By Elia Chibwe

Lilongwe, December 9, Mana: Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, Simplex Chithyola Banda, has underscored the need for the National Monitoring and Evaluation Policy in promoting transparency in planning and budgeting an action, as most of the actions will be done based on evidence.

Speaking during the launch of the National Monitoring and Evaluation Policy in Lilongwe on Monday, Banda said it is high time for the country to seek research and evidence based planning.

“Time is far gone that we can now be doing desk work; we need research based, evidence based in planning. For example, even when we are formulating the budget, we need to know how many people are there, what are their needs, so you do a lot of needs assessment.

“Why are you doing all those? It’s because you want to make sure that the action you are coming up with will actually tally with the needs on the ground. So, the monitoring and evaluation policy gives us a framework on how we can monitor an action, how we can evaluate the impact of action, the end result will be the results that are backed by data,” he said.

He said the launch of the policy marks a significant beginning of the journey of accuracy in terms of accountability and transparency when providing services to the general public.

He said the policy is the pathway to assisting people to measure their actions so as to know what needs to be done and what will be results and the ones benefiting.

“We need to know the impact of the action that we are doing. So, obviously we need to have your statistics as to measure whether the action is making an impact or not. Therefore, the policy gives us framework and its parameters on how we can measure an action and its result and impact.

“It also gives you the accuracy to planning as you can say poor planning means planning to fail. So, based on how you plan, you need to have data; you need to have statistics from measured action in the policy. This is a pathway that helps us to measure how we are doing things. Putting them under the national policy; you will standardize every action,” he said.

Representative for United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Malawi, Fenella Frost, said the policy aims to bring change in the country to achieve Malawi 2063 goals.

“Our work in performing monitoring and evaluation is not only about bringing change but also making a change that is positive and contributes towards an effective development trajectory for this country. 

“Monitoring and evaluation is there to understand what government is achieving, where and how improvements can be made to realize joint commitments in the aspirations of Malawi. It also goes beyond the global framework, it’s about demonstrating concrete impact in the critical sectors that support the population, including health, education, food security,” Frost said.

She said the policy is a reflection with global practices in development and management, which echoes the principles, laid in the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and improving public sectors of the country.

“It is my sincere hope that today’s launch of the policy is the beginning of an ongoing effort to make performance monitoring and evaluation a way to ensure continuous improvement in public sector, greater impact to our citizens in the country, and better value for money for government expenditure,” she said.

The launch was held under the theme of ‘Improving Public Sector Performance Through Evidence’.