AIDSTAR-Two Project Trip Report – Malawi Oct. 14 – Oct. 20, 2012

The trip was led by Ummuro Adano, a Senior Technical Advisor for Capacity Building, and aimed to support the development of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) frameworks for 14 local Civil Society Organization (CSO) partners. The trip's objectives were to collaborate with the local AIDSTAR-Two team to plan and conduct the second M&E workshop for the CSO teams, and to assist with the planning of a Results Review meeting. The M&E workshop aimed to refine and finalize the pathway to change model for each organization, describe three types of M&E frameworks commonly used in the health sector, and develop draft indicators. The workshop covered a range of topics, including the introduction to and practicing of logic models and result frameworks, the anatomy of indicators, and the development of draft M&E frameworks with indicators. Each CSO team left the workshop with a draft M&E framework that they would continue to work on and finalize at a later date. The one-day Results Review meeting provided an opportunity for the CSO teams to showcase their accomplishments and results achieved thus far. Each team presented their results to a panel of their peers, highlighting their progress and areas for improvement. The meeting was an opportunity for the CSO leaders to express their confidence and enthusiasm in their ability to drive change and achieve results. Following the trip, several next steps were identified to continue and complete the work. These included providing on-site follow-on support to the CSO teams with their draft M&E frameworks, compiling and submitting reports on the M&E workshop and Results Review meeting, and providing additional support to the CSO teams as needed. The trip was a significant step in the development of M&E frameworks for the CSO partners, and provided an opportunity for the CSO leaders to showcase their accomplishments and results. The success of the trip was attributed to the demand-driven approach to capacity building and organizational development, which allowed the CSO partners to take ownership of their M&E systems and drive change from within.