Pocket Guide to Sustainable Project M&E

(Ketiboa Blay, September 29, 2017)

This guide is based on the following four principles:

1. That there is development only when there is a change for the better.

2. Development must not come merely in structures, but must also be seen to benefit the larger society, and not at the destructive expense of project impacted people.

3. Sustainable development means bringing about change for the better without completely destroying the resource base for posterity.

4. To achieve sustainable development there must necessarily be sustainable project monitoring and evaluation.

Sustainable project M&E (which should be part of a project design) stems from and depends meticulously on step‐by‐step key environmental and social protection demands on the project sponsor or owner or both as following:

I. Do your environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) with competent and comprehensive baseline studies and check the results with the project design. Three important sub‐steps are involved:

1) Scoping for issues overview and for initial permitting

2) Consultations (technical and social) on, and for the intended baseline studies

3) Preliminary review of project construction and operational activities

II. Generate your environmental and social impact statement (ESIS)

III. Develop your environmental and social management plan (ESMP)

IV. Develop your ESMP implementation schedule (IS)

V. Your IS need to encompass:

a. Project activity

b. Potential impact

c. Location of impact

d. Proposed mitigation

e. Net effect (of both impact and mitigation)

f. Monitoring and evaluation of IS

VI. Check predictions, actual and unforeseen issues and recommend remedial actions.

Ketiboa Blay is a socioeconomic development management specialist with outstanding expertise in baseline research; community needs assessment, community development planning; and projects, programmes and policy technical review and evaluation. He has considerable expertise also in conflict management. As a non‐denominational Christian evangelist, Mr Blay is also a peace‐builder