How do we know if a poverty reduction strategy is effective? First, a poverty monitoring system is needed to track key indicators over time and space and to determine if they change as a result of the strategy. Second, rigorous evaluations should be done selectively to assess the impact on poverty of interventions that are key components of the strategy. This chapter from the World Bank’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper Sourcebook examines the features of poverty monitoring systems and explores some of the key issues which arise during implementation.
The Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) provide a prime example of the types of goals, indicators and targets that can be used to monitor progress. In this context, goals are the objectives a country or society wants to achieve. Indicators are the variables used to measure progress. Targets are the quantified levels of the indicators that a country wants to achieve at a given time.
Some of the key challenges and features of a poverty monitoring system are outlined below:
- Many countries already have poverty monitoring systems in place so the task is to assess their adequacy and strengthen them as necessary.
- Rigorous evaluations should be done selectively to assess the impact on poverty of key interventions. Other types of evaluation, such as assessing the process of formulating a poverty reduction strategy, can also be useful.
- Another challenge is to evaluate the impact of poverty reduction strategies in general as opposed to specific components of a strategy.
- Much monitoring and evaluation takes place without adequate development of in-country capacity and without strong links to the key decision-makers. Precious opportunities to learn what works are lost, sometimes along with funds.
- Results that are not widely disseminated, through mechanisms tailored to different groups in civil society, will not be used, and the resources spent in getting such results will be wasted.
- Nongovernmental actors have a key role to play in the design of monitoring and evaluation systems, and in their implementation and in using results.
Policy officials setting up a poverty monitoring system should be aware of a number of issues:
- The tracking of public expenditures and outputs and quick monitoring of household well-being need special attention. Participatory data collection methods and qualitative information should not be overlooked.
- Impact evaluations can be demanding in terms of analytical capacity and resources. It is important that they are conducted only when the characteristics of the intervention warrant an evaluation.
- The dissemination strategy should accommodate the diverse information needs of different groups. Information should be tailored to the relevant audience: press releases for the media and workshops and seminars for the general public and civil organisations.
- A well established process to feed monitoring and evaluation results back to policymakers is crucial if results are to be used in formulating policy. Since key decisions are made at the time of budget formulation, key results should be available then.
- Broad consultations are required during the design of the monitoring and evaluation system to build consensus on what to monitor and evaluate. They generate a sense of ownership among different groups in society, increasing acceptance and use of findings.
