M&E practices

Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) in conflict zones is widely accepted as a difficult task, because many organisations around the world struggle to prove that something has not happened – that a potential conflict has been averted or a real one minimised.

The challenge is made even greater by the gap between what the international community may judge as success and what communities on the ground may see as making a real difference to their lives.

In addition, M&E requires steady assessments and comparisons in environments that are hugely unpredictable and complicated.

Over the past 18 months, Peace Direct has been working with its partners to overcome these challenges and monitor that the work they are doing is high impact, cost-effective and constantly improving. In doing so, we have begun to develop a locally led approach to M&E, specific to the challenging task of evaluating peacebuilding.

As far as possible, the communities the partners work with are involved in setting the indicators for success. This means that they set the parameters for achievement, are closely involved in the project and have a personal stake in its success. This also makes our partners more accountable to the communities, and builds stronger relationships between them. As this approach has been designed by locals for locals, it is easy to use for those inexperienced in M&E, and is quickly becoming integrated within Peace Direct’s partner organisations.

In most cases, our local partners have no previous experience of M&E. Further work is needed and this will be a focus for 2011. What is clear is that a locally led approach to M&E has advantages: it ensures that M&E is seen as a benefit and not a burden by the partners; it provides a continuous learning activity to strengthen their work; and it better connects them with the people they are trying to help. Read more about our model for M&E (pdf).