Building capacity for evaluation has become a big concern in the effort of ensuring that evaluations are meaningful. Part of this capacity includes making sure that M&E activities have resources needed to carry them out. This study sought to establish the influence of allocating resources for M&E activities on the utilization of M&E result at the project level in Kenya’s Meru County. The study used a mixed mode approach in methodology and it was both a descriptive survey and a cross-sectional survey and used both descriptive and inferential analysis of the data collected. The study sampled 186 respondents from a targeted population of 430 employees working in Non-Governmental organizations and other community based organizations in the county. The study showed that resources were allocated for various M&E activities to a great extent. The study also noted high level of M&E results utilization at project level by project employees and all the indicators of resources allocation had positive correlation with M&E result utilization. It was noted that for every unit increase in resource allocation, there was an increase of 26.1% in M&E result utilization score which is a percentage that would justify allocating resources for M&E activities by project organizations.

This research was aimed at exploring how M&E processes affect the performance of HIV prevention projects for adolescents in Kisumu County, Kenya. The study population comprised of HIV prevention projects for adolescents which have been implemented from 2016 – 2018 in Kisumu county Kenya. The target population comprised of adolescents enrolled in HIV prevention projects in 6 organizations in Kisumu county, Kenya as well as staff working in the projects. A sample of 354respondents were selectedfrom4483 using stratified, random, and purposive sampling methods. A systemized interview tool and questionnaires were used to collect data. Observed descriptive statistics indicated that M&E processes had an influence on the performance of HIV prevention projects for adolescents in Kisumu County, Kenya. The value of r2 was 0.159, indicating M&E processes explained 15.9% of the variance in performance of HIV prevention projects for adolescents in Kisumu. The beta coefficient was 0.645, implying that monitoring & evaluation process has a significant influence on performance of HIV prevention projects (β=0.645, F(1,181)=34.273, P=0.0005˂0.05). The Beta value indicated that each record variation on the performance of HIV prevention programs for adolescent could be linked to 64.5% variation in M&E processes.

Water sector has been undergoing various reforms in the past decade aimed at promoting projects sustainability. There is a general acceptance that community project participation influence project performance, however the influence of participation in decision making on sustainability of community water projects is not clear. This study sought to establish the influence of community participation in decision making on sustainability of community water projects in Kenya, a case of Nyeri County. The study adopted a mixed method research anchored on a concurrent triangulation. The study was conducted in three sub counties of Nyeri County, Tetu, Mathira and Nyeri central which had a total of 10 water projects with 1052 beneficiaries. Respondents for this study comprised three strata. In the first strata were water project beneficiaries picked using Yamane formula (1967) and resulted into a sample size of 290 and later proportionately stratified across the ten water projects. Individual respondents of beneficiaries were identified using a systematic sampling procedure and subjected to self administered questionnaire. Out of 290 contacted respondents 207 positively responded to the survey questionnaire representing 71.38 percent successful return rate. The second strata comprised of 8 respondents who were included in focus group discussions of which 3 were committee members purposely selected and 5 randomly selected ordinary project beneficiaries. The third strata comprised of 10 water officers one each from the 10 water who were subjected to a semi structured interview. Instrument validity was ensured with input from two supervisors from the University of Nairobi while reliability was determined using a split-half testing technique. Quantitative data was analyzed using linear regression model in SPSS software. The study established a significant independent influence at (p < 0.000) of community participation; in decision making on sustainability of community water projects at 5% level of significance. The increasing strength of participation from weak, moderate to strong was positively correlated to the level of project sustainability. To guarantee project sustainability the study recommends that community projects ensure project beneficiaries are involved in all the stages of the project implementation and management.

The principal objective of the study reported in this article was to empirically assess the influence of technological environment on performance of gated community housing projects in Nairobi County, Kenya. The study population comprised of all active gated community housing projects initiated in 2009 -2014. A total of 572 respondents were drawn from 143 sampled gated community housing projects from the seventeen sub-counties of Nairobi County (four members were drawn from each sampled gated community project -client, consultant, contractor, and the gated community facility manager) using census, stratified, simple random, and purposive sampling techniques. A standardized open ended interview guide and a questionnaire with both open and closed-ended items with Likert-type interval scale anchored on a five point scale were used to collect data. Descriptive statistics show that respondents agreed that to a very great extent their projects used locally made plant and equipment (M=4.80, SD=0.40), to a great extent skills were available for operation of the plant and equipment (M=4.04, SD=0.47), to a great extent team members with necessary skills to operate and use the plant equipment were available (M=4.0, SD=0.43), to a very great extent use of information and communication technology (ICT) was satisfactory (M=4.49, SD=0.71), to a very great extent computer aided drafting (CAD) was used (M=4.62, SD=0.71), to a very great extend 3D visual illustrations -Building Information Modelling, was used (M=4.65, SD=0.48), and to a very great 44 extent electronic mails and communication was used (M=4.86, SD=0.34. Results from inferential statistics show that r is equal to 0.559, indicating that technological environment has a moderately strong influence on performance in gated community housing projects. The value of r squared is 0.312, indicating that technological environment explains 31.2% of the variation in the performance in gated community housing projects in Nairobi County, Kenya. The β coefficient is 0.327, indicating that technology environment had statistically significant influence on the performance of gated community housing projects (β=0.327, t= 4.758, p=0.000<0.05). Considering the p value, it can be noted that the p value for technological environment (p=0.000) is statistically significant. The β value imply that one unit change in performance in gated community housing project is associated with 32.7% changes in technological environment.

The study sought to establish the relationship between monitoring and evaluation practices and performance of County Maternal Health programmes in Kenya. The combined monitoring and evaluation practices included planning for M&E, stakeholder engagement, capacity building for M&E, and M&E data use. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. To obtain 282 respondents, stratified random sampling was used. A self-administered structured questionnaire was the study's research instrument. Using descriptive narratives, qualitative data was analyzed within specific themes. Quantitative data was analyzed descriptively using measures of central tendencies and measures of dispersion. Regression was conducted for testing the study hypotheses. Data was presented using frequency tables. The study found that stakeholders’ engagement in M&E and capacity building for M&E influenced the performance of County Maternal Health Programmes in Kenya. The study also found that the respondents agreed that planning for M&E and the data management for M&E. This implied that the combined monitoring and evaluation practices influence performance of County Maternal Health Programmes in Kenya.The study found a strong correlation between the performance of county maternal health programmes and combined monitoring and evaluation practices. The study concluded that combined planning for M&E monitoring and evaluation practices influenced the performance of county maternal health programmes. The study suggests that management develop an effective methodology as well as raise awareness of M&E activities for the success of the project. The study also suggests that human resources issues such as workers charged with monitoring and evaluation ought to have technical capabilities, and roles and duties of monitoring and evaluation personnel should be outlined at the start of projects. To ensure M&E sustainability health sector reforms, investments in strong and vibrant technical harmonization platforms that can sustain the change agenda at all times and every required level.