Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation for Natural Resource Management and Research
Publisher: International Institute for Environment and Development
Author(s): Irene Guijt
Date: 1999
Topics: Governance, Monitoring and Evaluation, Programming, Renewable Resources
Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) have long been important for funding agencies to assess actual change against stated objectives, and thus to judge whether development assistance has been successful or not. This has usually involved external experts evaluating against indicators that have been determined externally or through rigid, imposed monitoring procedures.Yet changes are afoot and organizations are increasingly using M&E for internal learning and continual improvement to their work. They also increasingly realize that this needs to happen with a wide range of stakeholders, thus making M&E more participatory. Participatory monitoring and evaluation (PM&E) involves the assessment of change through processes that involve many people or groups, each of whom is affecting or affected by the impacts being assessed. Negotiation leads to agreement on how progress should be measured and the findings acted upon. It is a challenging process for all concerned as different stakeholders must examine their assumptions about what constitutes progress – and together deal with the contradictions and conflicts that can emerge.