| dc.description.abstract | While the measurement of ecological and economic conditions remains important in understanding
sustainable development, analysing of how social processes such as participatory monitoring and
evaluation (PM&E) influence sustainable development can provide some strong arguments in the
debate about sustainability. Similarly, while there is considerable enthusiasm for PM&E, the claim
to its effectiveness has hardly been tested empirically. Using the case of Karemo Area
Development Programme (ADP), the study sought to investigate the influence of PM&E on social
sustainability as mediated by citizen empowerment. Karemo ADP adopted a World Vision
International driven participatory programming model since 2011. This is an innovative
operationalization of PM&E with the aim of leading communities through a participatory and
empowering process to research, implement, monitor, evaluate and terminate a shared programme.
The influence of this PM&E model on social sustainability was examined by means of an empirical
analysis. The empirical investigation took the form of a mixed-methods approach and crosssectional
survey design. The objectives of this study were to: assess the extent to which PM&E
influences social sustainability; determine the extent to which PM&E influences citizen
empowerment; establish the extent to which citizen empowerment influences social sustainability;
determine the moderating influence of demographic factors on the relationship between PM&E
and social sustainability; and establish the joint influence of PM&E and citizen empowerment on
social sustainability. The study employed a concurrent parallel design, in which samples of
quantitative and qualitative components were different, but drawn from the same population and
data collected within the same timeframe. Given the small size of the population, census was
applied in the quantitative component. Simple and stratified purposive sampling designs were,
however, used to select participants for the qualitative phase of the study. Except for focus group
discussions (FGDs) with CBOs, participants were mainly members of the community who
participated in the World Vision International’s PM&E model. A total of 6 FGDs were conducted;
2 with starter group members (representing 6 to 12 members who participated in the PM&E
process from 2 randomly selected locations) and 4 with 4 CBOs randomly selected from each of
the 4 locations within the study area. Quantitative data from the study respondents (N = 212,
response rate = 88.3%) were analysed through bivariate and multiple regression analyses.
Conversely, the qualitative component utilized iterative inquiry, where data were collected and
subjected to a critical reflective process of preliminary data analysis and thematic analysis
followed by data classification. Both the quantitative and qualitative findings supported the
hypotheses that: there is a positive linear relationship between PM&E and social sustainability (F
(r = .579; R2= .335; p<.05); there is a positive linear relationship between PM&E and citizen
empowerment (r = .707; R2= .499; p<.05); and that there is a positive linear relationship between
citizen empowerment and social sustainability (r = .73; R2= .529; p<.05). The study also found
that when PM&E and citizen empowerment are considered together, citizen empowerment seems
to have a dominant influence on social sustainability than PM&E itself (r = .733; R2= .537; p<.05).
The study, therefore, theorizes that citizen empowerment mediates the relationship between
PM&E and social sustainability. Thus, in improving and enhancing social sustainability outcomes,
the government and development practitioners should put extra effort in promoting citizen
empowerment. Contrary to expectations, the study found no moderating influence of demographic
factors in the relationship between PM&E and social sustainability. This has the implication that
PM&E will positively predict the attainment of empowerment and social sustainability outcomes
regardless of one’s demographic characteristics. PM&E, therefore can be a tool for pacifying the
effect of inequality, hence having a far-reaching impact on the poor and the disenfranchised. | en_US |
