DAVAO CITY – The Special Development Fund – Project Management Office (SDF-PMO) of the Bangsamoro Government successfully conducted the training-workshop on monitoring and evaluation (M&E) and geotagging for its personnel and regional focal persons from various implementing agencies of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) held on November 22-25 at Seda Hotel, Davao City.
Rohanisah N. Rashid, SDF-PMO Operations Unit Head and Chief of BPDA’s Economic Planning Division, said this activity aims to provide technical know-how and appreciation on monitoring and evaluation (M&E) and geotagging practices, as well as its contribution to open governance by promoting transparency and accountability in M&E.
Rashid also explained the purpose to institutionalize the process of geotagging in the region, saying “We want to instill awareness with regards to monitoring and evaluation, most especially in appreciating geotagging as an innovative tool for monitoring the programs and projects supported by the SDF. These are the reasons why we are conducting this training, so you will learn the process from installation to its usage.”
The four-day workshop tackled the topics on monitoring and evaluation including its guiding principles and project life cycle, results-based project management, theory of change, project analysis, operational guidelines and best practices of the Regional Project Monitoring and Evaluation System (RPMES), contract implementation guidelines for the procurement of infrastructure projects, concept and benefits of geotagging, and levelling off on the SDF PMO monitoring and reporting templates.
In his message via Zoom, Engr. Mohajirin T. Ali, SDF-PMO Project Manager and BPDA Director General, assured the participants that said training was designed to ensure that each session presents an opportunity for all the participants to learn from each other’s experiences and situate their practice and roles against the context of a larger M&E.
“We are doing these efforts to institutionalize M&E and its link to programming and budgeting of programs and projects in the BARMM,” he stressed.
Furthermore, Abdulrahman A. Kara, resource person who is a Planning Development Officer III from the Ministry of Interior and Local Government (MILG), underscored the importance of monitoring in the execution of programs and projects.
“Monitoring and evaluation keeps the implementation on track to our desired output based on its plan. Having a strong system in place; from policy, planning, programming, and implementation will manifest quality programs and projects,” he emphasized.
During the participants’ application of basic knowledge on geotagging in a field exercise, Kara explained that geotagging and database system provides better project management and implementation and will minimize fraud and duplication of projects.
Abdulnasser S. Nur, SDF focal person from the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs (MIPA), expressed his appreciation for his experience during the said activity.
“Actually, malaking tulong po ‘yon sa akin, sa amin. Simplified approach s’ya kasi pwede sa non-engineers or non-ITs ang line of work niya. Sa field activity, madali lang naman pala. Kailangan lang, you have the right tools, makinig at sundin ang tamang proseso,” he said.
Being the project manager of the SDF-PMO, Engr. Ali further emphasized the Bangsamoro government’s recognition on the role of the civil society organizations, academe, businesses, and development partners in advocating for equity-focused and gender-responsive evaluation systems, providing capacity building and technical assistance, and in public reporting and dissemination of M&E information to civil society.
“The seamless collaboration among these different actors is facilitated by enablers such as open data policies and practices, and innovations and technology that create platforms for a wide range of collaborative arrangements,” Ali ended.
Moreover, SDF-PMO spearheads the preparation, consolidation, packaging and approval of programs, projects and activities (PPAs), and oversees and monitors the day-to-day implementation of PPAs. (BPDA-BARMM)
