As part of its M&E Boot Camp series, CERP Executive Education launched its first course on Monitoring and Evaluation this week.
More than 35 young professionals from diverse backgrounds and countries (Germany, USA, France, and Pakistan) joined to immerse themselves in 4 days of M&E learning and development.
This boot camp is taught by leading M&E experts with the goal of strengthening participants’ technical skills in monitoring and evaluation. It also allows participants to move forward in their careers in the development sector and network with like-minded peers.

On Day 1 of the Monitoring and Evaluation course, Adeel Shafqat, Director of Precision Development (PxD) at CERP, discussed key concepts in M&E and their importance for project outcomes and impact. During the second session, Maleeha Hameed, Programme Manager at CERP walked the professionals through the Theory of Change and how to effectively plan and evaluate programmes for social change.

The Day 2 of the Monitoring and Evaluation course revolved around discussing the core concepts on Sampling Design by Roohullah Gulzari, PhD candidate at Harvard University. The session elaborated on the fundamentals of sampling along with different types of sampling methods and its implications.
Following this, Huzaifa A., Vice President Economic Advisory Practice at EY, presented a session on Quantitative Data Collection. The last session of the day was delivered by Dr. Danish Khan, Assistant Professor at Franklin and Marshall College on Qualitative Data Collection.
As part of their learning process each session included a different case study assignment to aid participants in understanding the key concepts covered in the training.

Day 3 of the Monitoring and Evaluation course by Executive Education at CERP started with an interactive session on Indicator Management followed by an engaging discussion on Measuring Impact, Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Methods by Roohullah Gulzari, PhD candidate at Harvard University. The last session of the day was delivered by Dr Muhammad Salar Khan, Don E. Kash Postdoctoral Fellow, Science and Tech Policy, George Mason University, on Non-Experimental Design.
The sessions on third day of the M&E course, focused on enabling participants understand evaluation based on case studies. For active learning and to make the discussions more engaging, different group activities were conducted. Participants were able to share their knowledge, experiences and challenges in the field during project implementation.

On Day 4 of the M&E course, Minahil Niazi, Advisor – Global Health Agencies & Funds, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, conducted a session on how to evaluate complex programmes that have a number of projects and a wider scope. Minahil continued to discuss how to present the results in an optimised and effective way. The last session of the course was delivered by Tanya Javed, Livelihoods and Economic Empowerment Advisor, Save the Children Canada, on Ethics in Evaluation. The discussion focused on ensuring that the projects are designed in a manner that respect the rights of participants and minimise any potential for harm.