The Zambia Monitoring and Evaluation Association recently convened its highly anticipated Symposium and General Meeting, an event that enabled M&E professionals to exchange and highlight the role and value of M&E practices in various sectors in Zambia.

The event, which attracted participation from numerous organisations, served as a platform for #stakeholders to delve into the intricacies of M&E methodologies, needs, standards, and expectations.

The Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ) Director of Monitoring and Evaluation, Dr Theodora Savory, highlighted during her presentation the significant strides made by CIDRZ in M&E efforts, emphasising the closer collaboration with CIDRZ and the Ministry of Health (MoH). In her presentation, she discussed the evolution of M&E and the promising future with current advancements in technologies like machine learning.

She noted that increased advocacy for greater funding allocation towards M&E activities for MOH is critical. The importance of increased resourcing to M&E would provide an accurate picture of performance and enhance strategies for effective data-driven HIV prevention and treatment implementations. She highlighted the importance of closer partnerships and collaborations with all levels of the MoH, which, in CIDRZ’s experience, has resulted in increased healthcare worker skills and strengthened implementations of M&E best practices.

Dr. Savory underscored the importance of improved data quality, with the adoption of digital data collection tools as one of the key drivers for continued data quality improvement. This has had the effect of timely, accurate, and complete reporting, facilitating data-driven decision-making for program improvement. 

“Moreover, the automation of manual processes, including data visualisation, has not only increased efficiency but has also allowed, through increased data use, the attainment of set targets and improved trends and outcomes,” she said.

Dr Savory added that CIDRZ’s ability to provide epidemiological insights based on comprehensive data analysis has further strengthened the impact of M&E efforts.