The federal government has commenced a result-based monitoring and evaluation training for staff of the National Social Investment Program.
Speaking on Monday in Nasarawa State, the National Coordinator, Social Investment Programs, Dr. Umar Buba Bindir said the training was imperative as the fiscal pressures and ever-rising expectations from ordinary citizens provide a continuing impetus for government to provide more services and with higher standards of quality.
He expressed optimism that the capacity building programme will help Monitoring and Evaluation practitioners and Managers in the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management with the skills needed to deliver effectively on their tasks.
Bindir who represented the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouk, explained that there is need to be more proactive in the implementation of the social investment programmes.
He said “Much of what you are going to experience at this training will be the unique new ways of doing things that seek to improve the lives of our people.
“You will agree with me that the fiscal pressures and ever-rising expectations from ordinary citizens provide a continuing impetus for governments to provide more government services and with higher standards of quality.
“These pressures are also reasons to find more cost-effective ways of operating so that governments can do more with less.
“For the government to be able to achieve the feat of doing more for the citizens with fewer resources, it is, therefore, necessary to deploy a very objective and effective tracking and assessment system that will measure the performance of the policy or program/project toward achieving the objective and goal.
“The importance of Monitoring & Evaluation in current development and humanitarian programs cannot be over-emphasized. Monitoring and Evaluation implementation in programs/policies helps in improving performance and achieving results.
“Currently there is a huge shift to Results-Based Management (RBM) which requires that organizations manage projects and programs for results.
“To account for these results, Monitoring & Evaluation implementation becomes paramount in accounting for pledged results by the implementers to project beneficiaries, donors and partners.”
The workshop was attended by participants from 17 states namelyAbia, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Gombe, Imo and Jigawa.