The role of monitoring and evaluation system in promoting performance of Non-Governmental Organizations in Juba County, South Sudan

Abstract

This study did set to understand the role of M&E system in promoting performance of NGO’s in Juba County, South Sudan. Monitoring and evaluation system plays paramount role in promoting performance of non-governmental organizations. In South Sudan, NGO’s allocates 5% to 10% of project budgets for monitoring and evaluation activities with the purpose of promoting their performance. However, little progress has been made in this regard in Juba County of South Sudan. The study was guided by four objectives; to assess the influence of monitoring and Evaluation system in promoting performance of nongovernmental organizations; to determine the influence of evaluation system in promoting performance of non-governmental organizations; to assess the influence of participatory monitoring and evaluation in promoting performance of non-governmental organizations; to examine the importance of monitoring and evaluation department in promoting performance of non-governmental organizations. To address the objectives, key informant interviews and semi-structured questionnaires were used to collect data. The study assumes that the findings would benefit different stakeholders i.e. NGO staff, students, researchers and scholars. The study targeted ten (10) NGOs which were purposively sampled i.e. 5 NGO’s with M&E system and 5 NGO’s without M&E system. Quantitative data were analyzed by SPSS Version 21 and qualitative data were analyzed using descriptive narrative log. The research findings and analysis were presented in bar charts, graphs, frequency tables, percentages and narrative logs. Study findings show that non-governmental organizations with functional monitoring and evaluation system have high chances for better performance compared to non-governmental organizations without monitoring and evaluation system as well as nongovernmental organizations with weak monitoring and evaluation system. The study findings revealed that some non-governmental organizations without monitoring and evaluation system have better performance due to consultant services they hired to provide external monitoring and evaluation support. However it was very costly for those nongovernmental organizations to maintain the consultants for a long time within the nongovernmental organizations. Further the study show that non-governmental organizations without monitoring and evaluation department were spending a lot of funds on hiring consultants for baseline, mid-term evaluation and end line evaluation studies of their projects. Based on the findings above, the study concludes that having a functional Monitoring and Evaluation system with an NGO strengthens its performance. The study thus recommends that non-governmental organizations without monitoring and evaluation system should initiate it to avoid over spending on hiring consultants who are very costly to maintain for a long time.