Diagnosing monitoring and evaluation capacity in Africa

Mapitsa, Caitlin Blaser; Khumalo, Linda S.

doi:10.4102/aej.v6i1.255

Cited by 10 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…This compares to 21% who agreed and 25% who were undecided. This finding is consistent with the study conducted by Mapitsa and Khumalo (2018) who concur that in the current government structures on data and information management, the requirement for security and better accountability is still poorly applied in municipalities. The competence of municipal managers and accountability is key to addressing and reducing the effects of COVID-19 on citizens (Ball, 2020).…”

Section: Findings and Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

The pitfalls or gaps in monitoring and evaluation tools during Coronavirus disease 2019 era in South African municipalities

Yekani,

Ngcamu,

Pillay

2023

IJRBS

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The South African municipalities have continued to demonstrate weaknesses or inadequacies in monitoring and evaluation (M&E). A possible barrier in South African municipalities is a lack of M&E expertise. While M&E can provide valuable insights into the effectiveness and efficiency of a programme, some potential pitfalls and gaps were discovered during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). A case study design was employed to conduct in-depth and detailed examination within two metropolitan municipalities in the Eastern Cape. A mixed methods approach was adopted in a convergent manner for data collection and analysis. In-depth interviews were utilised to collect data from 13 senior municipal managers at the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NMBM) and the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality (BCMM). A total of 191 questionnaires were despatched to municipal employees and 186 were returned, giving a 97% response rate. The findings reflect the weaknesses of M&E policies in the municipalities and paints a picture of M&E not being prioritised in the municipality. The findings also reflect the current situation at the municipalities concerned, which is that there are pitfalls and gaps when it comes to evaluation measures. Thus, the study concludes that accountability for financial and performance management is non-existent. This study attempts to make a valuable contribution by providing technical assistance, capacity building to ensure that municipalities have effective M&E systems in place to monitor and evaluate service delivery and improve the lives of communities.

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Section: Findings and Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

The pitfalls or gaps in monitoring and evaluation tools during Coronavirus disease 2019 era in South African municipalities

Yekani,

Ngcamu,

Pillay

2023

IJRBS

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“…Since then the discipline of evaluations has expanded dramatically in Africa. The Centre for Learning and Evaluation for Results for Anglophone Africa (CLEAR-AA), and the Centre for Research on Evaluation, Science and Technology (CREST) at the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa, undertook a search for African evaluations between 2005 and 2015 in 12 countries and came up with 2,635 evaluations (Blaser Mapitsa and Khumalo, 2018). 10 Taking just one country as an example, the Campbell Collaboration 11 worked with Uganda's Office of the Prime Minister to search for evaluations and found a total of over 500 evaluations since the year 2000 (White, 2019a).…”

Section: The Emergence Of Evaluation As Distinct From Monitoringmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using Evidence in Policy and Practice

Goldman¹,

Pabari²

2020

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This book asks how governments in Africa can use evidence to improve their policies and programmes, and ultimately, to achieve positive change for their citizens. Looking at different evidence sources across a range of contexts, the book brings policy makers and researchers together to uncover what does and doesn't work and why.Case studies are drawn from five countries and the ECOWAS (west African) region, and a range of sectors from education, wildlife, sanitation, through to government procurement processes. The book is supported by a range of policy briefs and videos intended to be both practical and critically rigorous. It uses evidence sources such as evaluations, research synthesis and citizen engagement to show how these cases succeeded in informing policy and practice. The voices of policy makers are key to the book, ensuring that the examples deployed are useful to practitioners and researchers alike.This innovative book will be perfect for policy makers, practitioners in government and civil society, and researchers and academics with an interest in how evidence can be used to support policy making in Africa.

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“…However, greater reflection on, and methods for, such partnerships are needed: both African and non-African scholars said that clear communication and an equitable distribution of responsibilities are essential (Altshuler & Staats 2019). There is much to learn here from the 'Made in Africa' movement within M&E more broadly, in which useful frameworks (Blaser Mapitsa & Khumalo 2018;Crawley 2017) and curricula (Wotela 2017) have been developed. These shifts also need to be positioned within broader movements of decoloniality, which are increasingly prominent across the continent (Mbembe 2015).…”

Section: Practical Implications and Recommendationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There is a widespread assumption that a lack of human and institutional capacity exists in sub-Saharan Africa to conduct impact evaluations (Althsuler & Staats 2019; Van den Berg, Naidoo & Tamondong 2017) and a suggestion that because much of the financial support, and therefore evaluation capacity, to conduct impact evaluations comes from the Global North, 1 local capacity is not being developed (Goldman et al 2018;Manning, Goldman & Licona 2020;World Bank 2009). Furthermore, frameworks for assessing monitoring and evaluation (M&E) capacity have largely been driven by Northern approaches and have not always been adapted sufficiently for Southern application (Blaser-Mapitsa & Khumalo 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scoping the impact evaluation capacity in sub-Saharan Africa

Erasmus

Jordaan

Stewart

2020

African Evaluation Journal

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Background: There has long been an assumption that Africa has low levels of impact evaluation capacity and that when impact evaluations are conducted in the region, they need to be led and conducted by researchers from the North. The Africa Centre for Evidence at the University of Johannesburg conducted a scoping study on impact evaluation capacity in sub-Saharan Africa to test this assumption.Methodology: We used a multicomponent design, which included a systematic author search, desk review, online survey (with 353 respondents) and key informant discussions.Results: Contrary to previous assumptions, we found a large number of researchers with impact evaluation capacity across sub-Saharan Africa. We identified 490 impact evaluation publications, to which 1520 unique African researchers from 34 countries had contributed. South Africa had the most impact evaluation researchers who had published, followed by Kenya and Uganda, illustrating a concentration of capacity in Southern and Eastern Africa. Authors largely resided within schools of public health and health science faculties at universities. The study showed that modules and elements of impact evaluation training had been offered in 32 countries, indicating more training opportunities than anticipated, although formal, accredited training in impact evaluation was mostly presented outside Africa.Conclusion: Contrary to previous assumptions, widespread capacity to conduct impact evaluations exists in sub-Saharan Africa, reducing the need for researcher capacity from the Global North to deliver impact evaluations in the region. However, our evidence suggests that capacity gaps exist in non-health sectors, creating an opportunity for further capacity support in these areas.

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Diagnosing monitoring and evaluation capacity in Africa

Cited by 10 publications

References 13 publications

The pitfalls or gaps in monitoring and evaluation tools during Coronavirus disease 2019 era in South African municipalities

The pitfalls or gaps in monitoring and evaluation tools during Coronavirus disease 2019 era in South African municipalities

Using Evidence in Policy and Practice

Scoping the impact evaluation capacity in sub-Saharan Africa

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