Professor Gyan-Baffour
Ministers in charge of Planning and Monitoring and Evaluation Experts of ECOWAS countries
have recommended a draft policy document for more robust Monitoring and Evaluation of
the impact of projects and programmes implemented in Member States.
They made the appeal for the draft policy document in a statement issued by the recently dissolved Ministry of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Ghana.
According to the statement, the recommendation came at a virtual Ministerial meeting organised in Accra and chaired by the former Minister of Planning, Professor George Gyan-Baffour.
The draft policy document with the title ECOWAS Monitoring and Evaluation Policy, has been recommended by the ECOWAS
Council of Ministers for approval by the ECOWAS Heads of Government, the statement indicated.
“Ministers of fourteen Members of ECOWAS countries as well as Monitoring and Evaluation
Experts were present at the meeting. Also present were the Heads of the National ECOWAS
Offices in Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Sierra Leone and Liberia,” it said.
The Head of the ECOWAS National Office in Ghana, Mr. Mohammed Nurudeen Ismaila,
who welcomed the delegates on behalf of the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo,
noted that effective monitoring is
critical for the successful implementation of projects.
He urged participants to make solid contributions towards the improvement of the policy document and recommend it to the Council of Ministers for endorsement.
Opening the meeting, Professor Gyan-Baffour underscored the importance of a “sound
Monitoring and Evaluation Policy that would provide clear answers to the legitimate questions of community citizens about the impact of projects and programmes on their daily
lives.”
He noted the growing need for tactful strategic planning at the national and sub-regional
levels, to ensure more efficient use of available resources. He also emphasised the need to
uphold more than before, the principles of the regional integration agenda of the ECOWAS, based on solidarity, complementarity and subsidiarity.
Prof. Gyan-Baffour commented that, the adoption of this policy document, signifies the
importance of Monitoring and Evaluation in the sub-region’s development trajectory.
He further stressed that, the principles underpinning Monitoring and Evaluation, including transparency, accountability, timeliness, utilisation and participation, must be adhered to the use of the ECOWAS Monitoring and Evaluation Policy.
By Melvin Tarlue