Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) are key management functions of an organization. Together, they serve to support informed decisions, the best use of resources, and an objective assessment of the extent to which an organization’s services and other activities have led to a desired result.

To make informed decisions, health care managers need an M&E system that yields reliable information about such factors as:

• the health needs of the people in their catchment area—the area from which clients are drawn to receive services;
• the priorities of the country, province, district, and communities they serve;
• the quality and coverage of the services they offer;
• the resources they have used and resources still available;
• progress in the implementation of their activities.

The M&E Toolkit is a collection of resources intended for use by project managers and M&E practitioners working in public health. The toolkit is categorized according to the basic M&E project cycle that many organizations use and follow. The cycle includes the following stages: 

• needs assessment/situation analysis; 
• program planning; 
• designing an M&E plan; 
• baseline and follow-up evaluations; 
• implementation and monitoring; 
• lesson learned (which closes the cycle).

This cycle reminds the toolkit user that M&E starts at project design with a situation analysis. These findings are used to inform such aspects as the project design/strategy development, development of the M&E plan, and completion of the baseline study. Each tab in the toolkit corresponds to a stage in the M&E cycle and includes proven M&E tools and resources that can be used.