For UNFPA, monitoring and evaluation (M&E) is an important results-based management function that helps the organization to enhance the effectiveness of its development assistance. The main purpose of M&E is to enable implementing partners (IPs) to make informed decisions that will allow them to achieve their development objectives and demonstrate results. Programme monitoring is a continual management function. Monitoring tracks programme interventions and strategic implementations to identify progress towards the achievement of programme results. Planners can use it to gauge actual performance against planned results. It alerts managers and IPs to implementation problems. Monitoring provides programme managers with opportunities to seek clarification, identify needed programme support and address other important programmatic issues during implementation.
In its seventh country programme (CP7) UNFPA is using both ‘results-based management’ (RBM) and ‘managing for development results’ (MfDR) approaches in M&E. Additionally, potential problems and successes are being identified throughout the implementation of the programme. Means of verification include baseline surveys, end-line surveys and supplementary investigations in UNFPA’s seven programme provinces, regular government surveys such as the population change surveys, the 2009 population census and studies, regular monitoring, reviews and other independent assessments.
The latest key indicators
| Population (millions, 2007) |
85 |
|
Life expectancy at birth, years (male, 2005) |
69 |
|
Life expectancy at birth, years (Female. 2000) |
73 |
|
Urban population (2007) |
27% |
|
Population annual growth rate (2007) |
1.26 |
|
Total fertility rate (TFR, 2007) |
2.07 |
|
Population under 25 years (2007) |
47% |
|
Sex ratio at birth (boys to 100 girls, SRB, 2007) |
111 |
|
Number of new born per year (millions, 2006) |
1,2 |
|
Percent of population over 65 years old (2007) |
7% |
|
Maternal mortality ratio, per 100,000 live births (MMR, 2006) |
162 |
|
Infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births (IMR, 2006) |
16 |
|
Deliveries attended by skilled health personnel (2006) |
92% |
|
Contraceptive prevalence rate for women aged 15-49, modern method |
67% |
|
Percentage of CHCs that can provide three contraceptive methods |
94% |
M&E uses RBM to improve programme performance by comparing and analyzing actual results against planned results through baseline surveys, regular monitoring, reporting/adjusting and end-line surveys. Baseline surveys provide the initial situation of reproductive health and family planning service quality in each province. The M&E unit has also conducted needs assessments to provide a picture of the quality of emergency obstetric care and new born care in 16 intervention districts within the seven target provinces. This will provide data to improve interventions.
At the end of CP7, the M&E unit will conduct an end-line survey to measure the impact of interventions and to provide a way forward for the next country programme. Between the baseline and end-line, M&E will conduct ‘supportive supervision’ to track progress towards CP7 strategic outputs. The findings and recommendations produced will feed into the reporting system for the preparation of AWP review and CPAP meetings.
The intervention model for CP7 is the foundation of UNFPA’s M&E system. The planned interventions ultimately target beneficiaries at the grassroots level. Here, M&E will measure changes, or the ‘before-and-after’ of CP7 interventions at the lower level.
The baseline and end-line surveys use the same methodology to measure these changes through data and information collected from service providers and target groups including women, men and adolescents. The ultimate outcome would be positive change in perceptions and behaviours among people seeking health care services. Though it may take time, the five-year country programme life cycle allows sufficient time for this change to happen.
UNFPA works with government counterparts MOH and MPI/GACA, and with ‘mass organisations’, providing supportive supervision and monitoring through regular field visits to target provinces and agencies. Together with key implementing partners as well as MPI/GACA, UNFPA hosts annual work plan review meetings. Based on the results from the current year and the plan for the coming year, MPI/GACA and UNFPA will jointly conduct the annual country programme action plan (CPAP) review meeting to analyse progress towards the outputs and review lessons learned for improvement. This will be conducted in cooperation with other UN agencies as a part of One UN.
Key documents
Key indicators on Population and Reproductive Health
Programme Manager's Planning M&E Toolkit
Checklist for Field Travel
Mid-Term Review of CP7 (English)
Mid-Term Review of CP7 (Vietnamese)
Useful links
http://erc.msh.org/toolkit/
http://www.outcomemapping.ca/
http://mapeodealcances.net/sitio/
www.idrc.ca/evaluation
http://web.idrc.ca
