Monitoring and Learning

What is our approach?

Our decision-making is informed by regular monitoring and evaluation of our programmes.

To measure the collective achievements of its programmes, the EUTF for Africa has developed an innovative and reactive Monitoring system which provides results for ongoing programmes and measures progress at regional level.

Through a set of indicators, the reports measure precisely the progress achieved against the EUTF strategic objectives and regional priorities, by country and thematic. It therefore allows stakeholders to learn collectively from its results.

The MLS complements the monitoring frameworks for each projects as well as the regular tools used by the European Commission such as Results-Oriented missions (ROM) detailed below. Ultimately, it enhances the transparency, flexibility and speed of EUTF activities.

The evidence gathered through these processes allows us to best steer our actions on the ground and identify where we should focus our efforts, which target groups should be prioritised, and which approaches work best. We do this to ensure maximum transparency and accountability on all our actions.

Monitoring and evaluation are conducted at three levels: at the level of each project, of each region, and of the EU Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF for Africa) as a whole.

To consult evaluations conducted in the EUTF, please visit this page.

At the level of each project

We continue to use EU best practices, resources, and tools to monitor and evaluate our actions. Each project has a specific budget set aside for continuous monitoring and evaluation, by implementing partners and EU Delegations (internally), and by independent experts (externally.)

To ensure transparency, we use the publicly available Akvo Really Simple Reporting platform to present, on a regular basis, the expected and actual results of our projects according to each action's specific indicators.

The EU Results-Oriented Monitoring (ROM) system is another important tool. It consists of short visits by independent experts who assess the relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, potential impact, and sustainability of each project. Most interventions under the EUTF for Africa will receive ROM missions. As of July 2023, 208 EUTF for Africa projects covering all three regions of the EUTF for Africa were selected for ROM reviews.

In parallel, mid-term and/or final evaluations of projects are undertaken to offer further guidance and to capitalise on lessons learnt and best practices.

At the level of each region

Beyond programme-specific monitoring and evaluation, we also aim to capture information demonstrating whether priorities identified at the level of each region are being properly addressed. Considering the distinctive remit and innovative approach of the EUTF for Africa, it is also crucial that our actions quickly assimilate lessons learnt, and share best practices.

• Monitoring Reports

To consult Horn of Africa's monitoring reports prior 2021, please visit our library page.

• Infographics by Strategic Objective

• Studies

• Horn of Africa monitoring and learning system

For more information, consult the monitoring and learning system for the EUTF Horn of Africa region.

• Monitoring Reports

To consult Sahel and Lake Chad's monitoring reports prior 2021, please visit our library page.

• Infographics by Strategic Objective

• Studies

• Sahel and Lake Chad monitoring and learning system

For more information, consult the monitoring and learning system for the EUTF Sahel and Lake Chad region.

• Monitoring Reports

To consult North of Africa's monitoring report prior 2021, please consult our library page

• North of Africa monitoring and learning system

For more information, consult the monitoring and learning system for the EUTF North of Africa region.

At the level of the EUTF for Africa

The European Commission produced a mid-term review report of the EUTF for Africa, to identify key lessons and provide recommendations that will inform future choices concerning EU strategic approaches to: (i) support all aspects of stability; (ii) contribute to better migration management; and (iii) address root causes of instability, forced displacement and irregular migration.

EUTF for Africa mid-term review:

Final Report  Summary  Annexes

Responses of the Services (Dec 2020) 

Responses of the Services - Follow-up (May 2023)

The Learning Lessons from the EUTF exercise was initiated at the end of June 2019 as an informal reflection on what could be learned from the implementation of the EUTF on the topic of migration and forced displacement. The second phase of the Learning Lessons from the EUTF exercise, which lasted from June 2020 to February 2021 pursued the following objectives: pave the way for a post-2020 strategy on migration, mobility and forced displacement; update the EUTF portfolio assessment and contextual data; further analyse the eight thematic areas identified and deliver an updated Learning Lessons from the EUTF report to support future programming.

Learning Lessons from the EUTF:

Full Report Executive Summary

To measure the collective achievements of our programmes, we have developed an EUTF Results Framework, constructed around our four strategic priorities. Each priority area is broken down into expected results and each result is measured by a set of indicators. EUTF Results Framework common macro indicators are necessary to measure progress against these objectives. A list of common output indicators has been established List of revised indicators - EN

French translation here:

FR translation

All projects report on these indicators where relevant in order to aggregate results at country, regional, and EUTF level. They are reflected on the website with results collected for all programmes on the basis of information provided by implementing partners. The Results Framework allows us to measure the collective achievements of the EUTF for Africa as a whole. For a more comprehensive view of the outcomes and impact of our programmes in the long term, we will continue to revert to the monitoring and evaluation processes outlined above.

To go further, please read our vulgarisation notes on the work and progress that had been done so far in terms of monitoring outcomes and high level indicator.

Risk Register

In February 2019, the three windows elaborated a common EUTF for Africa Risk Register