M&E for DFAT Rural Development Investments in Lao PDR – a portfolio approach

DFAT Rural Development Portfolio 2

Evidence for emergent strategy 3 Source: Adapted from Mintzberg, H. (1978) Patterns in Strategy Formation, Management Science, Vol 24, No 9, 1978, pp

Development Learning Facility Portfolio monitoring and evaluative studies Annual collation of results Evaluative studies of causal mechanisms Informing policy dialogue through shared evidence base Research for development Knowledge management and communication Coordination for cumulative impact Collate and communicate results Regular coordination meetings across portfolio partners Enable DFAT to request collocation Inform advocacy and policy dialogue 4

Portfolio Monitoring Outputs Monitoring Information System to support co-location of activities for cumulative benefits (June 2015) Aggregated development results (April 2015) Annual Sector Performance Report (March 2015) Showcase and Reflection Meeting (March 2015) Annual Rural Development Learning Conference (November 2014) Bi-monthly portfolio partner coordination meetings 5

Evaluation & Research Outputs 5 case studies of women’s economic empowerment Case studies of commercial leverage Social Protection in the Lao PDR: Frameworks, Vulnerabilities, Coping Strategies and Gaps UXO Lao Post-Clearance Readiness Assessment Institutional constraints to effective implementation of nutrition policy in Lao PDR Perceptions of research-policy-practice in Lao PDR Rapid appraisal of rural livelihoods portfolio M&E Capacity Assessment for the BEQUAL Program 6

Lessons learned so far DCED indicators help with “what” not “why” BEE and other context indicators also needed Socio-cultural reasons for behaviour change Distinguish between the “M” and the “E” Put most emphasis on effective monitoring and its use Use simple evaluation methods unless there are funds and skills available to use more robust methods Emphasise effective use of performance information Co-location for cumulative impact is difficult Political pressure to spread benefits around Resistance to collaboration and coordination DFAT needs to act like the customer Demand particular management responses/collaboration 7