CIAO DATE: 07/05

Performance Indicators for the Monitoring and Evaluation of SALW Control Programmes

Abstract

The trend is for SALW control (and DDR) programmes to become more integrated into national socio-economic development, therefore programme evaluation and the use of performance indicators are important to; 1) monitor the impact of a programme during its implementation; 2) provide management information during the implementation of a project; 3) verify that the programme is making progress towards achieving its objectives; and 4) to satisfy donors, governments and other stakeholders.

There is growing acceptance within the donor community that the evaluation of all development projects, irrespective of activity group, should be conducted, (whenever possible), using objective, quantitative analysis based on the internationally recognised principles of the development community. Yet, little formal work on PI for SALW control interventions has been done to date and they are rarely included in SALW project documents. Evaluation, in the absence of PI, tends by its nature to be subjective; objective, quantitative evaluation requires the development of specific PI. Conversely, most statistics will need subjective interpretation to come alive and take on meaning, especially for donors whose home-based analysts sometimes have no personal knowledge of the country. The art of judging, assessing or explaining programme performance should also combine relevant and appropriate PI with subjective and illustrative anecdotes.

Full Text (PDF, 29 pages, 1.12 MB)