Activity Monitoring
What is monitoring?
Activities need to be well managed if they are to be effective in achieving results and delivering benefits. Good management is about making timely decisions based on reliable and relevant information.
Monitoring can be broadly defined as the systematic collection and analysis of information to provide management and the main stakeholders of a development Activity with information for decision-making. Monitoring provides information about how allocated funds are being used and whether progress towards expected outcomes is being achieved.
For a variety of reasons monitoring and evaluation have often not been appropriately prioritised and resourced, by donors and partner countries alike.
The main purpose of monitoring is to support the day-to-day management of an Activity, but there are additional reasons for monitoring:
- to track progress during implementation
- to facilitate wider stakeholder awareness and participation
- to account for the use of resources against the delivery of results
- to provide basic data for more periodic evaluative processes. See NZAID Evaluation Guideline Series.
Agreeing on an appropriate monitoring system and collecting baseline data are important early steps in the development of an Activity.
Although most monitoring takes place during the implementation stage of the Activity cycle, monitoring has links to all stages of the cycle.