Monitoring and Evalution Capacity Buiding

Nigel Simister and Rachel Smith / International NGO Training and Research Center

31/01/2010

The paper is primarily concerned with capacity building within civil society organisations (CSOs), although many of the lessons apply equally to organisations in the commercial or state sectors. It is based on a literature review and interviews with a range of capacity building providers based in the North and South. The research did not include interviews with organisations that are primarily recipients of capacity building support.

The paper begins by looking at some key concepts in both capacity building and M&E. It examines different ways of thinking about M&E, and describes a variety of different tools and approaches used to plan, monitor and evaluate capacity building work. It goes on to discuss M&E in relation to donors and provides an outline of current practice, based on the interviews. Finally, it highlights key areas for further discussion, and presents some conclusions based on the research.