Film 9: Focus on Monitoring and Evaluation:

M&E Animator Training

Topics Covered:

• • Background to the Epicenter Strategy
  • Concepts of Monitoring and Evaluation
  • Why M&E is useful and important
  • Participatory M&E
  • Roles and Expectations of M&E Animators
  • Key concepts in M&E
  • Challenges of good data

• iForm Survey Builder Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) – as a separate session if required

Objective(s):

To ensure M&E animators understand the meaning of M&E and have the basic skills needed to be able to collect data relating to appropriate indicators and to produce a monthly and quarterly reports for their thematic area.

To understand how to use the iForm Builder to create and administer surveys.

To explain to M&E animators the purpose and methods of conducting KIIs and FGDs in their communities as part of their M&E activities.

Facilitator(s):

M&E SS

Target Participants:

M&E Animators.

This course may also be used to train EPOs, who will in turn train M&E Animators

Resource Requirements:

Data collection forms for the animators to be trained in and practice using.

Country Theory of Change (ToC) model

iForm builder survey and tablets with survey loaded on, if applicable

Preparation:

Before the training session, be sure to prepare material for Module Four of the Training Manual on animator roles and expectations – this content is country and possibly Epicenter specific.

Review the content on ToC before the workshop and prepare your talking points for this section of Module Five.

If applicable, prepare a short sample survey in iForm Builder before the workshop and upload it onto the devices you are bringing to the session.

Duration:

For the main M&E animator training material, allow for three full days, four hours in the morning and three in the afternoon. The training typically takes two days, but a third should be provided for, as the speed of the training needs to be adjusted to reflect the ability of participants to understand the material. There is not a breakdown of time by activity, to allow for flexibility in the delivery according to the speed of the participants in grasping the concepts. The group work exercises given in the training manual should take 15-20 minutes.

The separate training course that covers using the iForm Builder, KIIs and FGDs lasts for four days. The first three are classroom-based session and the fourth is a practical session testing the tools.

Course Content:

Evaluation:

The first evidence of whether or not the training has been successful will be the first quarterly report, which will show if the animators trained are able to collect the data needed in the right ways. If the data collection form is being used incorrectly, then a follow-up training session should be arranged to cover the specific problems encountered.

Action Plans:

As per general guidance.

Note: M&E Training for Epicenter Committees & Sub-committees

This is a separate training course delivered by the M&E SS and EPOs when facilitating capacity building workshops on participatory monitoring and evaluation for Epicenter Committees and different thematic area subcommittees, as well as the committee for traditional leaders. The content and delivery of this training is similar to the Animator training describe above. The content includes:

• Basic principles of M&E – definition of Monitoring and Evaluation;
• Importance of M&E
• Participatory M&E – who should do M&E and why
• Indicators – how to track progress for an indicator; how to use the data tools to collect data
• Compiling an Epicenter progress report for an indicator

At the time of writing the Training Manual for this course was only available in Chichewa (Malawi’s Official Language), with the English version still under development.