|
Home
Printer friendly versions
English
1360Kb pdf
Kiswahili
1369Kb pdf
| |
|
| It is
said that 'if you do not know where you are going then any road will
get you there'. People who get things done are usually clear about
what they want to do, how they will do it and, most importantly, how they
will know if they have been successful. |
What is
true for an individual person is also true for groups, for businesses and
for governments - if you are serious about getting things done then you
must be clear about targets, activities and indicators. |
|
|
Target
|
Activities
|
Indicators
|
| a clear idea of what
you want to do (it helps to say how much you will do by what date) |
a clear idea of what
actions you must take (it helps to make a list of steps to show what you
must do first, then second and so on) |
a clear idea of what
you will measure so that you will know if your activities are hitting the
target |
| A poverty monitoring
and evaluation system needs clear and precise targets, activities and
indicators. This makes it much easier to keep track of what is going on. Monitoring
involves measuring as you go along to make sure that you are following the
plan. Evaluation involves stopping now and again to review progress
and decide whether or not the plan needs to be changed. |
 |
| Without a good set of
targets, activities and indicators you will not really know where you are
going and you will not therefore be able to tell if you are getting there
or when you have arrived. |
| The Zanzibar Poverty
Reduction Plan is a living document that will develop and mature because
of input and feedback from a wide range of sources. At present the plan
has more details about targets, activities and indicators in some sectors
than in others. This is not a problem because the details will gradually
be filled in through discussion, consultation and learning from
experience. |
|
Plans for gathering data
|
|
Various sectoral targets are mentioned in other parts
of this booklet. Activities and indicators will have to be negotiated for
those which do not already have them.
Where possible
indicators will be used to gather baseline data so that our rate of
progress can be easily measured. Where this is not possible proxy
indicators will be used. Participatory Poverty Assessment (PPA) techniques
will also be used to put flesh on the bones of raw statistics.
Three main types of data will be gathered:
 | primary information will be collected through the
census and surveys |
| routine records will be gathered from the relevant
Ministries eg about Education, Health etc |
|
special information gathering and analyses will be
conducted by independent research institutions |
|
| An example of a proxy
indicator would be the use of 'modern materials for building a
house' as a measure of 'household income' |
|
A poverty monitoring and evaluation unit
|
|
The process of designing and managing the poverty
monitoring and evaluation process will be divided between different
organisations but the responsibility for co-ordinating all the activities
will lie with a special unit in the Ministry of Finance and Economic
Affairs (MOFEA).
|
The MOFEA unit will organise a broad based system of
committeesto make sure that
all stakeholders participate and co-ordinate. The government Statistics
Department will be responsible for conducting censuses and surveys and the
various line ministries will continue to collect routine data and
information. Research and academic institutions, including NGOs and
consultants, will be employed to collect and analyse specific data. |
| At the moment there are few Zanzibari NGOs with
the skills for the level of research that is needed. The Government
will encourage research organisations to develop and will take a
lead role where necessary until they take root. |
|
The plan is to extend the Poverty Monitoring and
Evaluation tasks to district, ward and village level. This will make sure
that there is good, two-way communication between the grass roots and the
central policy making bodies. |
| A system of incentives will be created to
encourage the development of high quality Poverty Monitoring and
Evaluation activities in the various organisations that are involved.
Amongst other things this might include eligibility for funding, training
and capacity building. |
|
There are three major strands of activity that have
to be costed:
| a study to work out staffing, training and equipment
needs for collecting, storing and analysing data |
| data collection exercises eg the national Household
Budget Survey, various annual surveys and Participatory Poverty
Assessments |
| managing the monitoring and evaluation of the ZPRP
itself |
Given the weak capacity within Zanzibar for
monitoring and evaluation activity on such a large scale, there will be a
need for close co-operation and co-ordination with institutions on the
mainland. There may also be need for more technical assistance in Zanzibar
than on the Mainland.
|
Next steps
|
| Following discussion with stakeholders the
Government will press ahead with setting up, costing and finding funds for
the Poverty Monitoring and Evaluation Unit. The first task of the Unit
will be to work out the details of the Poverty Monitoring and Evaluation
Plan. |
At the end of the plan period there will be a
major external evaluation which will report on
- changes in the poverty
situation as a result of implementing the ZPRP and
- lessons learned and
adjustments needed to make the second ZPRP even more effective.
|
|
