Learner’s Submission: Result-Based Monitoring and Evaluation System in Zimbabwe

“The United Nations Millennium Development Goals are eight goals that UN Member States have agreed to try to achieve by the year 2015. The United Nations Millennium Declaration, commits world leaders to combat poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation, and discrimination against women. However, for head of states to achieve the set goals they need an effective monitoring and evaluation system that is result oriented.

There is a lack of project management capacity in international development projects.  A good RBME is an ongoing system. This means that there is constant feedback, learning and improving. Existing plans are regularly modified based on the lessons learned through monitoring and evaluation, and future plans are developed based on these lessons. Results based monitoring is also an ongoing process. The lessons from monitoring are discussed periodically and used to inform actions and decisions. Results based evaluations should be done for programmatic improvements while the program is still ongoing and also inform the planning of new programs. This ongoing process of doing, learning and improving is what is referred to as the RBME approach. Learning not only helps improve results from existing programs and projects, but also enhances the capacity of the organization and individuals to make better decisions in the future and improves the formulation of future programs and projects.

Clovgate Elevator Company is company in Zimbabwe, s involved in the installation, upgrades, service and maintenance of Elevators and Escalators in the southern region of Africa. Clovgate Elevator Company has been and it’s trying to improve the lives of Zimbabweans by installing elevators at hospitals, clinics and government buildings.  This company is involved in carrying out multiple projects at once; by so doing the organization as adopted the results based monitoring and evaluation system. The adoption of the results based monitoring and evaluation system has also necessitated the setting up of the projects and programs monitoring and evaluation departments in our organization. In setting up the RBME, the organization has done what is known as an integrated approach in RBME meaning that everyone or each and every department in the organization must adopt the RBME towards the achievement of organizational objectives. This approach can transfer the sophistication of information into structure, form, grouping, reporting and process that would allow all stakeholders to understand, communicate and exchange experience and knowledge. Since the organization adopted an integrated approach, each and every individual in organization and all departments are users of the RBME system. The RBME System was put in place so that everyone, each and every department in the organization should self monitoring and evaluation to allow performance improvement prior to results publication. In case of one department fails, RBME can predict failure and allows time to improve on performance prior to performance review. This performance review process could be applied by departments to report their achievements.

The  RBME system at Clovgate  comprises  of  a  Results-Based  Budgeting  (RBB)  system,  Results-Based  Personnel  Performance System (RBPPS) and Results Based Operations Management System (RBOMS). The  above  systems are  deemed  critical  to  assist the organization  in  conducting  systematic  program  planning,  formulation  and implementation which  in  turn  is  expected  to  improve  the performance of the organization.

The interest of our organization in pursuing RBME is that many complex, long-term projects fail to live up to their promises and produce disappointing outcomes on completion. Some of these are well-known for exceeding their budgets or deadlines or both.  Publicly available statistics of project failures vary dramatically in their estimates and do not include confidential data from private corporations so are not an entirely reliable guide.

Results-Based Monitoring and evaluation enhances the effectiveness of your organization by establishing clear links between past, present and future interventions and results. Results-Based Monitoring and evaluation can help an organization to extract, from past and ongoing activities, relevant information that can subsequently be used as the basis for programmatic fine-tuning, reorientation and planning. Without results-based monitoring and evaluation, it would be impossible to judge if work was going in the right direction, whether progress and success could be claimed, and how future efforts might be improved.” – Soul Nyangoni – Harare, Zimbabwe

Learner’s Submission: Result Based Monitoring and Evaluation System

“Result Based Monitoring and Evaluation system

Results-based monitoring and evaluation system is a powerful  management tool that can be used to help policymakers and decision makers track progress and demonstrate the impact of a given project, program or policy. Results-based M&E differs from traditional implementation-focused M&E in that it moves beyond an emphasis on inputs and outputs to a greater focus on outcomes and impacts. The implementation approach focuses on monitoring and assessing how well a project, program, or policy is being executed. However, this approach does not provide policymakers, managers, and stakeholders with an understanding of the success or failure of that project, program, or policy. Results-based M&E systems are designed to address the “so what” question.

Potential users of the RBM&E system

My organization is a major international humanitarian agency delivering broad-spectrum emergency relief and long-term international development projects hence a great beneficiary to a well implemented RBME. The organization management and the specific project management teams are the potential users of the RBM&E system. The information generated from the systems is important to all the departments and staffs in the organization. The uses of the systems pursue this because useful information it can generate. A functioning M&E system provides a continuous flow of information that is useful both internally and externally. The internal uses come into play as the information from the M&E system is used as a crucial management tool for managers in achieving results and meeting specific targets. The external use is mainly by outside stakeholders who are expecting results and wanting to see demonstrable impacts from an action.

Values of RBME

• RBME can help managers identify program weaknesses and take action to correct them. An M&E strategy can be used to diminish fear within an organization and can instead devise ways of instilling an open atmosphere in which people can learn from mistakes, make improvements, and create knowledge along the way.

• It can aid in promoting greater transparency and accountability within organizations and governments. Beneficial spillover effects may also occur from shining a light on results. External and internal stakeholders will have a clearer sense of the status of projects, programs, and policies. The ability to demonstrate positive results can also help garner greater political and popular support.

• The system provides valuable Information on progress, problems, and performance. This information is key to managers striving to achieve results. Likewise, the information from an M&E system is important to outside stakeholders and especially donors who are expecting results, wanting to see demonstrable impacts from an action. The systems can help identify potentially promising programs or practices.

• The RBM&E systems can also provide continuous feedback in the management process of monitoring and evaluating progress toward a given goal. In this context, they promote organizational learning. Access to information is an essential component of a successful development strategy.

• Some organizations and the management have pursued result based monitoring and evaluation because it can provides a more robust basis for raising funds and influencing policy.” – Edgar Indasi – Nairobi, Kenya

Learners’ Submission: E-Governance in India

“E-governance has been considered as the best way for good governance. Communication and internet Technology has brought world near and has great impact on the life styles of people. The mode of obtaining services and its delivery has undergone tremendous changes with the improvement of technology that covered almost all types of services whether banking, insurance, other financial services or services from local corporations and government bodies. The relationship of service provider to that of service taker has also changed and has brought changes in quality of the service and its timely delivery.

Indian government has planned for e-Governance and initiated actions to improve delivery of Government services to citizens and businesses with the vision to make all Government services accessible to the common man in his locality, through common service delivery outlets and ensure efficiency, transparency & reliability of such services at affordable costs to realize the basic needs of the common man. Government of India decided to promote e-Governance through a centralized initiative to ensure citizen-centric orientation with decentralized implementation model. It will help realize the objective of inter-operability of various e-Governance applications and ensure optimal utilization of ICT infrastructure and resources. It also aims at identifying successful projects and replicating them with required customization wherever needed.

Accordingly the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) has been formulated by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DEITY) and Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG). The Union Government approved the NeGP, comprising of 31 (originally 27) Mission Mode Projects (MMPs). Various Indian Union Ministries/Departments and State Governments are involved in Implementation of the e-Governance plan and the need for overall aggregation and integration at the national level was important.

NeGP comprises 31 mission mode projects (MMPs), which are further classified as state, central or integrated projects. Each state government can also define five MMPs specific to its individual needs.

e-Governance in India has steadily evolved from computerization of Government Departments to initiatives that encapsulate the finer points of Governance, such as citizen centricity, service orientation and transparency. The projects are expected to reduce number of trips of service users to service provider as also the waiting period apart from reducing the corruption and providing quality service.

I am describing the e-Governance in Urban Local Bodies:

“e-Governance in Urban Local Bodies” is a unique initiative of the Government of India conceptualized under the umbrella of the overall National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) and the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM) aimed at improving operational efficiencies within Urban Local Bodies (ULBs).

It has been observed that

• Presently there is very limited or no computerization across ULBs in different States.
• There is very limited or non-existent staff with IT know-how
• There is lack of standardization of processes; and
• The processes are primarily operated in a manual mode

There are following services which should be provided under this MMP:

I. Citizen Services (G2C)

1. Birth & Death Registration – Information, Application download, online application, payment and printing of certificates with Digital signature
2. Trade Licensing –Accreditation of vendors, Licensed shop owners and technical/professional, online submission and receipts (including renewal etc.) of licenses and printing with digital signature
3. Building Plan – Single window based – Online submission through accredited/licensed Architects, online check and permission, Field check through Handheld device (GPRS & GPS based photos and measurement device) and authentication. NOC from Various dept. would be obtained through SLA based Input screen and secured VPN links.
4. Tax and Fees & Fine/Penalty Payment – Enquiry – GIS based system – Self calculation, payment through secured payment gateway, Printing of secured digital receipts
5. RTI – Online application, application status tracking, pendency tracking
6. Grievance /Service request/Feedback – Online application, application status tracking, pendency tracking.
7. Helpdesk – ULB –wide – single helpline no

II. Employee Service:

1. HRMS with Employee Self-service incl. leave, Personal HR (PIS) , parks and Payroll linked
2. Smartcard/ Biometric based access system linked with HRMS

III. Shared Service /Backend Departmental Services:

1. Double Entry Accrual based Accounting System
2. E-Tendering
3. HRMS with Payroll integrated with attendance system, Recruitment , Training, Assessment/Performance Management Module
4. Inventory/Asset Management including vehicles
5. Project Management with Field Monitoring support and Field service support
6. Enterprise GIS  with Property Tax, Solid Waste Management  Vehicle /Fleet Management
7. GPS/GPRS based Fleet Management
8. Backend Intra and Inter departmental workflow, with communication, document Management, K-Bank and Portal and Information/Content Management
9. Operational & Tactical/Mayors Dashboard” – Sachin Murari Patrikar – Maharashtra, India