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have submitted (as part of the quarterly program report). Publishing a list of organizations that have submitted program data. Publishing a separate program monitoring report for each sub-national unit (e.g., district, region, or other administrative unit). Holding dissemination and planning workshops every quarter at the subnational level at which the program data are discussed with all stakeholders. To ensure that these workshops take place, it is necessary to include them in the work plans of the sub-national units and to provide funding. Registration of civil society organizations. Some countries have opted to register organizations which provide programs and to apply the laws of the country which state that only registered organizations may provide particular services and to insist that only registered organizations may be funded. Such measures enable the country to better control the quality of services and to better target all organizations that need to submit program-monitoring data.
5.3. Capacity building in monitoring systems is essential When designing capacity building for routine monitoring systems, remember that: •
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Many program implementers have not collected monitoring data before. It is necessary, therefore, for capacity building to focus on basic M&E skills in addition to training on how to use the program monitoring forms. Staff reporting on and using program-monitoring data also need an introduction to a spreadsheet program to facilitate rapid analysis of the data and generation of information products. A one-off workshop or training course usually is not sufficient; and longterm, on-going support should be provided. Mentorship or supportive supervision visits should be considered to help each trainee internalize their understanding of the routine monitoring system. Technical support should also be provided in designing or customizing program data collection tools. Capacity building with added mentorship visits or supportive supervision visits immediately after training may add to the cost of implementing the system but is a good investment in human resources. Use dummy data sets during training so that participants build practical skills in tallying data from daily registers onto a quarterly form. Use the opportunity of training in the routine monitoring system to create a cadre of local trainers who are certified to conduct training in the routine monitoring system and M&E, in general.
5.4. Developing a system to collect standardized routine monitoring data at the national level If a country wishes to create a national routine monitoring system, standardizing and 258
Making Monitoring and Evaluation Systems Work