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Results-Oriented Monitoring of EC-sponsored development interventions

Results-Oriented Monitoring (ROM) provides external, objective and impartial feedback on the performance of development interventions (projects and programmes) sponsored by the European Commission (EC) as part of the EC’s commitment to quality assurance.

Typically, ROM teams conduct on-site visits lasting no more than one week per intervention to be monitored. Monitors score EC-sponsored interventions (in most cases on-going) against the OECD evaluation criteria of relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, impact and sustainability. Ratings are substantiated by concise explanatory texts.

The ROM reporting toolbox comprises five elements i.e. standardized templates: A project synopsis, a background conclusion sheet, a monitoring report, monitoring notes and a response sheet. The reports are made available to the responsible project / programme and EU delegation staff.

During the period 2000-2010, IPA Cologne participated in team leader and monitor roles supporting ROM missions to the following EC partner countries: Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, China, Comoros, DR Congo, Fiji, Gabon, Guinea, Namibia, Niger, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Zambia.

The results of ROM missions are used not only at the individual intervention level. They can also feed into the EC's medium-term programming exercises, as was the case, for example, in the IPA-supported country-level evaluation of EC support to Georgia during the period 2002-2006.