Sustain capacities built during pandemic
MONITORING and evaluation (M&E) is one of the key components of governance that has been tested during the Covid19 pandemic.
Since the outbreak of Covid-19, countries are experiencing losses in human life and economies are torn asunder.
As of November 6, 2020, South Africa’s Covid-19 cumulative infections surpassed 730 000 and over 19 000 people have lost their lives through the pandemic.
Gross domestic product fell by just over 16% between the first and second quarters of 2020 as a result of the lockdown, leading to an annual growth rate of -51%.
Life will never be the same – a “new normal” has been ushered.
Notwithstanding this reality, we do not have the luxury to ignore or miss lessons brought to our shores by the pandemic. The good news, though, is that as human beings respond to novel pandemics, new governance capacities are built and old capacities moulded. For example:
◆ The cholera pandemic of 18171823 highlighted the importance of proper modern sanitation.
◆ The Spanish Flu of 1918-1919 stressed the importance of research into outbreaks
◆ The “Hong Kong Flu” or H3N2 of 1968- 1970 highlighted the importance of vaccines in containing diseases.
◆ The Sars outbreak of 2002-2003 increased awareness about preventing viral disease transmission.
Unfortunately, the same capacities built during the pandemic “evaporate” post-pandemic.
“We learn from history that we do not learn from history,” German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel once noted. The critical question is: how do we sustain these capacities post-pandemic?
M&E is one of the key components of governance that has been tested during the Covid19 pandemic. M&E is an integral part informing decision-making and accountability in institutions. To postulate on the future of M&E, we ought to look at the manner in which Covid-19 is impacting the M&E space, and second, the capacities that have been built in response to the pandemic, and thus capacities that define the future of M&E.
The pre-Covid19 world has largely been characterised by public administration that was deeply rooted in compliance-driven culture, in which planning was another compliant exercise where few entities embarked on a serious reflective process inherently required in strategy development.
For most entities, strategy development was informed by baselines and adjustment of problematic indicators to the satisfaction of the regularity audit, at the expense of planning for impact.
Covid-19 is forcing entities to take stock and reflect carefully in the way entities develop business plans and strategies.
There is a possibility that Covid19 will be with us for the foreseeable future. While it is causing disturbances and loss of life, we must never forget that, as we devise and implement measures to cope with the pandemic, capacities are built.
The question is: how can we sustain these capacities such as agility in strategic management and embracing of technology and innovation in M&E in the post-Covid19 world?