Government has developed a Monitoring and Evaluation Policy to guide and enforce standards of government-wide monitoring and evaluation practice.

Speaking last week when she officially opened the monitoring and evaluation week at Crossroads Hotel in Lilongwe aimed at reaffirming the importance of Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) in development, Deputy Secretary to President and Cabinet Janet Banda said government, with the facilitation of the Department of Economic Planning, will launch the policy soon.

The policy is expected to create a sustained culture of demanding and supplying monitoring and evaluation data and information for evidence-based decision-making at all levels.

Said Banda: “The policy will structure, systematize, and institutionalise practices and application of M&E systems for all development actors in this country

“As we finalise the National M&E Policy, we are undertaking steps to ensure that we create a conducive environment for the generation of quality data and use of the results in development planning, not only in the public sector, but across the development space.”

Banda: We will launch the policy soon

She stressed the need to have an effective  M&E system to help the country realise the Malawi 2063 (MW2063) development agenda. Malawi’s aspiration is to become a lower middle-income  country by 2030 and an upper middle-income country by 2063.

As a commitment to promote M&E, the deputy SPC said government is also developing a National Harmonised Management Information System to act as a one-stop window to cater for development data needs in the country.

Following the MW2063 First 10–Year Implementation Plan (MIP-1) Annual Progress Report, government through the National Planning Commission, has developed a dynamic data driven portal for tracking and reporting the implementation progress of MIP-1 and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“Malawians can now track progress on the performance of the Pillar and Enablers of the MIP-1 at any time and on their own using an online dashboard,” said Banda.

In an interview, Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Development spokesperson Taurai Banda said the policy is awaiting Cabinet consideration.

He said the policy has been developed to guide and enforce standards of government wide monitoring and evaluation practice.

“It will strengthen M&E capacity both human and infrastructure at all government levels,” he said.

On his part, Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources director of Research Samson Katengeza said having good data will enable the country to develop programmes that are effective and beneficial to its development.

He said: “There is a need for resources to effectively carry out M&E.

“If you do not invest in monitoring and evaluation systems, it will just be a white elephant.”

National Planning Commission director general Thomas Munthali said having strong M&E mechanisms is important for tracking progress of developments and goals set.

Government launched the MW2063 in January 2021 whose goal is to transform the country into a middle-income country and ensure inclusive wealth creation.

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