FAO.org

A very active and productive M&E Workshop, including 40 participants from 17 countries in the Asia and the Pacific Region, was held in Bangkok during the week of 10 December.

The objective of the workshop was to enhance the effectiveness of project monitoring and evaluation of World Bank funded projects, many of which have been prepared and are being implemented with support from FAO under the FAO/WB Cooperative Programme.

Ultimately, good M&E assures quality outcomes that meet the development goals of all stakeholders. Or as one participant rightly pointed out: “We owe it to the farmers in our projects to do effective M&E!”

The workshop provided a good opportunity for participants to learn about good M&E practices, new tools and also to exchange lessons learned and discuss the challenges faced in their day-to-day M&E work.

But the workshop was also an opportunity to take M&E to another level.

“Having a well-functioning M&E System is not an end in itself,” DRR Jong-Jin Kim pointed out to participants in opening remarks. “M&E is not primarily about meeting reporting requirements. Most importantly, M&E is a project management tool which facilitates effective project steering in order to achieve development outcomes. In fact, there is usually a direct correlation between the quality of an M&E System and the achievement of project objectives,” the DRR emphasized.

He went on to reflect upon the great demand for more real-time information on project impacts and how delivering real-time information is becoming more possible with innovative tools for M&E.

“Quite a lot of innovation is happening particularly in the Asia and Pacific Region with mobile and remote sensing data collection. I am pleased to see that this workshop presents innovative digital tools for M&E and hope this is an area for dynamic exchange of experience and ideas among all participants.”