M.M. El-FoulyAmman-Jordan 4/2011 Approaches and Experiences Arabic Perspective Mohamed M. El-Fouly National Research Centre Cairo – Egypt IDEAS General Assembly April 2011 Amman – Jordan EVALUATION CAPACITY BUILDING DEVELOPMENT AT NATIONAL LEVEL

M.M. El-FoulyAmman-Jordan 4/ MAIN KINDS OF EVALUATIONS ON NATIONAL LEVEL Programs Projects Ministries Departments Policies

M.M. El-FoulyAmman-Jordan 4/2011 WHY EVALUATION ON THE NATIONAL LEVEL ? Accountability Better use of resources To reach defined results To monitor behavior changes To monitor impacts leading to improving livelihood To learn how to do things better (Learning Individuals – Learning organizations) 3.

M.M. El-FoulyAmman-Jordan 4/2011 WHO SHOULD BE CONCERNED WITH EVALUATION MAIN ACTORS Decision makers (all levels) Including parliament members M&E staff in national organizations M&E staff in international organizations Researchers Consultants Media Populations at large 4.

M.M. El-FoulyAmman-Jordan 4/2011 Experiences [1] 5.  M&E is not yet a part of the culture in Arab countries  M&E used to control and not to measure efficiency, effectiveness, outcome and impact  Efforts started few years ago through international organizations to introduce M&E sprit in national organizations  International organizations, each is dealing with its own system – very limited efforts to assist countries to build own system  Inadequate number of experts/consultants available, mostly build their own capacities by themselves. Little systematic competency development

M.M. El-FoulyAmman-Jordan 4/  Whenever an evaluation study is conducted, involve local consultants  Results of M&E studies are written English and in many cases do not have even Arabic Summary and mostly have restricted distribution  Professionals, generally are not able to evaluate their own work  Media is far away from understanding M&E as a learning process for individuals and organizations  Universities generally, do not have any curricula on M&E Experiences [2]

M.M. El-FoulyAmman-Jordan 4/  Data collection, is either too much or not enough and generally not related to specific objective and many cases not reliable  Data is filtered while transferred from one level to another  Not enough back ground material in Arabic  Very limited material written by nationals in Arabic Experiences [3]

M.M. El-FoulyAmman-Jordan 4/2011 CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT → Dialogue International - National - Local → Awareness meetings (Preferably organized by international bodies together with local organizations) 1. Decision Makers (Central and Local Levels) Recognizing the need for national M&E system all over the country Importance of country led own M&E systems More effective use of M&E results for decision taking 8.

M.M. El-FoulyAmman-Jordan 4/ M+E Staff in National Organizations Need for reliable data How to process data, draw conclusions and formulate policies How to write reports fulfilling different needs → Preparatory study 3-6 months (different training sessions) Diploma → Upgrading training → On job coaching 9.

M.M. El-FoulyAmman-Jordan 4/2011 CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT 3. M+E Staff in International Organizations 10. There are different M&E systems leading to the same objectives. National M&E personnel confused Assisting national bodies in becoming knowledge based → Beings already done, but mainly, each for its “own” system → Workshop to know and show the difference between different systems → Joining national networks

M.M. El-FoulyAmman-Jordan 4/2011 CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT 4. Researchers / Consultants 11. Help the country to develop own M&E system Do consultancies, which can be understood by the concerned authorities and public at large → Regular workshops with international organizations → Establishing professional networks → Specialized large and short term courses, leading to and not leading to degrees

M.M. El-FoulyAmman-Jordan 4/2011 CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT 5. Media 12. Be convinced about the need of systemic M+E in all areas of activities Be able to convey the massage to the public Be in a position to make own judgment on the impact of development interventions → Training and workshops with national and international organizations → Regular meetings wit researchers and consultants → Invitations to take effective part in conferences / meetings → Providing them with reference material

M.M. El-FoulyAmman-Jordan 4/2011 CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT 6. Population at Large 13. To know the importance of M&E on individual, programmes and organizational level on all activities in the society → Adding M&E concepts and their importance in school curricula → Adding M&E concept and their applications in different professions at university level → Continuous information flow via media

M.M. El-FoulyAmman-Jordan 4/2011 General Needs 14.  Wide use of Arabic language  Developing curricula in Arabic to be included in school and university teaching  Translating M&E literature into Arabic  Writing Essays/books/articles in Arabic  Preparing material for training courses  Publishing information material on M&E  Writing M&E reports of consultancies in Arabic wit executive summary in English

M.M. El-FoulyAmman-Jordan 4/2011 Proposal 15.  Organizing a workshop with participants from all concerned stakeholders to work out a 3- years plan for increasing M&E competencies for different actors on the national level (Egypt) which can be considered as a model for other countries too  Seek sponsorship for some of the activities from different national and international development partners

M.M. El-FoulyAmman-Jordan 4/2011 Acknowledgement 16. The author wishes to thank UNICEF for its support to attend the conference

M.M. El-FoulyAmman-Jordan 4/2011 Thank You