Almost every development project involves a monitoring and evaluation focal point, tasked with the collection and reporting of data set by donors and partners. These processes are critical in helping to assess stakeholder engagement, evaluate the success of projects and interventions, and shape future budgetary and programming decisions. Particularly in health work, there is a demand for M&E professionals for both home office and field positions.
M&E tools designed for the global development #
ActivityInfo
ActivityInfo has been used to support cluster management, care management, and interagency coordination with staff working on projects in locations such as Iraq, Mali, Lebanon, Somalia, Yemen, the Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Other locations where ActivityInfo has been used include the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is meant to assist efforts being made in the areas of education, health, nonfood goods, protection, housing, water and sanitation, and so on.
Used by: United Nations agencies, NGOs working in humanitarian operations
CommCare
Users are able to construct applications more rapidly and without the need for coding when using drag-and-drop tools. After that, they are able to gather data even when they are offline, utilise case management systems that have built-in decision assistance and alerts, and integrate data from numerous forms in order to eliminate mistakes caused by duplication and monitor the performance of their staff. Users are able to quickly gather data, display that data, and identify patterns thanks to reporting tools. Among the other features is a tracking system for the performance of the personnel.
CommCare has been used in many health care initiatives, including those aimed at children under the age of five in Burkina Faso, the delivery of agricultural training, and the assistance of campaigns aimed at preventing malaria across Africa.
Used by: Catholic Relief Services, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
DevResults
Users are able to get a bird’s-eye perspective of the geographical context of their applications thanks to the interactive map capabilities included in the DevResults software. These map elements contain built-in information about the country’s administrative borders. Users have the ability to personalise the data disaggregation, establish performance indicators, and build up the results framework for the programme. Additional capabilities, such as picture galleries, work plans, and tools for managing budgets, facilitate collaborative work and administration of projects.
Used by: USAID
Granity
The planning and reporting procedures for charities and social businesses are some of the areas that may get assistance from Grantity. Users have the ability to produce automatic reports, as well as build checklists and surveys for use in performing common activities and processes. In addition, Granity is able to help development workers in the field by working on mobile data collecting and online data storage.
KoBoToolbox
KoBoToolbox can gather data both online and offline, as well as via mobile devices. It was designed specifically for data collecting in “demanding scenarios.” Forms may be made using it, projects can be shared with coworkers, and summary reports complete with graphs and tables can be generated with it. It is used by humanitarian groups, researchers, and assistance workers. Users are also given the ability to view gathered data on a map using features such as heatmaps or clustering, as well as the capability to disaggregate data in reports and maps according to gender, region, or education level.
LogAlto
Users of this programme are given the ability to construct logical frameworks, monitor indications, gather project-specific data, and submit that data. Users are able to get live information and even construct their own tables and charts. Also, the programme may be used in an offline mode and can be accessed via a mobile app in order to create customised forms. ACTED.
Magpi
Magpi was at first designed to assist in vaccination campaigns for children all over the globe; however, its applications have now expanded to include health education, reaction to outbreaks, programme coordination, monitoring, and evaluation. It offers solutions for mobile data collecting, mobile communications, and mobile visualisation. It contains specialised tools that help with things like registering beneficiaries, collecting data by phone, mobile, and SMS, conducting conference polls, issuing emergency warnings, and integrating data.
The software has been utilised to keep an eye on humanitarian efforts in Syria, enhance polio prevention efforts in Nigeria, monitor the development of electoral processes in Tanzania, track the number of newborn deaths in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and improve communication with farmers in Chile. Used by: U.N. Population Fund, UNICEF
Mobenzi
Mobenzi’s features assist M&E professionals in the creation of forms for mobile data collecting, which can subsequently be used to provide data insights in the form of charts and maps. These features were designed to assist frontline employees who operate in the field. Management of field workers and reporting on their performance are also supported by other capabilities. Teams of primary health workers, as well as those working on education and early children development, as well as those doing field research, have made use of Mobenzi.
Used by: World Vision, Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam
Open Data Kit
Software that is free to use and open source for “resource-constrained contexts,” which allows for the collection, management, and use of data. The Open Data Kit has been used in the tracking of disease epidemics, the observation of elections, and the monitoring of rainforests.
Used by: World Health Organization, Red Cross
Survey CTO
Users are able to capture data using mobile phones or tablets, and then quickly retrieve it. This functionality is designed for professionals and researchers who operate in offline environments. There are tools available to assist users in designing and testing forms, monitoring the quality of incoming data, and visualising the data as it is being received.
Survey CTO has been used in vital medicine programmes in Uganda, as well as WASH initiatives in West Africa, health and public policy assessments in Kenya, HIV research in Rwanda, newborn and child health programmes in Ghana, and other countries in Africa.
Used by: Innovations for Poverty Action, World Bank
TolaData
TolaData was developed specifically for organisations that are working to make a positive impact in the world. Its primary goals are to make it easier for these organisations to collect and manage real-time data, to monitor their progress with the help of a results framework and an indicator plan, and to distribute data visualisations via dashboards.
Used by: Norwegian Mission Alliance
Tools designed for all sectors #
According to M&E specialists, the industry in which you operate will largely determine the software applications available to you. “Those individuals who are working on topics related to agriculture, economics, public policy, and governance.
SAS
SAS offers solutions for advanced analytics and data management, including as tools for data integration and access, data preparation, data governance, data mining, forecasting, statistical analysis, and text analysis. SAS also delivers solutions for advanced analytics and data management.
Used by: World Wildlife Fund, International Organization for Migration
STATA
STATA is software for data science that is aimed to serve professionals working in a variety of fields, including economics, education, medical research, political science, public health, public policy, as well as finance, business, and marketing. STATA provides a variety of techniques for conducting surveys, as well as tests and predictions, methods for resampling and simulation, features for data management, and several ways for conducting analyses, including as cluster, Bayesian, and survival analysis.
SPSS
Statistical Package for Social Sciences was originally introduced to the public in 1968, and IBM eventually purchased the software in 2009. Users using SPSS have the ability to conduct descriptive statistics, as well as regression and advanced statistical analyses. After that, they are able to visualise the outcomes by constructing charts and tables, in addition to decision trees.
Tools designed for a specific sector #
DHIS2
District Health Information Software is a free and open-source health management data platform that is presently being used in 60 different nations. It was developed with the specific goal of catering to professionals working in the health industry. This programme is used to assist several health-related tasks, such as the monitoring of patient health, the improvement of disease surveillance and the localization of outbreaks, and the acceleration of data access for the health sector. When it comes to statistical data collection, validation, analysis, management, and visualisation, DHIS2 might be of assistance to those working in the health care industry.
Used by: European Union, NGOs, governments
Nvivo
This programme was developed specifically for the purpose of analysing qualitative data as well as mixed techniques data. When it comes to managing qualitative data, Nvivo was highly recommended by the four M&E experts that Devex consulted. The most prevalent users are academics and researchers, who utilise it for a variety of purposes including study on public health. It is possible to import data from almost any source, including text, audio, video, emails, photos, spreadsheets, online surveys, social media information, and website content. This time-consuming aspect of the research process may be sped up with the assistance of an automated transcribing tool, which is available in addition to tools for querying and visualising data.
