The function of the Monitoring and Evaluation Unit is to monitor government policy's and program implementations and evaluate the impact of policies and programs.
The government recognises the importance of Monitoring and Evaluation practice, and has developed the National Monitoring and Evaluation Policy to set out the commitment of the government, spearheaded by the Ministry for the Prime Minister:
- To promote accountability for the achievement of policies and program objectives through the assessment of results and effectiveness at different levels;
- To promote knowledge sharing and learning from results within and among ministries and departments, as a basis for decision making on policies, strategies, program management, and projects in order to improve efficiency, effectiveness and resilience of service delivery;
- To establish common structures, standards and requirements for effective Monitoring and Evaluation and a government wide M&E system that aligns reporting on all government programmes including the reporting on the implementation of Vanuatu 2030, the National Sustainable Development Plan. This includes and is not limited to;
- all Government Ministries, all Local authorities, Government statutory bodies, and the Commercial Government Business Enterprises. To this extent, legislative amendments will be made where necessary to harness and effect the requirements of this policy;
- To have well-resourced M&E capabilities responsible for the Monitoring, Evaluations of all government policies, programs and national research, and to build capacity of M&E officers across government and all its agencies. The government takes into account here the limitations of the existing capacity within the M&E Unit and the positioning within DSPPAC;
- To ensure that all information gathered through the M&E of government programs, policies and projects complies with sound ethics that considers all sensitivities and respects culture of Vanuatu; To ensure standard definitions and contextual usage of key M&E terms, as referenced in the policy document