This document provides a critique of current monitoring and evaluation (M&E) frameworks and approaches as experienced by women’s organizations and movements worldwide along with an analysis of a large number of M&E frameworks and tools.
Measurement has become such an integral part of our approach to the world that we no longer question its value or relevance. We assume that measurement is a good thing, something that enhances our ability to track change, growth, health, and success.
We examine these assumptions in the context of women’s rights, gender equality, and women’s empowerment work, where M&E approaches create particular kinds of challenges.
Part I of this document provides a broad overview of common challenges with monitoring and evaluation (M&E) and identifies feminist practices for engaging in M&E to strengthen organizational learning and more readily capture the complex changes that women’s empowerment and gender equality work seek.
Part II offers an analysis of a large number of M&E frameworks and tools, along with some of their strengths and weaknesses in assessing women’s rights and gender equality processes and impacts.