property values triggered by formalization policies. To mitigate these risks, it is essential to identify vulnerable individuals, assess the specific challenges they might face in formalizing their properties, and define measures to
assist them. Some possible measures include registering property rights in the names of both spouses, providing free legal assistance to lowincome families, and exempting poor households from real property registration fees.
FORMALIZE SETTLEMENTS AS A STEP TOWARDS REGULARIZATION OF REAL PROPERTY RIGHTS Many Roma settlements are not formally recognized in local land use plans and other planning documents. Local governments have a key role to play in the formalization of these settlements because they have the authority to include them in local land use plans and adopt specific land use and subdivision regulations.
While the formalization of settlements consists of acknowledging their existence as a whole, formalization of the real property rights of their inhabitants is a distinct operation, one that aims to ensure these rights are registered in the formal land registration system. In practice, settlement formalization is often a prerequisite for formalization of real property rights.
3.5 Monitor and Evaluate Interventions with the Community M&E can help identify barriers and necessary changes to project design. Participatory M&E permits continuous, on-the-ground tracking of results and leads to higher accountability and ownership at the community level. Designing M&E plans with the beneficiaries allows stakeholders to understand how activities are linked to outcomes and what intermediate outputs are produced and can be monitored. A good participatory M&E plan defines what will be monitored, when information will be collected, who will be in charge of collecting the information, and which actors will be informed. Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) is essential to effective management of interventions. It should not be considered as a mere reporting exercise that feeds information to the nationallevel authority or the European Commission, but as an internal management activity that
improves the performance of ongoing and future interventions. Local authorities need to incorporate M&E throughout the whole cycle of an intervention, starting from conception (identifying needs and 41