The Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP) is Uganda’s overarching plan for poverty eradication. The PEAP, from its original formulation in 1997 and through to its second revision, builds on wide consultations between Government, civil society and external donor partners. As such, it serves as a consensus-building process for expression of national development aspirations – and for prioritization of needs. It therefore also guides the planning and management of Government of Uganda’s (GoU) operational activities for national development and for attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Further in the new multi-party political dispensation, the ruling party’s Manifesto articulates the roadmap for delivering significant and noticeable improvements of services to the citizens during its tenure of office. There is therefore a need to translate the Manifesto commitments into the PEAP Results and Policy Matrix.

The objective of Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) is to enable Government to make decisions that will keep the implementation of the PEAP on track. M&E derives its value from the flow of relevant information to decision makers, who can then make informed decisions on whether modifications to policies and spending programmes are necessary. M&E functions well when managers at different levels of the public management system, as well as users of public services, are provided with reliable facts and analysis as a basis for public action. An important role of M&E is to keep other stakeholders besides the executive branch of Government (i.e. the legislature, civil society organisations and the public at large, as well as development partners) informed about progress being made in implementing the PEAP – thereby enabling them to offer informed advice to decision makers and, where appropriate, to modify their own policies and programmes accordingly.