Monrovia, Liberia - The Government of Liberia through the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning with support from the United Nations Development Programmed (UNDP) on Thursday August 19, held a validation workshop on the strategic operational and term of reference for the Independent National Evaluation Committee (INEC).
The validation objective seeks to address capacity challenges with regard to the establishment of the INEC.
The Strategic Operational Framework and terms of reference will provide the specific roles as well as the operational framework of the Independent National Evaluation Committee (INEC). It is also intended to be used as a comprehensive guide for the establishment and operations of the INEC.
Assistant Minister for Development Planning, Hon. Benedict Kolubah, in remarks at the ceremony, said the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning is responsible for ensuring that at the national level, there is a framework to monitor the implementation of all programs.
“Given that we have realized a limitation in the monitoring framework, we have been able to work in partnership with the South African University, in order to assess and see the landscape of monitoring and evaluation across the country, Asst. Min. Kolubah said.
He noted that Monitoring and evaluation across the country has always been a need of showing how transparent the Government is in the implementation or the execution of resources either through the national budget or from development partners through loan or grants.
“As you may be aware, there has been lots of goodwill from our partners and the international communities in supporting Liberia development agenda through NGO implementing programs that are aligned with the national development plan (Pro-Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development (PAPD)”.
According to him, the country does not have a national monitoring and evaluation system to see the impact of all programs being implemented in the country. “Liberia does not have a strong monitoring and evaluation policy and framework that will help partners who are implementing projects to monitor them” Kolubah stressed.
For his part, the Director for Monitoring and Evaluation at the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, Mr. Jerry Z. Zangar stated that Liberia analysis on monitoring and evaluation was done through the initiative and partnership with a university in South Africa who gave a substantive review of the monitoring and evaluation system, both at the national and at the sub-national levels.
He indicated that at the national and the sub-national levels; findings have shown that the country still has some challenges to overcome.
“To some extent we are addressing monitoring, the development partners and the sector ministries are trying their best to track the aspect of the planning circle which has to do with ensuring that the objective of the project is on track, but very little in terms of learning” Zangar explained.
Going forward, lots of concerns from the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning say the Government and other partners need to know how resources are given to various players or actors or to the extent they are making some changes in the life of people.
The Independent National Evaluation Committee is expected to be inclusive of qualified individuals from the government, development partners, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), universities/colleges, research and evaluation firms that will recognize evaluation associations.
The validation was witnessed by the Assistant Minister for Development Planning, Hon. Benedict Kolubah, and Director for Monitoring and Evaluation, Mr. Jerry Z. Zangar, participants from Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Agriculture, National Commission on Disability, Governance Commission Acting Chair Elizabeth Dorkin, Independent Consultant, Mr. Barward Johnson as well as staff from Monitoring and Evaluation Unit at the Boulevard Palace hotel.