Factors Influencing Performance of Monitoring and Evaluation Systems in Non-governmental Organization Projects: a Case of Aga Khan Foundation in Nairobi, Kenya

Abstract

Studies and literature prove that Monitoring and Evaluation systems in NGOs and INGOs in developing countries and in Kenya in particular, are not performing satisfactorily. In an endeavor to come up with recommendations of adopting a result-based M&E system, the purpose of this study was to analyse the factors influencing performance of monitoring and evaluation systems at Aga Khan Foundation Nairobi, Kenya. The objectives of the study included: to find out the influence of staff training in Monitoring and Evaluation on the performance of Monitoring and Evaluation systems, to establish the extent to which level of funding influences the performance of Monitoring and Evaluation systems, to establish how adherence to corporate governance practices influence the performance on Monitoring and Evaluation systems, and the influence of selection of tools and techniques for Monitoring and Evaluation on the performance of Monitoring and Evaluation systems, respectively. The study was guided by Theory of Change by Carol Weiss. A descriptive survey design was employed. The target population of this study consisted of 5 programme employees/managers and 25 Monitoring and Evaluation staff. The study adopted a census survey by using all the 30 respondents who constitute the target population. A semi-structured questionnaire and a semi-structured interview guide were designed to collect data from the respondents. Data collected from field work was subjected to both quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques quantitatively; the data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), version 22. Specifically, descriptive analysis was used for the numeric data and results presented using frequency distribution tables and figures. Interpretations from the analysis were then given. For qualitative data, content analysis was used for the purposes of classification and summarization. Basic level or the manifest level was used in reporting qualitative data. The findings of this study will be significant to the stakeholders of various organizations, Government Public Sector, Donors, county government, Ministry of devolution, and the communication sector.