Introduction and background
Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) of HIV and AIDS programmes is critical in today’s environment of heavily donor-funded projects and other reporting requirements. M&E is an essential field of its own necessary to monitor and shape the direction of national responses to the epidemic, as a tool for resource mobilisation and as a guide to resource allocation. The processes involved in developing M&E for national and other programmes can also be very important, in terms of empowering and mobilising diverse stakeholders, a means of forging a common national vision and a renewed effort to tackle the many complex challenges associated with HIV and AIDS.

However, M&E of HIV and AIDS programmes and activities have tended to be characterised by certain limitations:

• Lack of uniformity in approaches, tools and methods used in developing M&E frameworks;
• Lack of standardised, on-going skill-building for M&E professionals;
• M&E plans not adequately costed or budgeted.

There are many efforts underway to improve the quality of M&E, including the World Bank GAMET (Global AIDS Monitoring and Evaluation Team) and UNAIDS. These two agencies work together to standardise M&E processes and offer a variety of tools and frameworks.

In addition to this, the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria (GF) in collaboration with mulit- and bi-lateral development partners, have developed some standard indicators and tools for use in developing, reporting and monitoring GF grants. Since the majority of countries in the developing world have access to GF grants, we felt it would be useful to build upon this experience in shaping and standardising M&E.

In terms of research, Family Health International (FHI), a US-based international NGO, has developed a wealth of information in M&E and behavioural study protocols. The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the World Health Organization also jointly develops guides on research protocol development specific to HIV and AIDS.

Drawing heavily on UNAIDS, World Bank/GAMET, GF, FHI and other materials, TSF Southern Africa has put together this resource pack on M&E of HIV and AIDS programmes to orientate and assist consultants working in this area.

TSF resource pack

TSF Southern Africa is committed to developing the capacity of regional and national consultants. We have identified two areas where greater capacity is required to service regional needs, namely:

• Expanding the knowledge and use of standardised M&E frameworks and tools
• Establishing uniformity in consultant approaches to developing M&E systems.

The resource pack is part of the TSF Southern Africa professional development programme for consultants. It contains essential background documentation and useful tools for consultants contracted to work on national strategies in the Southern Africa region.

Using the resource pack

TSF consultants working on national strategies are expected to be familiar with the contents of this resource pack—the materials provide useful background information, examples, tools, and ideas that can be applied or adapted to meet the specific needs and circumstances of the assignment.
Please note that the pack does not cover an exhaustive list of indicators, tools or frameworks, and much information regarding research has been omitted. Consultants can refer to the list of additional websites for more information on these areas.

Guide to the resource pack

This guide is written to provide consultants with an overview of the materials in the resource pack. The pack is organised into two folders:

• Folder 1 – M&E of national systems. This folder has four sub-sections dealing with the following topics:
  1A) Guidelines on M&E of national systems – this section offers guides and manuals on why and how to set up M&E systems;
  1B) Indicators – this section offers the top two manuals used in the industry today for developing  indicators of HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria programmes;
  1C) Global Fund M&E – this section provides basic M&E guidelines for GF projects as well as a new M&E system strengthening tool; and
  1D) Quick Related Resources – this section lists helpful websites for additional information on M&E.
  
  
• Folder 2 – Most-needed M&E templates offers a variety of templates to use in drafting M&E plans, report formats, logical frameworks, indicators, work plans, etc.

Although many of the resources listed here are geared towards national M&E systems, the concepts and tools can be applied in the development of M&E systems at individual programme level or within specific sectors.

The tables provide a description of the individual resources to be found in each folder.

Acknowledgements

TSF Southern Africa would like to acknowledge the World Health Organization, UNAIDS, the World Bank, Family Health International, the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria and HDA for use of its resources.