Assessment of the Monitoring and Evaluation Systems for the Youth Enterprise Development Fund (YEDF)

Abstract

The general objective of the assessment was to determine the status of the Youth Enterprise Development Fund Monitoring and Evaluation system and its contribution to the improvements of the programme. Specifically, the assessment was aimed at: determining the level at which the YEDF M&E system meets the established standards; identifying strengths and gaps of YEDF M&E system. The assessment employed descriptive research design to establish strengths and gaps which are fundamental to the realization of research objectives. The assessment adopted the UNAIDS framework for a functional national HIV monitoring and evaluation system. Data was collected through structured questionnaire. Overall, YEDF M&E system scored 2029 out of 2744 which is 74 percent. This is an aggregated score from all the 12 components. Scores vary from component to component with M&E partnerships scoring the highest at 82 percent and human capacity recording the lowest score at 66 percent. The key strengths of YEDF M&E system include: strong M&E partnerships, alignment of indicators to national and sub national indicators, continuous communication and advocacy to improve programme. Key gaps that were identified include: inadequate staff with the required knowledge and skills in M&E, documentation of M&E procedures, inadequate evaluation and research capacity of M&E staff, corrections are not made after data quality assessments. However, documentation and data verification components present opportunities for strengthening. The key recommendations that were made basing on the findings include: the need to update the M&E Framework and fully align it to the current strategic Plan, the need to document all aspects of YEDF M&E system in the updated M&E Plan, project to draw a clear and more specific M&E budget lines, the M&E team to conduct more regular data verification exercises and make necessary corrections prior to sharing of data, and the need to build targeted and customized M&E capacity of field-level staff.