This post is also available in: Arabic
The risks associated with development projects often fall disproportionately on the communities in close proximity to project implementation sites, communities that in some cases are the same groups that projects aim to benefit and serve. These local communities are uniquely placed to see and feel project risks and impacts on a day to day basis, and to monitor and report on project implementation more closely and regularly than is possible for development implementers and financiers. Communities organizing themselves to conduct local monitoring can therefore benefit both community members who wish to see projects implemented in a safe and beneficial way, as well as project implementers and financiers, who wish to see projects implemented efficiently and according to design.
Local monitoring mechanisms have the potential to ensure the effective implementation of different risk mitigation programs; in addition to strengthening the capacity of project-affected communities to effectively participate, monitor and report on, and advocate for timely project adjustments before things go wrong.
The Bank Information Center has developed a manual for local monitoring that presents a process and tools for communities to set up their own local monitoring mechanisms. This manual is designed to be used by communities and community organizations who wish to monitor the implementation of development projects that have the potential to impact or benefit them. The manual addresses such questions as:
- What is local monitoring?
- How can we gather information about a project given the particular phase in the project cycle?
- How can we best learn about and make use of the available legal and policy frameworks at the national and international level?
- How can we set up a monitoring system that can engage project stakeholders and responsible parties?
- How can we identify indicators that can be easily monitored and documented on a regular basis?
- How can we “close the feedback loop”on monitoring by identifying and negotiating with the government and financial institutions who receive and process local monitoring reports?
The manual is currently available in Arabic, and an English version is forthcoming.
Read, download, and share the manual here:
For the good of all: A community guide to monitoring development projects, Bank Information Center, 2016 (Arabic)