Establishing M&E Systems in African Parliaments

This guideline note on establishing evaluation systems in parliaments draws on the technical understanding we have gained from studying monitoring and evaluation systems in parliaments and across governments, work led by Twende Mbele and facilitated through a partnership with the Centre for Learning on Evaluation and Results- Anglophone Africa (CLEAR-AA) in the Strengthening Legislative Oversight program and taking what we know about parliaments generally and specifically the African national and regional parliaments to present preliminary guidance on establishing evaluation systems in parliaments. The objectives of this guideline note are to;

(i) Provide an overview of the parliamentary institutional environment indicating the key institutions necessary in the parliamentary monitoring and evaluation system.

(ii) Highlight the technical and political considerations of establishing a Monitoring and Evaluation system in a political and bureaucratic environment.

(iii) Emphasize the importance of the unique institutional form of parliaments, primarily the work done through committees and its influence in the design of an M&E system.