Complete M&E Plan and Results Framework

Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) is a process used to track project progress, inform strategic decision-making, foster adaptive management, and assess/ensure overall results and impact of the project.

• Monitoring is the continuous and systematic collection of data based on specific indicators to understand progress towards desired results in a project or program Theory of Change.
• Evaluation is a periodic and often external assessment of a project. It is focused on impact and should provide information on lessons learned—not only for the project, but for other projects, donors, stakeholders, etc.

The monitoring and evaluation (M&E) plan is used to describe how the M&E system will work during execution and may be considered the ME Standard Operating Procedure. The Plan will identify staff involved in M&E, the Results Framework matrix (the indicators that will be used to monitor project progress), a description of reports and tools that will be used to assess progress, and a plan for how information will be stored, documented and shared. It may be helpful to provide diagrams to visualize data flow and management. The following are points to consider when developing the larger plan for monitoring and evaluation.

• The project decides on systems and tools to use for documenting, storing and sharing products associated with monitoring and evaluation. These may include: Smartsheet or excel for the results framework; SharePoint, Smartsheet, Dropbox, One Drive, or a project website for managing tasks, uploading documents and/or sharing information and reports.
• Roles, responsibilities and timeline are clearly defined for collection, analysis, documentation, and sharing of M&E information and reports (e.g. progress reports and results framework). Note: these responsibilities are often a joint collaboration between the M&E officer, field staff, project manager and consultants (i.e. for surveys) (See governance section).
• Project partners are engaged and approve of the monitoring plan. Stakeholders may participate in project monitoring to increase buy-in and reduce costs (e.g. monitoring of community forests may take place in full or in part by community members trained by the project).
• The team is advised to allocate some resources to monitoring context, risk and any new research (i.e. best practice reports) or innovations that could potentially alter the projects strategies or chances of success. This type of monitoring may be informal and could be a function of the M&E officer to systematically document in the project progress reports and review during the recommended reflection exercise or workshop mentioned below.
• It is recommended that teams hold an annual reflection workshop to review project progress to inform project decision making (i.e., refining Theory of Change, informing new annual work plans). This may include assessing whether changes to the project strategy are needed, and, if so, to plan for these adjustments.
• The M&E plan should be properly budgeted (see budget section).

The Results Framework (RF) is a matrix that shows the different levels of results expected from a project and provides the instruction for how those results will be monitored and evaluated for progress toward the Theory of Change. The RF is a key M&E tool for GEF projects and is required in the ProDoc and CEO Endorsement Request document. Initial indicators will have been developed during ProDoc Technical Design workshop, and should be validated and expanded upon at this stage.

Steps to Develop a Results Framework

Once project components, outcomes, activities and project sites (if relevant) are determined, the team should use the following template (see full template under Templates below) and the following steps to develop their Results Framework:

1. Refine indicators based on information needs (should be clear in Results Chains) and resources available. Draft indicators should have been developed during the technical design workshop.
2. Select a method for how information will be collected for each indicator.
3. Determine when, by whom, and where data gets collected.
4. Collect baseline data and refine targets based on that data.
5. Assess risks and assumptions for each outcome-indicator and form a risk mitigation strategy for key risks.
6. Estimate costs associated with measuring each indicator (will contribute to overall M&E budget).

A good results framework should meet the following recommendations:

Indicators

• Indicators should be provided at the Outcome and Objective level. It is recommended that there is at least one indicator per Outcome and Objective.
• The indicator and methodology should be clearly defined and understood. There should be no ambiguity over how to measure or interpret the data. If a different person were to measure the results from year to year, it should be interpreted similarly.
• When possible, try to align or adopt indicators from the GEF-7 Core and sub indicators.
• Output indicators are considered optional and may be tracked internally.
• Refer to the Gender Action Plan to ensure recommended indicators are considered, that RF indicators are gender-sensitive, and that targets are disaggregated by gender when possible.

Targets

• Targets should be quantitative when possible. If qualitative indicators are provided, a clear and objective methodology should be described.
• It is recommended that the team choose achievable and conservative targets. It is better to show that targets have been exceeded during project execution, rather than not met. Teams can develop realistic targets by analyzing the baseline. Both the baseline and targets should be determined by CEO Endorsement.
• Project teams are encouraged to have annual targets when possible. The annual Development Objective (DO) rating, which is submitted to the GEF Secretariat, is based on achievement of indicator targets in the results framework.

Other

• The RF should be aligned with Results Chains and activities in work plan (to be developed later).
• The RF should be agreed upon by project partners and relevant stakeholders.
• Data collection methods should consider cost and feasibility. Is there scientific data widely available?
• The cost column in the results framework should inform and align with the M&E budget (see budget).
• Project partners should be involved in the development of relevant indicators, targets and methods, to ensure targets are realistic and the information can be feasibly collected.
• Key assumptions and risks should be identified and incorporated into the risk analysis table. For example, the project assumes that when people are given control over the management of their natural resources and given adequate training or equipment, that they will manage those resources more sustainably. However, there might be unforeseen factors, such as climate change impacting those resources, external demand for those resources, or illegal activity that could impact whether that assumption holds true. In combination with monitoring, a mitigation plan (e.g. training for community patrols to address illegal activity) can help provide a plan B for action to improve the chances of success.

While the projects have specific indicators to measure their success or failure, there are also GEF indicators that are measured and reported to the GEF Secretariat to provide information on the achievement of GEF Global Environmental Benefits in their portfolio.  For this reason, it is advised to utilize the GEF tracking tool or core indicators in the Results Framework when possible, to keep the number of indicators to a minimum.

GEF Core and Sub-Indicators: For projects under GEF 7, appropriate Core Indicators should be incorporated into the project Results Framework. The METT is still required for biodiversity projects that include Protected Areas.