About

The focus of this website is on methods of monitoring and evaluating the progress and outcomes of development aid programs, big and small. But many of the methods discussed here are also relevant to the practice of evaluation when applied to policies and programs implemented by government and civil society organisations in richer countries, not just countries receiving international aid.

History

This website was originally set up in early 1997 by Rick Davies, an independent M&E consultant now living in Cambridge, U.K. The associated MandE NEWS email list was set up shortly afterwards. It was re-established on Yahoo in 2004 and continues today.

The website was established following the development of a Concept Note , which was funded by Oxfam UK, which itself was encouraged by earlier discussions with Chris Roche (then of Oxfam UK) at theThird International Workshop on the Evaluation of Social Development, in the Netherlands, in November 1996.

Funding was provided for an initial two year period by a group of four UK NGOs (Oxfam, Action Aid, SCF and Christian Aid) up to the end of 1998. A group of 6 UK NGOs provided further funding up to late 2001 and 10 NGOs provided funding for for the 2002-2004 period. The supporting organisations were: Oxfam (GB) , Save the Children Fund (UK) , ActionAid (UK) , Christian Aid , CAFOD (UK), CIIR (UK), IDRC (Canada), Water Aid (UK), World Vision (UK), WWF (UK) and Exchange via BOND.

During this period a series of Progress Reports were produced and made available on the website: 1999| 2000 | 2001 |  2002 |   2003 | 2004 | 2005

Two surveys were carried out of the website users in 2003.  In 2006 an online survey was carried out of the membership of the MandE NEWS Email List (953) , focusing on their co-membership of other related email lists.

By 2004 the annual cost of the website was £7,779, of which £6,000 was for the labour time provided by the website editor (Rick Davies).

From 2005 onwards no further funding proposals were submitted. The costs of the management of the site, and the facilitation of the email list, are now voluntarily carried by the editor.

Site management

The editor and manager of this website is Rick Davies,

You can contact me by email at rick@ mande.co.uk , or by phone in the UK, on +44 1223 841367

My personal website : richardjdavies.wordpress.com/

My PhD Thesis:  Order and Diversity: Representing and Assisting Organisational Learning in Non-Government Aid Organisations

…was based on field work in Bangladesh between 1992 and 1995

….and is available online here

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