Learn through the interaction with M&E training participants

1. Some Challenges of M&E
Md. Shariful Hoque
sharifulbd01@gmail.com
A good M&E can effectively perform as a strong management tool for project performance, but in
many cases it fails. Based on my interaction with a remarkable number of training participants
(M&E Professional) on M&E, I found to tell them a number of challenges. I am sharing here most
common challenges out of those with expectation that you will add some more challenges to
make these content much comprehensive:
1. Isolation:
Many times, many project found to treat M&E in an isolated way. They miss the
opportunity to use this for the excellence of the project rather thinks it’s a donor
requirement as they are supposed to report back to donor.
2. People want to see everything in the Logframe:
This is one of the biggest challenges that Non-M&E stakeholders want to see every
program aspects in the Logframe whereas Logframe has its own way of presenting key
program issues, not everything.
3. Lack of clarity:
There are many terminologies in M&E which are not very clear to Non-M&E stakeholders
but they want to talk on the issue from their perceptions. Also different M&E documents
defined the terminologies not in same line, so people suffers from lack of clarity. Also as
M&E staff we have lack of initiative to building their (Non-M&E Stakeholders) general
capacity in line with M&E. Nevertheless, M&E staff would as well have very clear
understanding on these terminologies too, especially the respective donor’s (the project
donor) used definitions and strategies on these.
4. Lack of commitment to use of M&E data for further improvements:
Through M&E, the M&E staff collect and analyse data including stakeholders’ feedback
through a systematic and continuous process to document progress, challenges, gaps,
lesson learnt, best practices, etc. and then they report back these to the management for
further actions. But, in many cases the report is found to be unused and or no action is
taken by the project for further improvements. Also inefficiently designed M&E system
collects huge data investing resources which sometimes they fail to make it usable,
relevant or rational.
5. Lack of commitment to allocate resources to M&E:
It is commonly found that project monitoring runs with lack of resources especially in the
case of human and financial resources. So, performing M&E system at expected level faces
challenges due to lack of these. Even it is also found that key M&E staff recruitment also
get delay whereas it was necessary to be on board at the beginning of the project.
6. Fails to comply with the principle of ‘third-eye’:
It is expected that M&E will function in a project/ program as a third-eye point of view and
will document the true scenarios. But, in some cases it fails to perform like that way as it is
found to be mixed-up with implementation role too.
Nevertheless, M&E is different than financial auditing so in many cases, M&E staff’s attitude like
an auditor takes them away from the program staff which makes their job much difficult. It is
expected that an M&E will be a real program facilitator for its (project/program) running on track
instead of act like a program auditor.