Community Participation in Monitoring Evaluation and Project Sustainability in Rwanda

Abstract

Monitoring and evaluation enhance the sustainability of various projects. The participation of community in such monitory and evaluation plays a significant role.  The purpose of this paper sought to evaluate the impact of community participation on project sustainability in Gakenke District in Rwanda. This paper employed descriptive research design. The target population was 244 people corresponding to the sample size of 151 respondents. Questionnaire and documentation review were used as data collection instruments. The quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings revealed there is strength of the relationship of the variable in the model and magnitude with which it impacts the dependent variable. The model summary analyzing the impact of project objective development on project sustainability showed an R square of 0.976, suggesting that about 97.6% of the project sustainability's variance can be explained by beneficiaries' participation, activities identification, and understanding project objectives. In the model evaluating the influence of the project design system on project sustainability, the R square was 0.111, indicating that roughly 11.1% of the variability in project sustainability could be attributed to these factors. The model assessing the effect of the reporting system on project sustainability had an R square of 0.074, suggesting that these variables account for approximately 7.4% of the variation in project sustainability. The study concludes that project monitoring and evaluation is a necessary tool for long term sustainability so that the institutions supported through projects and the benefits realized are maintained and continue after the end of the project. The study recommends that All institutions, both private and public, including for profit organizations, NGOs and international organizations should involve their beneficiaries’ participation and even the employees in M&E because it is believed that participation would lead to empowerment through capacity building, skills and training. projects which in turn contribute to the broader notion of sustainable national development. Clear system design and detailed activities identification should be implemented to ensure a roadmap to positive results and prevent ambiguity. Further, increasing beneficiaries' involvement and improving the quality and frequency of result reporting could improve project performance. In addition, robust monitoring and evaluation mechanisms should be established to enable learning, data-driven decision making, and improved project performance Keywords: Project monitoring and evaluation, community, project sustainability and community participation.