EuropeAid

ENPI CROSS BORDER COOPERATION

SEMINAR ON MONITORING METHODOLOGY

1. EU Technical Cooperation and management for results

BRUXELLES, 9 - 10 SEPTEMBER 2010

EuropeAidThe ENPI CBC key elements• ENPI CBC programmes shall be to the common benefit of local and regional partners on both sides of the border• The combination of EC funding from both ERDF and ENPI in one single instrument with one single programming process;• The responsibility of programme partners for detailed programming and for implementation, through joint operational programmes• The principle of shared management by a commonly agreed Managing Authority and other programme management structures • The rules whereby geographical eligibility for activities under the programmes are defined (including for the involvement both of participating and of adjoining areas).

EuropeAidThe EC is reforming how it works with Technical Cooperation

As part of its commitment to implementing the Effectiveness of its operations, the EC has launched a strategy to reform its Technical Cooperation (TC) approach.

The strategy is designed to achieve the following: •Provide quality Technical Cooperation that supports country-led programmes, based on strong partner demand and which focuses on achieving sustainable development results; a•Provide support through partner-owned implementation arrangements

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EuropeAidImproving management effectiveness• Increase Ownership (respect country leadership)• Develop Harmonization (reduce number of separate

missions, adopt common procedures)• Respect Alignment (use country systems and

procedures, avoid separate project management structures)•Manage by Results (support results focus and use

partners’ monitoring and reporting systems)• Improve Mutual accountability (provide timely and

transparent information on resources flows)

ENPI CBC programmes have most of these criteria embedded in their structure

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EuropeAidFeatures of ENPI CBC Porgrammes

• The nature of the new ENPI CBC instrument in terms of having joint programming and joint financing with a single set of rules is a strength• The programme development phase has been very positive

with an important involvement by the partner countries from the beginning. • The overall decision making body for each programme is the

Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC) made up of representatives of each participating country. • The responsibility for managing the programme rests with

the Joint Managing Authority (JMA) and, where relevant, its executive body, the Joint Technical Secretariat (JTS) at programme and country levels.

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EuropeAidEight Guiding Principles

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7.Avoid use of Parallel PIU promote effective Project ManagementArrangements

ECTechnical

Cooperation

1.Primary aim is Capacity Development

2.Demand led approach where TC is not provided by default

8.Consider innovative options for TC provision

3.Strong result orientation

6.Work through harmonized and aligned actions

5.Take account of country requirements

4.Country owned & managed TC processes

EuropeAid Managing by results

- The commitment of the EC to manage for and by results has developed as part of the establishment of the Activity-Based Management (ABM) System adopted in 2000.

- Results-oriented design of TC implies rigorous application of the logic of objective-oriented planning techniques.

- It is not about filling formats and matrixes, but it is a systematic way of thinking about specific results to be achieved and how the partners can get there.

- Partner countries and donors embrace the principles of managing for results, starting with their own results-oriented strategies and continuing to focus on results at all stages of the development cycle from planning through implementation to evaluation.

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EuropeAidResults-oriented TC support

• Focus on the specific outcomes and performance that the partner wants to achieve

• Get the logical chain from results to TC deliverables right

• Specify all key activities and inputs from all sources, but maintain flexibility

• The quality of dialogue with partner countries (government and civil society representatives) is a key to establishing effective development cooperation policies and to their successful implementation.

• Partnership, ownership of development processes by the target population, and strengthening of institutional and administrative capacity to effectively manage change, are principles driving EC efforts for development. 8

EuropeAidMonitoring and evaluation of TC support

• The focus on partner ownership means that the partners will have to play a vital role in quality assurance during implementation, where monitoring is a key instrument.•Monitoring the implementation of TC is primarily the

responsibility of the partner country. • The partner country institutions are responsible for

accountability to domestic stakeholders. • Clear links to outputs and expected outcomes: the full

logical chain from TC-support to outputs and outcomes must be sound and results must be monitored. •When the EC uses its own Results-Oriented Monitoring

System, care should be taken to ensure that these systems also contribute to domestic accountability

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EuropeAidMonitoring actions according to results

•Monitoring should take place at several levels consistent with the logical chain from impact/outcomes to all inputs into a programme. • The focus should be on i) capacity enhancement and service delivery results; ii) Capacity Development processes and Technical

Cooperation performance according to expected results. •Mutual performance assessments between partner

managers of Technical Assistance may be particularly useful as part of this monitoring.

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EuropeAidWhat is monitoring?

•Monitoring is a regular review to keep track of how a project is progressing in terms of resource use, implementation, delivery of results and the management of risks. •Monitoring is the systematic and continual collection,

analysis and use of management information to support effective decision-making.• Regular reviews provide an opportunity to reflect on

progress, agree on the content of progress reports and follow-up action required.• Implementation should thus be seen as a continuous

learning process whereby experience gained is reviewed and fed-back into ongoing planning.

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EuropeAidWhy monitor?

•Critical element of good project management.

It Supports:• Informed and timely decision making by project managers/implementers•Ongoing learning – what works and what doesn’t•Transparency (information sharing, participation, communication)•Accountability (to beneficiaries and funding agencies)

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EuropeAidHow to monitor?

•While the purpose of monitoring may be clear, the need to carefully consider ‘how’ monitoring is best carried out/supported is decisive.

• Past experience indicates that donors have been too exclusively focused on their own information requirements (managing ‘contracts’ and focused on accounting for expenditure).

• However it appears that they have not been very effective in building local partner capacity to manage and monitor.

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EuropeAidImplementation and monitoring: learning process

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EuropeAidGood practices - monitoring and reporting

Good practices for effective project delivery include:

•Relying and building on partner systems•Coordinating funder reporting and monitoring systems•Simplifying funder reporting and monitoring systems•Making information more transparent and available•Rationalizing review missions

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EuropeAidMonitoring, Evaluation, Audit

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EuropeAidActivity A – The impact of management for results on your task / responsabilities

Objective: To identify practical implications for programme / project management of the application of the rule “Management for results”

Small groups discussion :• Definition of expected results for each ENPI CBC programme • How to measure them• Summarize on flip-chart paper. • Feedback to plenary • Issues and implications for your management tasks

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