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that can perform at peak levels unless the employees are committed to the organisation’s objectives. Therefore, for M&E to function effectively in terms of its projects and activities, it requires total commitment from all staff, especially those that are directly involved.
5.2.5 Submission of reports to external oversight bodies
Some of the participants understood that M&E requires the submission of reports to external oversight bodies in order to tighten the internal management processes, and improve M&E capacity and capability. Two direct comments from interview are presented as follows.
Reporting to oversight structures provides accountability and transparency and also promotes service delivery to the communities we serve (Participant 1).
However, one participant expressed the view that: Oversight report does not tighten internal management processes for the sake of compliance. M&E capacity is urgently required in this department (Participant 2).
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domestic arenas. At the international level, the transparency and accountability agenda seeks to alleviate the negative effect of the global financial crises and promotes a greater balance between the rich and poor. Monitoring and evaluation is an important tool in promoting good governance.
5.3.2 Employee performance
The results of the study showed that M&E are important tools enhancing employee performance.
From the interviews, a majority (n = 9) of the participants were of the view that Monitoring and evaluation do not track progress, but encourage people to meet their targets. A few comments from the interviews are presented below.
I believe that M&E ensure that targets are met with agreed time period and agreed budget (Participant 3). I think M&E keep people on track, especially when they are not meeting their targets, hence they serve as a meaning of increasing people’s performance (Participant 5).
Monitoring and evaluation assists those involved with projects to assess if progress is being achieved in accordance with expectations. M&E processes are conducted for many reasons and one of which is to learn “what works and does not”. Through an effective M&E system, people are able to assess their level of performance and make decisions on how well to perform their roles.
5.3.3 Addressing urgent needs of communities
The study found that M&E are powerful tools used by many governments or institutions to address the urgent needs of their communities. A few (n = 5) of the participants expressed their views regarding how M&E helps the government to attend to urgent needs of citizens. Some of the direct comments from the study are presented below.
Through M&E, the government or the department is able to identify the pressing challenges affecting the communities and urgent steps are taken to address such challenges (Participant 3).
M&E is seen as central activities within the department, which is linked to an intervention to meet the communities demands (Participant 4).
M&E are important tools which every government relies on to address the needs of citizens. An effective M&E system enables the government in this and to determine how such needs should be fulfilled or met.
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5.3.4 Integration of M&E into institutional management arrangements
The results of the study suggest that M&E can be effectively integrated into an institutional management arrangement in order to add value to the organisation. The participants expressed the following opinions.
M&E need to be understood in order to add value to the organisation (Participant 2).
Emphasis of buy-in from management is again pointed out. Each branch, chief directorate, directorate, sub-directorate should do M&E of their programmes prior [to] submitting information to directorate (Participant 5). The department can also be viewed as mini- Auditor General to check if things are going well prior to Audit start by external auditors (Participant, 7).
Monitoring and evaluation should not be seen as a different organisational activity. The process should be integrated into the institutional management arrangements so that they can add value to the organisation. M&E should always be linked to an organisation’s strategic plan. Any activity within an organisation which cannot be linked to the overall strategic plan or objective of the organisation is bound to fail.
5.3.5 M&E ensures service delivery
A few respondents expressed the view that M&E is critical in ensuring continuous service delivery in the country. According to these participants, M&E helps the department to determine what kind of services should be provided to communities. Some of the direct comments from the interviews are as follows.
I will say that through M&E, we are able to identify what the people want. We are also not only providing any kind of service, but we ensure that whatever service we offer is of good quality (Participants 1). M&E has the capacity to assess the needs of the communities and provide them according [to] their demands (Participant 6).
However, some of the participants disagreed with the above findings. They suggested that M&E does not necessarily ensure service delivery. The following are some direct quotations from the interview.
M&E in the department is misunderstood because they are perceived as policy as opposed to improving service delivery. They should be used as tools to improve service delivery
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(Participant 1). The department does not take M&E seriously, hence [it] cannot be viewed as a central management tool to assist the department (Participant 7).