Monitoring
Twaweza’s internal monitoring aims at documenting what we do 
and why, and following up on what works, and what enables learning and informed decision-making.
Monitoring at Twaweza aims at enhancing our understanding of what works under which conditions and at being transparent and accountable. Monitoring is an important part of our learning loops and closely linked to learning, communication and evaluation. Exploring new ways of working bears the need to document what we do and follow up. Monitoring generates information that allows for learning, how to do things better and make informed decisions about the next initiative. Monitoring is also crucial for informing evaluation and for our communication with partners, public and donors. Both internal monitoring and external evaluation are closely linked to Twaweza’s outcome indicators as formulated in the metrics framework.
Collecting and Sharing Monitoring Information
Twaweza collects and compiles information as follows:
- Baseline: knowledge about the current situation from the baseline survey (undertaken in Tanzania), Uwezo, Uwazi, country programs, partners, national surveys and reports, other sources and instruments;
- Inputs: to document Twaweza’s support for partners, intention, theory of change, investment (financial and other support) and other activities (e.g. talks, conferences);
- Outputs: our contracts focus on outputs rather than activities, document what has actually been done and achieved in relation to expectations, self-reporting with random checks, triangulation of information from different sources, including quick surveys, scorecards, citizen monitors, outsourced media-monitoring; support for monitoring undertaken by partners;
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Outcomes: to find evidence for effects regarding citizen agency and service delivery, including an analysis of the level and quality of public debate, as picked up through immersion, citizen monitoring, media monitoring, video evaluation. See our Monitoring & Evaluation Framework.
We want to make it easy to follow the results chain from Twaweza via partners to changes reflected in media and trace changes backwards, to see links and synergies, or to search by sector, network or goal. We are aiming to develop a web interface that will communicate monitoring information and allow the public, external evaluators, and our partners and donors to input and access data, generate reports, thereby facilitating others to combine different sources, create new knowledge and share lessons.
View our Metric Framework here.
Partner Monitoring
The monitoring of outputs and outcomes of programs is carried out in cooperation between Program Officers, partners, independent research firms and the Learning Unit. These are the main steps:
- Twaweza’s monitoring system is based on a system of self-reporting by partners, where the Learning Unit provides tools and templates to Program Officers and assists them to formulate the reporting requirements and outcome indicators for partners in the contracts.
- The Monitoring Assistant compiles and triangulates the information from each partner’s reports and other sources in a database and identifies gaps or areas for further exploration.
- The next step is the formulation of a simple, individual partner monitoring plan, which contains suggestions for follow-up visits, telephone or email surveys or other methods.
- A small team within the Learning unit is developing a monitoring toolbox that contains templates, tools, modules and checklists for different types of partnerships. Criteria for deciding on extra monitoring activities are part of the Monitoring Strategy.
- Information from research reports, newspaper articles, radio & TV coverage, citizen monitoring per mobile phone and SMS, direct feedback and Twaweza’s immersions is used to build a complex and comprehensive picture of achievements and challenges for each partnership, as well as the larger eco-system.
See examples of our partner monitoring here.
Twaweza also provides support for partners’ own monitoring and learning, where a need and/or
an interest are identified.
Media monitoring
Twaweza uses media monitoring for two main purposes: to follow the reporting and public debate on areas of importance to Twaweza and its partners (education, water, health, citizen agency, governance etc.) and to document whenever media mentions Twaweza and its partners. At present this is undertaken internally by staff, but in the near future the systematic monitoring of print, radio, TV and web for relevant content will be outsourced.
The information collected is expected to be made available internally to staff as well as interested external parties through a database that is easily searchable. The information is expected to be of interest to partners, researchers, journalists, decision-makers, CSOs and donors.
