FUND ACCOUNT MANAGERS TRAINING

18-22 MAY 2009 CO-OPERATIVE COLLEGE -KAREN Mrs. Lucy Makara Secretary Projects Technical Committee

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Vision

• Vision for CDF Board is to the most effective and efficient institution in the delivery and utilization of public resources •

Core Values

• The Core Value of CDF is to ensure equity in resource distribution and to promote transparency and accountability in perpetuating development.

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Objective of CDF

• Section 3 of the CDF (Amendment) Act “…..Development and in particular in the fight against poverty at the constituency level”.

Introduction.

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What is monitoring?

• Monitoring usually refers to the process of routine periodic measurement of project inputs, activities (processes) and outputs undertaken during project implementation. It is normally concerned with procurement, delivery and utilization of projects resources, adherence to work schedule or progress made in the production of outputs.

Monitoring and Reporting

• This should be an on-going activity during implementation. Monitoring can be carried out by the beneficiaries, the implementing staff, supervisory staff and the project management staff. The aim should be to ensure that the activities of the project are being undertaken on schedule to facilitate implementation as specified in the project design. Any constrain in operationalising the design can quickly be detected and corrective action taken. The management would therefore be proactive rather than reactive in correcting mistakes during implementation. The channels of communication should also be clear and easy to allow transparency and accountability for all staff involved. Thus relevant actions, results and barriers to implementation should be closely monitored for smooth implementation.

Monitoring and Reporting

• Monitoring provides the data on which the evaluation is based. Evaluation involves a systematic review or examination of the elements of success and failure in the project experience during the project life to learn how better to plan for the future it can be done internally or by external reviewers. With no free hand, the feedback mechanism will be stifled and information be “held - back” instead of being “fed-back”.

• The aim of Evaluation is largely to determine the extent to which the objectives are being realized.

Why Monitoring?

• Monitoring provides program managers with information on which to base judgment of the operational performance of their programs, so that they can make needed changes in the ways day-to day activities are conducted.

• Monitoring information is required for accountability purposes, stakeholders and sponsors are continually concerned with the records and reports up to date.

Why Monitoring?

• Monitoring information may be either the sole basis for judging program or a supplement to utility assessments; thus monitoring is often instrumental in decisions to continue, expand or terminate an on-going programs. The findings can also generate new ideas and provide insight about the emerging issues.

Types of Monitoring

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Routine: Short-term

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Routine:

meaning it’s regular, on-going.

It has core set of indicators • Tracks program implementation.

• It can be used to identify where project is or is not proceeding as planned.

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Short-term:

limited period of time, • Tracks new activities, • Collects information to help solve a problem.

Monitoring indicators

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Input Indicators

• Inputs are resources: Financial, Human Equipment •

Process indicators

• All the indicators that measure how well project is being implemented: Management system, work methodology, record keeping, Training.

Quality of a good monitor

• Clear conception about his or her work.

• Must be neutral; • Acceptable presentation skills; • Having skills to perform responsibilities cost effectively;

Quality of a good monitor

• Conscious about working environment; • Be patience; • Be inquisitive; • Be analytical

Preparation of a Monitoring Report

• Introduction • Objectives • Methodology (Sample size) • Area covered • Main body/subject • Conclusion

1.1 Project Monitoring CDF (Amendment) Act, 2007 (Section 30 sub –section 4)

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The Constituency Development Fund Committee shall be responsible for monitoring the implementation of projects and may designate a sub committee, a locational committee or a project committee, the functions of Monitoring an on-going project.

Project Planning or Formulation

• Section 21 of the CDF Act stipulates that all projects to be financed by the Constituencies Development Fund should be community based in order to ensure that the prospective benefits are availed to a widespread cross section of the inhabitants of a particular area. Therefore, the location meetings in consultation with other key grassroots community members should be involved in setting of the projects objectives, identifying activities to be carried out, determining the resources required, time frames, responsibilities, expected outputs, success indicators and how monitoring and evaluation should be conducted.

Emphasis must be given to participatory monitoring with actors being: • Community • Project Management Committee • Constituency Development Fund Committee (CDFC) • Relevant Government Departments (DPC) • Locational Committee

1.2 Project Monitoring by the Project Management Committee

• Must be Community friendly monitoring; • All PMCs must be advised to prepare work plans for their projects; • All PMCs must be advised to keep record of Funds received and utilized;materials, Equipment. • All PMCs must be advised to ensure the safeness of project materials • All PMCs must be advised to write progress reports on project implementation • All PMCs must be advised to identify problems and bottlenecks

1.3 Project Monitoring by the Constituency Development Fund Committee (CDFC)

• Ensure the Project Management Committees are monitoring their projects.

• CDFC should use the Project Management Committee report to verify implementation

1.4 Project Monitoring support by District Projects Committee (DPC)

• They give technical support to Project Management Committees and Constituency development fund Constituency Development Fund Committee.

• Whether the executive CDFC members have trained the rest of CDFC and PMC’s after the July - August 2008 CDFC’s country-wide training; • who is implementing the projects; • the identification of PMC; • Process of disbursing funds from Constituency account to the projects account; • who approves/authorizes payments at CDFC/PMC level; • Process of PMC accounting back to CDFC;

• Established controls CDFC has put in place for subsequent disbursement of funds to PMC; • Level of maintenance of projects documents; • Adherence to Public procurement regulation – transparency in awarding contracts; • Level of knowledge on CDF- projects approved/amounts in a given financial year, CDFC members, information on the works/services CDFC/PMC requires to be done/offered, the procedure of giving information to constituents.

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When designing a monitoring system one should ensure

that the data collection and reporting is simple for all to understand, collect only essential data, provide timely feed back and use the information.

Steps in designing an effective Monitoring System

• Preparing a logical project framework; the project input, activities output, objectives should be spelt out in terms of content, target group or area.

• Specify information requirements; type of information, and purpose needed by the decision-makers and the time its needed.

• identify the source of information secondary information must be explored before primary data

Steps in designing an effective Monitoring System

• Research design, data collection and analysis eg participant observation, group discussion, interviews • Timing of research; produce relevant, timely and accurate data.

• Communication of results; Must be capable of attracting the decision makers attention, have confidence in the accuracy of the data.

• Assignments of responsibilities. It should be ensured that M and E as faultfinding job by the outsiders.

1.5 Project sustainability

• There is need to put in place proper mechanism or identify institution or project Committee members to ensure there is project sustainability after completion e.g. in water projects.