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Although progress has been made by governments to drive change by fostering gender equality and the rights of women, the extent of gender responsiveness of national monitoring and evaluation systems is still a subject of investigation. It is against this background that the study seeks to:

(i) Review Uganda’s National Evaluation system;

(ii) Use the AGDEN diagnostic tool to review a) broad National M&E policy, b) Institutional Arrangements and Capacities, and c) Processes and Procedures ; 

(iii) Identified potential barriers and enablers to having a well-functioning gender responsive M&E system; 

(iv) Identifying and developing concrete strategies (or recommendations) for strengthening Uganda country’s system. 

The study used mixed methods mainly involving four steps. 

• Step 1 involved review of status reports, policies and strategies related to Uganda national monitoring and evaluation system. 
• Step 2 was the stakeholders’ consultations that were guided by AGDEN diagnostic tools. The respondents were mostly representatives from Prime Minister’s Office, line ministries; gender related government offices, CSOs / Champions as well as donor community. 
• Step 3 was the processing and analysis of collected data using content analysis; while step 4 was the drafting of the report which was done in close support from AGDEN focal supervisor. 

Despite a legal and institutional framework favorable to the promotion of gender equality, gender mainstreaming in Benin’s monitoring and evaluation system remains room for improvement in many respects. The national evaluation policy adopted in 2012 makes almost no provision for integrating gender equality issues in the evaluation of national public policies. However, efforts are made by the actors of the national monitoring and evaluation system for the integration of gender issues in national evaluations, even if this is not systematic and generalized to all sectors. The lack of a regulatory framework and binding guidelines.

A consultant was recruited to finalise the diagnostic study of the national monitoring and evaluation system (NMES) of Benin. The objective of the activity is to improve the quality of the diagnostic report of the responsiveness of Benin’s national monitoring and evaluation system in relation to gender and to propose a budgeted action plan project to improve it. Specifically, the study included the following tasks:

• Examine the existing study report;
• Collect of additional data;
• Refine the existing report;
• Develop strong recommendations based on the results of the study;
• Propose a draft budgeted action plan for the implementation of the recommendations. Based on the results and recommendations from the assessment of Benin’s national monitoring and evaluation system, a multi-year action plan was developed to improve NMES in relation to the different criteria for gender integration. This report is an English translation of the theory of change, results and recommendations. The full background and methodology can be found in French full report. Additional notes on the methodology are found in the three-country synthesis report.

This assessment aims to describe the level of gender-responsiveness in key policies and processes, as well as understand the extent to which there is gender disaggregation in the data that is collected to monitor and evaluate progress through the 14 Outcomes of the Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF), and, in a number of cases, these relate to the Annual Performance Planning (APP) processes. It is intended that this will also aid the identification of opportunities within existing processes within GWM&E to mainstream gender. The specific objectives were:

• Review the extent to which the GWM&E system is being implemented in a manner that is gender responsive.
• Examine the data being collected against the indicators within the 14 outcomes of the Medium Term Strategic Framework and conduct an analysis of the extent to which these are gender responsive and disaggregated in terms of gender.
• Offer insights on gender in the National Evaluation System.
• Provide three case studies which present some of the ways in which these sectors include gender in planning, accountability and M&E, including relevant indicators and data sources outside of the MTSF.
• Connect with Department of Women liaison, as well as other key role players, to establish gaps in gender in GWM&E and opportunities to enhance gender-responsiveness and disaggregation, with particular reference to engagement in the workshop.

As more evaluations are commissioned and undertaken in African countries, it is clear that the current supply of good evaluators is constrained, with relatively small group of professional suppliers taking up most of the larger evaluation studies. As more governments demand more evaluative evidence, the number and quality of human resources required to meet this will grow. At the current level of demand, problems with the size of the pool of available evaluators, the quality of their deliverables and their ability to respond to government terms of reference (ToRs), consolidates an already skewed evaluation market.

During 2017 and early 2018, Twende Mbele commissioned separate diagnostic studies on the supply and demand of evaluators in Uganda, Benin and South Africa. While the studies were separate, they had similar terms of reference. This policy brief provides an integrated summary of the three studies. Additional detail can be found in the country-specific diagnostic reports.