of the things you will do. Those plans have a purpose ultimately because when you achieve those plans, you actually achieve a result at the end of the day. Lets say, you plan that you want to make an application in order to apply for a loan at the bank. The result of applying for that loan is to get money to buy yourself a house or buy yourself a brand new car. When we do all these things, what we are actually doing is finding a way to make ourselves happy. Ofcourse money isn't everything, but it does solve some of our problems.

What I have talked about is a typical example of the impact we try to achieve from the things we do. We wake up in the morning, we go for work, we pick up an application to apply for a loan from the bank and then after we get the money, we buy the dream house we always wanted. THE IMPACT? Happiness right? Even though that happiness is short-lived, but we still feel happy and feel rewarded at the end of the day. 

Many organizations around the world are spending huge amounts of money in order to make a difference in the lives of individuals world over. They do this through development funding's or humanitarian aid, and the impact they want to see in most cases is a world free from poverty and injustice. Those plans are heavily documented in project proposals, strategies and multimillion programmes. However, questions still arise as to whether any impact is being achieved from this projects. Also, governments around the world are getting more and more anxious because the people that voted them into office are getting tired of having to be taxed in order to support aid that isn't really seeing any results. 

Because of this, there is growing need to 

(1) Justify project funding

(2) Hold the implementor's accountable for actions done

(3) Promote transparency and 

(4) Report on results 

Monitoring and Evaluation becomes a critical component in the sequence

https://www.udemy.com/course/project-monitoring-and-evaluation/

THE NEXT BIG THING?

Yes, believe it or not, its very true. What is among the  most important thing in this world that you can think of?...……..You guessed right it is money. People who invest their money in huge projects or even the small ones really want to see their hard earned money yielding results. Monitoring and Evaluation is designed to make sure the money spent actually achieves those results planned.

It does better than that, it also provides an early warning system incase there are any deviations from what was initially planned. It is that simple. But again, easier said than done right. In reality Monitoring and Evaluation isnt that easy but it involves a whole lot more.

If you have any questions simply write to me at coachalexander23@yahoo.com

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