PROJECT MONITORING AND EVALUATION PLAN “PMEP” West Bank and Gaza Compete Project

Monitoring progress and evaluating results are key management functions that allow managers to determine whether an activity is making progress towards its intended results. Performance information plays a critical role in planning and managing decisions. The project's evaluation methodology focuses on systematic collection and analysis of information related to outputs and the impact of the Compete Project. The M&E system is designed to involve all technical team members and project counterparts, who are best suited to efficiently collect and verify basic M&E data in their respective technical areas. This approach has several benefits, including efficiency, ownership, and feedback. The project's objectives and results framework are outlined in the Compete Results Framework, which conveys the development hypothesis implicit in project goals and objectives. The framework provides a foundation for work planning and performance monitoring, and it has been reviewed and debated by Compete technical staff to ensure a sound foundation. Data acquisition, analysis, and reporting are critical components of the project's M&E system. The Compete team will work closely with partner institutions and organizations to collect data on an appropriate periodic basis, and new data collection systems will be developed as necessary. The project will use simple databases or tally sheets for tracking indicators and will provide training and assistance to staff and partner organizations to ensure quality data collection and validation. The project's M&E Specialist will ensure that appropriate and reliable data is collected, analyzed, and reported on a periodic basis. The project team will organize rapid surveys or data sampling exercises to complete the data provided in partners' reports or to verify its validity. Periodic impact studies may also be conducted to gain additional information from stakeholders and clients to evaluate project impacts and highlight success stories. The project's critical assumptions include the absence of socio-political instabilities, access to available statistics and cooperation in conducting surveys, and identifying appropriate partners and private sector bodies willing to comply with USAID Mission Order 21 requirements. An economist has joined the USAID Compete team to support the Compete technical teams in the economic assessment of the work plan development, activities, and interventions. Written procedures and protocols for data collection, analysis, and documentation are outlined in the project's M&E plan. Baseline data will be collected only once unless for new indicators, and data will be collected through a special form for each sector developed by the M&E team. The project will use a data quality plan to ensure that data is reliable and accurate, and periodic data sampling will be conducted for data quality assurance.