Author: PRIA Blog
"I have learned not only the concepts but also the methodologies of participatory monitoring and evaluation; I can do it now;” said Sayed Bakhtiyar Mirzaee. Sayed was one of the participants from Afghanistan, who attended the five-day training on Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation (PME) conducted by PRIA in New Delhi from 4-8 August, 2015. Twelve participants from Afghanistan attended this training programme who were supported by the Agha Khan Foundation, Afghanistan. The training focussed on the meaning of PM&E, its advantage over the traditional top-down and expert driven monitoring and evaluation. The training also gave an overview about the ways to implement PM&E and which tools and techniques could be useful.
The first day started with introductory session which was followed by a presentation on monitoring and evaluation. This session talked about the importance of monitoring and evaluation as well as its limitations. After this session the topic of PME was introduced, which tries to overcome some of the limitations of traditional monitoring and evaluation. The next day sessions focused on the importance of PME in the project implementation. This session further clarified about the reason to practice PME instead of traditional M&E. Sherzad Mohammad Dawood, one of participants expressed that before this session he was questioning himself, as to why we should do PME, but now he has very well understood the importance of this in the project management. During the second and third day the sessions focused on tools of PME and their use in the field. The sessions involved various activities and group exercises. Various case studies were discussed to talk about the challenges involved in PME and the ways to overcome these challenges. The participants also engaged in group exercises to prepare a PME plan for a case study. This helped them to gain practical experience to plan a PME strategy for a programme. The fifth day comprised of sessions on strategising and preparing an action plan to implement PME in their respective programmes in Afghanistan. Specific, socio-cultural issues were brought to the table while planning the agenda for implementing PME.
A number of learning methods like, presentations, role plays, group and plenary discussions, etc. were used to facilitate learning. Several ice-breakers were also used to energise the group and break monotony.
The participants expressed their gratitude and were pleased to be a part of this training programme. They mentioned that there has been a considerable increase in their level of understanding on the concept and practice of PME. One of the participants, M.Yassin Hussaini pointed out in his feedback that the methodology used in the training to explain the concept of PME was upright and focussed yet simple. He said "I have attended many training programmes on PME but these have been confusing. I never got the clarity on what exactly PME is and how we can implement it in the field. In this training, a complex topic of PME was explained in such a simple way that even a lay person would be able to understand and use it”.
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