THEPME

This presentation is a very general introduction to PME. It will be progressively

revised, so please let us have your comments.

Version 1 – January 2003

After the PBD, the EBD, the AFU, the UAD, the ODP, the FPD, the PFR, the GAP, the MAP, the PAP, the PP, the IAP, the AC, the HCP, the HR, the EBD, and other ABBS … the acronym family is pleased to announce the arrival of the PME (PSE in French).

PME = Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation

PSE = Planification, Suivi et Evaluation

This is not just something for the

specialists

The acronym may be unfamiliar, but fundamentally there is nothing really new.

Some people are already PME-ing without realising it.

But what is it exactly? Planning, evaluation, and monitoring are individual

components of a development activity. These instruments require a climate of co-operation where everyone is willing, with their partners, to observe their own activities with a critical eye and draw the necessary conclusions for future actions and attitudes. Once the PME is part of everyone’s concern, it becomes a tangible element of organisational practice. (DDC, 1996)

Er … OK, but can you be a bit more specific…

The PME is the unit around which the individual elements, which are planning, monitoring and evaluation, revolve.

These elements need to be considered globally, and their results implemented via an apprenticeship process.

DDC, 1996

We can see the « P » …

Questions to be examined during planning

Who ? does what ?

when? how? why ?

Bodies and persons involved

Activities

Schedule

Resources and methods

Objectives and results

Programming is done in outline and at least for the project period. planning concentrates on a shorter period and is much more detailed.

IUED, 1996

Initial situation

Desired final situation

But the M and the E are a bit harder to make out

Monitoring = The systematic and continuous collecting, analysis and using of information for the purpose of management and decision-making.

Evaluation = A periodic assessment of the efficiency, effectiveness, impact, sustainability and relevance of a project in the context of stated objectives. It is usually undertaken as an independent examination of the background, objectives, results, activities and means deployed, with a view to drawing lessons that may guide future decision-making.

UE,2001

Evaluation is not monitoring!

Monitoring is the periodic supervision of the implementation of an action with the aim of determining to what extent the delivery of resources, the schedule of activities, other requisite actions and the expected results are proceeding as planned, in order to be able to react in time to any problems that may have been detected (…) Monitoring does not call the formulation, the action operation plan or the choice of objectives into question, but rather examines the present state of activities against what was initially intended.

The evaluation does not assume that the original formulation of the action is the best. It is a process that attempts to determine, as systematically and objectively as possible, what has really happened, the cause of these findings and their origins. It can challenge the main options (such as the formulation and planning) in seeking to determine the background to the action and its justification. The evaluation not only allows improvements tp be made in the activities underway, but also in the programming and decision-making.

COTA, 2002

In other words:

To be even more precise …The evaluationThe evaluation The monitoringThe monitoring

Provides an assessment Carries out the supervision

Examines the past, the whole duration of the action, from the beginning up to the time of the evaluation

Focuses on the present moment

Aims to determine the relations of cause and effect, the unforeseen and the unplanned, the correct policies, the achievement of results and objectives

Aims to measure the divergences planned / realised based on activities implemented and adherence to the approaches

Provides feedback : occasional (the important milestones), based on achieved results and in a long-term context.

Provides feedback : continuous or systematic, based on intermediate activites and results, in the short-term.

Supports decisions on :

Major re-planning of the action,

Re-formulation,

The success or failure of the action

The validity of the hypotheses of the action,

The potential for reproduction

Supports decisions on :

Regular management of the action,

Adjustments to the action plan,

Conformity with legal procedures,

The programming of resources COTA, 2002

But above all, more than the P, the M or the E, it is the link between the three that is essential in PME.

planning

Initial situation

Desired final situation

Monitoring

Evaluation

The planning needs to be measured in order to be adjusted.

The monitoring needs a measuring reference.

The plan is redefined as a result of the evaluation.

The evaluation uses the plan as a point of reference for analysis.

The monitoring relies on the evaluation to be « amended».

The evaluation uses the results of the monitoring.

The approach is simple enough, after all.

Well… so are the tools!

Or they should be…

How will the PME tools be formalised at HI ?

They will be formalised during 2003 by using :

– The (many) tools that already exist;– The tools recommended in the methodological

guides;– Consultations with the different parties

concerned (PBD, FPD, DO, TC, FC…);– A trial within the 15 or so programmes

concerned by the PME in 2003.

An essential tool

The logical framework is an essential tool to PME.

And yet, only too often we produce it for the funding body, and then hardly refer to it during the implementation of the project

Breaking down the logical framework allows us to programme, to define the monitoring tools and also serves as a reference for the evaluation.

Logical framework

Work plan Budget

Salaries 500 5500Allowances 1250 1760Transport 3750 4250Office 750 750…….. …. …...

BudgetBudget

Work plans and budget plans based on activities

UE, 2001

The evaluation and monitoring base themselves on work/ budget plans.

They focus on different parts of the logical framework

Evaluation

Monitoring

Programming/ planning

Bibliography

The following references are available on line or from the

documentation centre

On the PME in general

DDC, 1996, PSER – une entrée en matière [PMER - an introduction], 29p.

This brochure outlines the principles of PME clearly and concisely.

The DDC prefers to speak of PMEI to stress the fact that the PME procedure should not be too heavy and end up being prejudicial to the project  ’s implementation (I).

The brochure is available from the documentation centre. The Methodology TC can provide you with a paper copy, if you so wish.

On project cycle management:

UE, March 2001, Manuel Gestion du cycle de projet [Project cycle management handbook].

This handbook is an essential reference on the project cycle management method and the logical framework approach. It offers a reminder of the concepts and principles and presents the essential tools. It is available on line or a computerised version can be obtained from the Methodology TC (.pdf).

To download (in French/ English/Spanish) : http://europa.eu.int/comm/europeaid/evaluation/methods/pcm.htm

On planning :

HI, 2000, Logic of programming, 30p.

This guide was produced by the Methodology resource group.

It only describes the logic of programming and its tools, and not how this logic may be implemented.

It has 5 sections : observation of the situation, problem analysis, programming the objectives and strategy, action plans, evaluations of the programming and programming evaluations.

The guide is incorporated into the Administrative handbook (Chapter IV), available on the intranet (Programmes/ tools) and on CD Rom.

On monitoring

Europact, 2002, Le suivi d’un projet de développement [Monitoring a development project], 84p.

This methodological guide appears in the F3E collection. It is available on line on their web site : www.f3e.asso.fr

It presents the objectives, the approach and the implementation of project monitoring.

It is one of the rare documents to be devoted specifically to monitoring.

On evaluation :

COTA, 2001, Organiser l’évaluation d’une action de développement dans le sud – Un guide pour les ONG du nord [Organising the evaluation of a development activity in the south - A guide for NGO from the north] , 82p.

This practical guide is for NGO with little experience of evaluation. Particularly didactic, it is divided into 2 main sections : Definitions and concepts (1/ the stakeholders in the action and partnership, 2/ definitions, final objectives and evaluation functions, 3/ the different types of evaluation;The practical organisation of an evaluation (4/ stages in an external evaluation; 5/ drawing up the terms of reference; 6/ useful information).

END