M&E can provide unique information about the performance of government policies, programs and projects. It can identify what works, what does not, and the reasons why. M&E also provides information about the performance of a government, of individual ministries and agencies, of managers and their staff. And it provides information on the performance of donors which support the work of governments.

It is tempting -- but dangerous -- to view M&E as having inherent value. The value of M&E comes not from conducting M&E or from having such information available; rather, the value comes from using it to help improve government performance. There are several ways in which M&E information can be highly useful to governments and to others:

To support evidence-based policy-making, particularly in the context of the national budget cycle and for national planning. These processes focus on government priorities among competing demands from citizens and groups in society. M&E information can support government’s deliberations by providing evidence about the most cost-effective types of government activity, such as different types of education programs or health interventions or transfer payments. Terms which are used to describe the use of M&E information in this manner include performance budgeting, results-based budgeting, or performance-informed budgeting.

To support government ministries and agencies in managing activities at the sector, program and project levels, including government service delivery and the management of staff. This is often termed results-based management, or results-oriented management.

To enhance transparency and support accountability relationships. These include the accountability of government to the parliament or congress, to civil society, and to the donors which lend to them. M&E also supports the accountability relationships within government, such as between sector ministries and central ministries, and between ministers, managers and staff.

Within these three broad categories of use of M&E information, there are many specific activities where it can be used. M&E is best viewed as being closely related to other aspects of public sector management:

• Budgetary financial tracking systems and financial reporting.
  
• Intergovernmental fiscal relations and the extent to which they encompass a focus on government performance.
  
• Accountability institutions such as national audit offices.
  
• Commercialization and the private sector (profit and non-profit) delivery of public services -- success in these activities requires a clear understanding of objectives and actual performance.
  
• The setting of explicit customer service standards by service delivery agencies, and monitoring the extent to which these are achieved.
  
• Civil service reform which focuses on personnel performance, management and appraisal, including merit-based hiring, promotion and firing -- recognizing the links between individual performance and project or program performance.
  
• The quality of the civil service’s policy advice and the extent to which this advice is evidence-based (using M&E).
  
• Participation and civil society -- M&E provides a vehicle to magnify the voice of civil society and to put additional pressure on government to achieve higher levels of performance. Civil society can play an important role in M&E in at least four ways. First, it can present beneficiary views on government service delivery. Second, it can produce analysis and reviews of government performance, via activities such as budget analyses and citizen report-cards. Third, by providing independent scrutiny of M&E findings which governments produce. Finally, civil society is a user of M&E information -- via media reporting and also the activities of universities, think-tanks and NGOs.
  
• Anti-corruption efforts -- M&E can be used to identify the 'leakage' of government funds via, for example, public expenditure tracking surveys (PETS).

How to Build M&E Systems to Support Better Government

Institutionalization of Monitoring and Evaluation Systems to Improve Public Sector Management

2002 Annual Report on Evaluation Capacity Development, Annex B

Public Sector Performance -- the Critical Role of Evaluation

See also Why is it Important to Institutionalize Government M&E Systems?