The objective of monitoring and evaluation is to assist all project participants in assessing project performance and impacts, with a view to maximizing both. Monitoring will consist of continuous or periodic review and surveillance of activities with respect to management and the implementation of the work plan. This will help to ensuring that all required actions are proceeding as planned. Monitoring and Evaluation will take place at three levels: project execution, project performance, and impact evaluation.

1. Project Execution.  Monitoring will concentrate on the management and supervision of project activities, seeking to improve the efficiencies when needed so as to improve the overall effectiveness of project implementation. It is a continuous process, which will collect information about on actual implementation of project activities compared to those scheduled in the annual work plans, including the delivery of quality outputs in a timely manner, identify problems and constraints (technical, human resource, and financial), make clear recommendations for corrective actions, identify lessons learned and best practices, etc.

2. Project Performance. Performance evaluation will assess the project’s success in achieving its objectives (above).The project will be monitored closely by FAO, UNEP and the Project Steering Committee through semi-annual reports, quarterly implementation reviews, and other reports. How successful the project is will be evaluated at mid-term (after two years of project execution) and final (at the end of project execution) by external consultants contracted by UNEP in consultation with FAO.

3. Project impact. Evaluation of the project’s success in achieving its outcomes will be monitored continuously throughout the project. The key indicators can be found in the logical framework in Annex 2. The indicators will be further refined at the Inception Workshop, and tools and methods and indicators for measuring impact will be determined and agreed to ensure that a standardized framework is shared by the four participating countries.

For the detailed Monitoring and Evaluation Plan (Annex 7 of the project document)