Country-led systems of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) are a
concept whose time has come. A growing number of developing
and transition countries and most if not all developed countries are
devoting considerable attention and effort to their national M&E
systems. Many do not label it as such – it may be called evidencebased
policy-making, performance-based budgeting, or resultsbased
management, for example – but at the core is an evidentiary
system for public sector management that relies on the regular collection
of monitoring information and the regular conduct of evaluations.

This paper first examines the various ways in which M&E systems
can, and are, used to improve government performance. Key trends
influencing developing countries to build or strengthen existing
M&E systems are then reviewed. Next, the numerous lessons from
international experience in building M&E systems are discussed,
including the important role of incentives to conduct and especially
to make use of M&E information. Ways to raise awareness of the
usefulness of M&E, and to create incentives for the utilization of
M&E, are listed. The use of such incentives can help to create
demand for M&E. Finally, there is an examination of the importance
of conducting a country diagnosis, to provide a shared understanding
of the strengths and weaknesses of existing M&E, and, to foster
a consensus around an action plan for the further strengthening
of M&E.
This paper draws on a recent World Bank book written by the author
that discusses all these issues in more depth. The book, How to
build monitoring and evaluation systems to support better government,
is available at:
http://www.worldbank.org/ieg/ecd/better_government.html