KYRGYZSTAN TODAY Policy briefs on - Department of Geography

President concluded, “Earlier we had adopted many programs. But the CDS, obviously,
has a better perspective, as it is a real program, which has been broadly discussed in our
society and has a good financial support.”[4]
What do donors say? The World Bank’s 2005-2007 report on its activities in the
Kyrgyz Republic noted that “the CDS has improved mechanisms for monitoring
and evaluating the achieved progress, although they are still not fully formed; the
Strategy includes the plans of involving civil society and development partners in
the assessment of the implementation process.” The report further stated that “The
indicators for monitoring the CDS are largely focused on macroeconomic indicators,
the results in public administration area and business environment. The document
also has the indicators for monitoring several industrial sectors such as agriculture
and energy, which will help in the implementation of the CDS. The CDS also proposes
to monitor the Strategy both through official channels and with the involvement of
civil society.” [7, pp. 30-31] Thus, donors represented by the World Bank have also
recognized the great importance of NGO participation in monitoring and evaluating
the CDS.
Monitoring and Evaluation
To help consider the problem of NGOs participation in monitoring and evaluation
of the CDS, it is worth defining “monitoring” and “evaluation.”
These terms have often been defined in scientific and other literature.
Monitoring is observing a process or a condition of something. [8, p. 395]
Monitoring is a set of observations and studies that determine changes in the
environment caused by human activity. [1, p. 343]
The term “monitoring” involves actions such as information collection, its evaluation,
controlling an object and forecasting its behavior. [12]
Monitoring can be defined as “constant observing a process to determine its
consistency with the desired result or starting position.” [10]
Monitoring is the process of including regular collection and recording of data
to track the impact of the key elements of the campaign on its implementation. The
purpose of monitoring is a correction, ensuring efficient use of resources, achievement
of the planned objectives and minimizing negative consequences. [11]
Evaluation, by one definition, is the systematic study of a situation, the progress
of a campaign or its results. There are several types of evaluation: basic evaluation,
process evaluation and impact evaluation. [11] For NGOs that intend to participate in the
evaluation of the CDS, of greatest importance are such categories as expert evaluation
and peer review present.
Expert evaluation is based on professional experience. It is a descriptive, qualitative
or rough quantitative evaluation of events or phenomena, which address principles or
cases that cannot be directly measured by strict calculation methods of natural sciences,
or other normative instruments.
Peer review is conducted by independent experts who evaluate events that are
beyond direct measurement. [see 1, p. 431]
The problems of NGO participation in monitoring and evaluating the CDS
The citizens of Kyrgyzstan expect the involvement of civil society in the process
of monitoring and evaluating development programs designed to enhance public
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