1. INTRODUCTION
Welcome to the January 2018 edition of the SOLLIMS Lessons Learned Sampler –
Monitoring & Evaluation for Peace and Stability.
Conflicts are nested in complex, adaptive systems composed of myriad moving parts. In these
changing environments, it can be extremely challenging to monitor and evaluate ongoing programs
and initiatives, many of which are intended to help transform conflict and gain peace and stability.
Different U.S. Government (USG) agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) involved
in various types of conflict interventions have different approaches to evaluation, as well as different
terms to describe their evaluative efforts. The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) uses the concept
of assessment, monitoring, and evaluation (AME) to describe its evaluative activities, with assessment
primarily decentralized to the Services and combatant commands. According to U.S. military doctrine
Joint Publication 5-0, assessment “is the continuous monitoring and evaluation of the current situation
and progress of a joint operation toward mission accomplishment” (p. xxiv). The United Nations
(UN) and many humanitarian agencies, however, use ‘assessment’ to refer to analysis prior to an
intervention “to develop a shared understanding of a conflict or post-conflict situation” (UN
Integrated Assessment and Planning Handbook, p. 15). For the U.S. Agency for International
Development (USAID), the term ‘assessment’ is used either “to examine country or sector context to
inform project design” or to refer to an informal project review (USAID Terms). USAID, along with
myriad NGOs, focuses on monitoring and evaluation (M&E) as the term to describe overarching
efforts to evaluate programs. USAID’s robust capacity for evaluation is defined as “the systematic
collection and analysis of information to improve effectiveness and inform decisions about current
and future programming” (USAID). Since this publication examines case studies from military,
civilian, and international entities, ‘monitoring and evaluation’ will be utilized as the overall framework
to provide overlap and avoid confusion stemming from multiple meanings of ‘assessment.’
Regardless of organization-specific frameworks and terms, evaluation seeks to address the basic inquiry
of what works and what does not work. Organizations must determine what they want to know
through an evaluation, how they will know this information (metrics, indicators, and standards), and
how they can collect this data through monitoring. There are multiple methodologies for monitoring
and evaluation, ranging from traditional summative evaluations (which measure results at the
completion of a project) to developmental evaluations (which adapt continuously to volatile situations
throughout program implementation).
This SOLLIMS Lessons Learned Sampler provides diverse examples of monitoring and evaluation
from a variety of military and civilian initiatives in conflict environments across the globe. Lessons
focus on managing information, monitoring in conflict environments, evaluating stability, and
collaborating for peace, exploring various M&E topics including theories of change, indicator
development, data collection, and organizational adaptation and self-reflection.
These lessons address two important questions:
Why is M&E important for peace and stability?
What are best practices for M&E in conflict environments?
Read the lessons for yourself to discover more!
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