The National AIDS Councils: Monitoring and Evaluation Operations Manual

HIV/AIDS is the leading cause of death in sub-Saharan Africa. More than 18 million Africans have died, more than 12 million African children have been orphaned because of AIDS, and another 28 million Africans are living with the virus today, the vast majority of them in the prime of their lives as workers and parents. Life expectancy is dropping, family incomes are being decimated, and agricultural and industrial efficiency is declining because of the epidemic. African nations and the international community have recognized how disastrous the epidemic is to the African continent, and have concluded that past efforts to wage war against the virus have failed for multiple reasons. A new strategy has been developed by African countries and the donor community to wage war more effectively.

The new approach emphasizes speed (due to the nature of the epidemic), scaling up existing programmes and capacity-building, 'learning by doing' and continuous project rework, rather than exhaustive up-front technical analysis of individual projects. The new approach relies on immediate monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of programmes to determine which activities are efficient and effective and should be expanded further, and which are not and should be stopped or would benefit from capacity-building.

This manual is intended for NACs, particularly those that are taking on the role of grant-provider, and their public sector and civil society implementing partners in sub-Saharan Africa; and donor institutions that are involved in the preparation, implementation and M&E of HIV/AIDS programmes in partnership with NACs.