Monrovia– The Governance Commission is advocating for the establishment of a comprehensive National Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Framework to strengthen accountability, improve service delivery, and enhance evidence-based decision-making across government institutions.
Speaking at the opening of a one-day symposium on the theme, “Identifying the Challenges in National Monitoring and Evaluation Practice Across Government,” Commissioner for Monitoring and Evaluation, Research and Publication, Cllr. Stanley S. Kparkillen said Liberia urgently needs an integrated national system to track government performance and ensure public investments deliver meaningful results.
According to Cllr. Kparkillen, monitoring and evaluation has evolved beyond routine reporting and has become an essential management tool for effective governance.
“Monitoring and Evaluation is no longer merely a reporting requirement. It is a strategic management tool that enables government institutions to track progress, assess performance, identify implementation gaps, and make informed decisions based on evidence,” he said.
He noted that effective monitoring and evaluation provide the foundation for transparency, accountability, institutional learning, and improved public service delivery.
However, Kparkillen acknowledged that Liberia continues to face several challenges in the M&E sector, including fragmented reporting systems, weak coordination among institutions, poor data management, limited technical capacity, inadequate use of evidence in policymaking, resource constraints, and the absence of a fully integrated national framework.
He pointed to countries such as Rwanda, Kenya, South Africa, Botswana, and Ghana as examples of successful M&E reforms driven by strong political commitment and institutional coordination.
Rwanda, he said, has established an effective national system that links planning, budgeting, implementation, performance contracts, monitoring, and evaluation within one coherent framework.
For Liberia, Kparkillen said a holistic national framework would establish common standards, improve data quality, strengthen coordination, and support evidence-based policymaking.
He said such a framework would help strengthen accountability and transparency in public administration, improve policy implementation and service delivery, enhance budget efficiency, promote a results-based management culture, support national development plans, increase public confidence in government institutions, and provide reliable data for decision-making.
“Most importantly, it would enable government leaders to answer a fundamental question: Are we achieving the results we promised to the Liberian people?” Kparkillen said.
He urged participants to use the symposium as an opportunity to develop practical recommendations aimed at strengthening Liberia’s national monitoring and evaluation architecture.
“The Governance Commission remains committed to supporting efforts aimed at institutional reform, policy coherence, and the promotion of effective governance systems,” he said. “We believe that a strong national Monitoring and Evaluation framework is indispensable to Liberia’s development aspirations and to the realization of a more accountable, responsive, and performance-driven public sector.”
Kparkillen officially declared the symposium open and called on stakeholders to work collectively toward establishing an integrated, effective, and sustainable M&E system capable of driving national transformation.
Providing an overview of the initiative, Mr. McNeil Mani Wilson, Program Manager for the Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Publication Managing Area of the Governance Commission, emphasized that monitoring and evaluation is essential to ensuring value for money in government programs and projects.
Wilson said the Governance Commission, working with the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning and development partners, previously developed a draft national M&E policy aimed at coordinating and harmonizing monitoring activities across government institutions.
According to him, the policy seeks to address the fragmented nature of M&E practices by establishing a consolidated and coordinated national system.
“We are here today to review the process of re-engaging because it is still in draft form, and we need to make sure that it is finalized, launched, and becomes a working tool for the country,” Wilson said.
He explained that once finalized, the policy would guide government institutions and development partners in aligning their monitoring and evaluation activities with a unified national framework.
Wilson also noted that the proposed system gives the Presidency a central role in overseeing national M&E efforts, while the Governance Commission focuses on measuring the impact of government policies and reforms on citizens.
“The Governance Commission looks at the changes that have occurred and determines the kind of monitoring that should be done to ensure that those changes align with what citizens want,” he said.
The daylong symposium brought together representatives from government ministries, agencies and commissions, as well as development partners and other stakeholders to discuss ways of strengthening monitoring and evaluation practices across the public sector.
