r - part - usaid

of monitoring and evaluation procedures and specified major
topics to be investigated. The Project Paper (1984) stated that
the Planning Unit would include two full time economists, a
sociologist and four sociological field assistants to carry out
~~mmunity participation and monitoring and evaluation
activities. It also called for twelve months of expstrlatr
technical assistance in social science but this was later
reduced to s ix months.
UnfortunatePy, WDA was not able to recruit a Somali
sociclogist and between May and October 1985 the Planning Unit
consisted of one qualified econamist and two assistants with
academic backgrounds and job experience unrelated ta water
development 0 research. They received several weeks of
training in planning and evaluation, but by November 1985 two of
them, including the ecanomiat, had left the Planning Unit for
other positions. Since then, the Planning Unit has had only one
staff person to carry out the full range of activities including
the implementation of the MES program.
In view of the manpower constraints, the objective to fully
develop and operationalize a monitoring and evaluation program
was revised. Priority was given instead to the design of a
system for monitoring and evaluation, This included the
preparation and testing of suwey forms, schedules for data
collection and reporting, and guidelines for data entry and
analysis.
The technical assistance team was also able to monitor
conditions and assess the impact of the drilled wells in sixteen
communities. Seven visits, fasting from four to ten days each,
were made to villages in the Bay and Central Rangeland Regions.
Five were directed in the field by LBII consultants and two were
carried out independently by a member of the Planning Unit. Tws
members of the BRADP Xonitoring unit also participated in the
March 1986 evaluzticn suxvey. The field trips produced a
substantial amount of data on well operations, water use, and
sock~econonic conditions, and led to major revisions of the
survey instruments and reporting schedules.
Considerable attentian was also given to methodological
issues and two BRADP, and one WDA, staff person now have
satisfactory basic skills in the administrstian of
questionnaires, interviewing and technical. observation. They
are also able to tabulate several types of survey data. None of
the current staff af the WDA Planning Unit, BRADP or the CRDP
~xtension unit are sufficiently trained or have enough
experience to manage and implement the proposed MES system.
They require a substantial amount of additional training in
theory, research methods, elementary statistics, computer
operationL?, data management and analysis. Recommendations to