Monitoring and Evaluation in the NAP Process: Opportunities, challenges and emerging solutions

The document outlines the critical role of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) in the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) process, emphasizing that there is no "one-size-fits-all" approach. It identifies key opportunities, such as strengthening accountability and fostering cross-sectoral partnerships, alongside significant challenges including the lack of common metrics for success and inadequate technical capacity. To address these, the briefing proposes emerging solutions focused on stakeholder alignment, resource strengthening, and improving data quality, such as using sex-disaggregated data and leveraging Information and Communication Technologies for data collection.

• M&E in the NAP process is transitioning toward a deeper technical level, driven by a greater awareness of the complexity of measuring adaptation and a clearer understanding of the human, technical, and financial resources required to sustain these systems.
• Developing countries face several systemic challenges in M&E, most notably the absence of a common metric to determine success across different scales, the long timescales of climate change impacts, and the difficulty of securing long-term political commitment beyond the initial design phase.
• M&E systems offer opportunities to improve governance and efficiency, including the use of M&E as a tool for adaptive management, the creation of a "business case" for adaptation by gathering evidence on cost savings, and the alignment of national processes with international commitments like the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
• Emerging solutions to M&E challenges include the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) such as mobile phones for data collection, the implementation of gender-responsive systems using sex-disaggregated data, and the adoption of a prioritization process to start with a small set of indicators that expand over time.
• Country-specific examples demonstrate different integration strategies: South Africa focused on synergies between M&E frameworks and the NDC and SDGs; Morocco integrated adaptation monitoring into an existing system for cost-efficiency; and Kenya linked its system with existing national M&E structures and ministerial data.

APA

Ospina, A. V. (2018). Monitoring and Evaluation in the NAP Process: Opportunities, challenges and emerging solutions. NAP Global Network. https://napglobalnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/napgn-en-2018-snapshot-monitoring-and-evaluation-in-the-nap-process-opportunities-challenges-and-emerging-solutions.pdf

Chicago

Ospina, Angélica V. Monitoring and Evaluation in the NAP Process: Opportunities, challenges and emerging solutions. NAP Global Network, 2018. https://napglobalnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/napgn-en-2018-snapshot-monitoring-and-evaluation-in-the-nap-process-opportunities-challenges-and-emerging-solutions.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Ospina |first1=Angélica V. |title=Monitoring and Evaluation in the NAP Process: Opportunities, challenges and emerging solutions |publisher=NAP Global Network |date=February 2018 |url=https://napglobalnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/napgn-en-2018-snapshot-monitoring-and-evaluation-in-the-nap-process-opportunities-challenges-and-emerging-solutions.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{ospina2018monitoring, author = {Ospina, Angélica V.}, title = {{Monitoring and Evaluation in the NAP Process: Opportunities, challenges and emerging solutions}}, institution = {NAP Global Network}, year = {2018}, month = feb, url = {https://napglobalnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/napgn-en-2018-snapshot-monitoring-and-evaluation-in-the-nap-process-opportunities-challenges-and-emerging-solutions.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }