Using M&E to Link Budgets and Planning in National Governments
Discussion Paper
March 2022
Monitoring and evaluation processes help inform policy decision making in different spheres of government, including budget formulation. Even though M&E is predominantly used to track and evaluate various government programs and policies, it can play a critical role in improving the cost effectiveness of the program budgets.
The current guidance from OECD and PEFA (Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability Framework) says that national budgets should be linked to national development plans and medium-term strategic priorities that go beyond the traditional annual cycle and recognizes the alignment of budgets with strategic planning to identify the resources required to achieve planned outputs and outcomes. Challenges often exist despite using various budgeting tools because of a lack of technical capacity, weak data management systems (and inadequate performance data), and an overall lack of understanding of why M&E is important in budgeting.
Therefore, even if there are different tools that allow for the linkage between national plans and budgets, their implementation can vary depending on country strategies on Public Financial Management (PFM) reform. This review looks at specific strategies that can either enhance the usage of existing tools in the system like Medium-Term Budgeting, Public Expenditure Reviews or incorporate new tools like the World Bank’s readiness assessment for M&E implementation. Medium term budgeting as a PFM reform, creates an effective link between annual budgets and national priorities, while performance-based budgeting is another tool that can enable the implementation of the medium-term budgeting.2 (OECD)
The budget process involves various actors and stakeholders, some of which are common across different countries. A standard budget process involves the Ministry of Finance as the key stakeholder, which coordinates with the rest of the government to formulate the annual budget.
Management Committee : Workshop Report
5-6 May 2022
The Twende Mbele Management Committee consists of high-level M&E government officials from six country governments, and two technical partners – CLEAR AA and IDEV at the African Development Bank. Together, these partners drive the strategic activities and learning for the partnership.
After two years of working purely remotely, this workshop was the first time partners were able to come together in person to discuss the challenges presented as M&E evolves in their countries, and to update the work plan in response to the political and institutional environment.
The two-day workshop at Wits University in Johannesburg was driven by the following objectives,
• Reflect on what’s working well and what’s not for Twende Mbele
• Discuss key priorities for countries going forward, and where Twende can assist
• Agree on how partners are able to allocate time to Twende
• Finalise activity plan for linking PBM&E
Guide d’évaluation rapide
Novembre 2021
Ce guide est une introduction à la réalisation d’évaluations rapides, menées en interne, en externe ou facilitée. La première partie donne un aperçu de ce qu’est une évaluation rapide et dans quelles conditions en faire l’option. La partie B utilise la structure du guide DPME sur les termes de référence et le Guide méthodologique national d’évaluation du Bénin, le Niger n’en disposant pas encore, pour introduire des aspects particuliers en relation avec l’évaluation rapide.
Ce guide vise à fournir des conseils spécifiques pour la mise en oeuvre d’évaluations rapides dans un contexte gouvernemental. Le guide a été élaboré dans le cadre de l’initiative de S&E de gouvernements africains, Twende Mbele.
Impact Report 2021
This Impact Report highlights how the Twende Mbele peer learning and sharing approach has been successful in trialing innovative ideas and approaches. Where;
- parliamentary support has been successful at regional level, with individual parliaments learning from each other’s best practices.
- partner countries continue to improve the gender responsiveness of their M&E systems with the support of various state and non-state actors.
- the work around integrating rapid evalutions has seen a number of policy changes, and growing demand for more timely evidence.
Strengthening Collaboration With CSOs in the Implementation of the NES – Guideline
August 2021
This guideline is intended to guide government agencies to strengthen collaboration with CSOs in the implementation of the NES.
In most cases government and CSOs have shared aims. They both aim to improve the living conditions of citizens and sustain development. When done well, collaboration between government and CSO can be beneficial for both parties, enabling them to fulfil their mandates/objectives. Yet, it is often difficult to achieve effective collaboration for several reasons. For example, government and CSO institutional contexts and cultures can vary significantly, their power and influence within a country are also not comparable. The relationship can also be further complicated where each hold negative sentiment about the other and by the fact that government has a regulatory/oversight function towards CSO operating in the country. This guideline recognises this complexity and aims to offer government officials building NES practical guidance to enhance collaboration with CSOs in building different aspects of their evaluation systems.