ST.GEORGE, GRENADA, APRIL 15, 2011 – Four public officers from Grenada participated in the inaugural meeting of the Commonwealth Caribbean Development Evaluation Network held form April 5-6-, 2011 in Barbados.
The objectives of the meeting were to update knowledge in the field of development monitoring and evaluation; to discuss and agree on measures to strengthen the link between monitoring and evaluation and decision making; to discuss current challenges of development of Monitoring and Evaluation in the region; to share experiences in utilizing the findings of evaluation reports and to determine ways to improve assistance from the regional network.
The Commonwealth Secretariat has trained 147 Caribbean senior public officers in Development Evaluation over the last four years in order to increase the critical mass of public officers trained in this field.
Three annual regional training programmes were held in Grenada from 2006 to 2008, followed by in-country programmes in Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica in 2009 and 2010 respectively. In addition, in 2008 the Commonwealth Secretariat created an Online Regional Network for M&E Practitioners.
Grenada, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and the Bahamas made significant strides in the area of Monitoring and Evaluation by being the four Caribbean States that established M&E Units.
The Policy Monitoring and Evaluation Unit in Grenada was established 1st June, 2010 with assistance from the World Bank. The Unit is led by Policy Development Officer, Mrs. Merina Jessamy, who also presented the Grenada Country Report on Monitoring and Evaluation at the meeting in Barbados.
“Grenada now has a database that allows effective follow-up on cabinet decisions and greater monitoring of the implementation of government projects and programmes,” said Mrs. Jessamy.
The scope of work of the Policy Monitoring and Evaluation Unit focuses on five key areas, namely Implementation of Cabinet Decisions, Programme performance, Major projects, Management Performance and Public Satisfaction with government services.
The Unit is working towards the launch of a national M&E network and in-country training programme for M&E Liaison Officers and Public Relations Officers in the Grenada Public Service.
Participants were reminded to be agents of change and of the importance of effective and proper monitoring and evaluation of government projects particularly in difficult economic times such as the region is experiencing.
Grenada was highly commended for its efforts in developing structures and procedures for implementing five of the ten steps of the Results Based M&E framework.
Apart from Mrs. Jessamy, the other participants from Grenada were Mrs. Veronica Charles, Acting Head of the Reform Management Unit in the Department of Public Administration; Ms. Anna Brizan, Senior Human Resource Management Officer, Department of Public Administration and Mr. Francis Robertson, Technical Officer in the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation.
The meeting was also attended by representatives from regional organizations such as the Caribbean Development Bank, UNICEF, UNDP, Caribbean Export Development Agency, UK Department for International Development (DFID), Caribbean Centre for Development Administration (CARICAD) and University of the West Indies.
