Capitalizing Knowledge, Connecting Communities: Updated Performance Monitoring Plan

The program builds on best practices and impacts generated by natural resource management (NRM) initiatives, including its predecessor project, FRAME. CK2C's objectives are to manage and develop the FRAME website, conduct stocktaking activities to research and share NRM best practices, design a competency-linked NRM training program for USAID, and manage reporting and communications efforts for USAID. The program's performance monitoring plan is housed in the project's Technical and Administrative Management Information System (TAMIS), which integrates work plan management, impact and performance monitoring, and project administration into a single information system. The plan compiles and tracks performance monitoring information, including Foreign Assistance Framework common indicators and custom indicators. The system can also capture qualitative information, such as anecdotal experiences submitted by local partners, which can be published as success stories on FRAMEweb and in FRAMEgrams. A performance-based approach is essential to the success of CK2C, and a rigorous monitoring system is necessary to measure and evaluate the program's performance and impact. The system will allow the CK2C team to build on winning initiatives and take corrective action when results are less successful than anticipated. An adaptive management strategy will facilitate replication of successes and expedite achieving the desired results of CK2C. The performance and impact monitoring reports will strive to be both candid and transparent, discussing issues of data quality and accounting for any instances of under-performance relative to established targets. The reports will provide two categories of information: impact indicators that measure progress on achieving the targets identified for the four tasks of the CK2C contract and performance indicators to gauge progress relative to specific targets. The program has identified three types of indicators: performance indicators that gauge progress in completing proposed project activities, impact indicators that measure success in meeting conservation objectives and building capacity for community-based conservation efforts, and indicators that gauge the level of customer or stakeholder satisfaction with the improved services that CK2C and its partners will provide. The performance monitoring plan is founded on the principle that achieving performance targets does not automatically result in meeting objectives with regard to impact and customer satisfaction. The plan is designed to provide monitoring information to USAID and CK2C partners that meets the requirements and guidelines outlined in USAID's ADS 200, particularly ADS 203. The program's performance and impact monitoring reports will focus on impact that is specific to CK2C activities, addressing the issue of attribution in gauging the impact of CK2C. The reports will strive to be both candid and transparent, discussing issues of data quality and accounting for any instances of under-performance relative to established targets. The following tables provide two categories of information that are integral to a rigorous Performance Monitoring Plan: impact indicators that measure progress on achieving the targets identified for the four tasks of the CK2C contract and performance indicators to gauge progress relative to specific targets. The tables include indicators for Task 1, Task 2, Task 3, and Task 4, as well as indicators of customer and stakeholder satisfaction with CK2C and partner services and their impact. The program's performance monitoring plan is designed to provide a rigorous and transparent framework for monitoring and evaluating the program's performance and impact. The plan will allow the CK2C team to build on winning initiatives, take corrective action when necessary, and expedite achieving the desired results of CK2C.