Monitoring and Evaluation for Safeguarding Managers Training Course

Course overview

Safeguarding managers need evidence that prevention, reporting, referral and response arrangements work in practice—not simply records showing that policies were issued or staff completed training. They must monitor whether communities know how to raise concerns, whether reporting channels are accessible and safe, whether cases are handled within agreed procedures, and whether patterns in data point to emerging risk. This requires careful measurement: poorly designed indicators, unsafe feedback processes or overly broad case-data access can undermine survivor safety, confidentiality and organisational trust.

This course equips participants to build and manage safeguarding monitoring and evaluation systems for development and humanitarian programmes. Participants define a safeguarding theory of change, develop indicator reference sheets, establish baselines and targets, design safe data-collection tools, and create disaggregated monitoring plans. They learn to analyse quantitative and qualitative evidence, use case trends without exposing personal information, assess reporting-channel effectiveness, and present findings through management dashboards and action trackers. The course addresses PSEA, child safeguarding and safeguarding risk monitoring across partners, projects and field locations.

Instructor-led sessions combine technical input with realistic programme scenarios, including inaccessible complaints mechanisms, delayed referrals and recurring misconduct risks. Participants work with KoboToolbox-style form designs, Microsoft Excel analysis templates and Power BI dashboard concepts while applying data minimisation, consent and access-control principles. By the final day, each participant produces a practical safeguarding M&E pack: a results framework, indicator reference sheet, data-flow map, reporting dashboard specification and 90-day implementation plan.

The course is designed for safeguarding managers and focal points who already coordinate safeguarding systems and need to make their assurance reporting more credible, actionable and safe. It is equally valuable for programme, MEAL and compliance professionals responsible for supplying evidence to safeguarding governance structures.

Course objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Develop a safeguarding theory of change linking prevention, reporting, response and learning activities to measurable results
• Construct safeguarding indicator reference sheets with definitions, disaggregation, data sources, frequency and responsible owners
• Design survivor-centred monitoring tools that apply informed consent, data minimisation and confidentiality controls
• Build a safeguarding M&E plan that integrates output, outcome, quality and risk indicators across programme locations
• Analyse anonymised case-management and complaints-channel trends without using case data as performance targets
• Assess accessibility and trust in reporting mechanisms through safe community-feedback and channel-effectiveness methods
• Create an Excel-based safeguarding dashboard and action tracker for senior management review
• Produce a 90-day safeguarding M&E implementation plan with governance, data-quality and escalation actions

Benefits of attending

Target competencies

Who should attend

• Safeguarding Managers — who need defensible evidence that safeguarding controls and reporting systems are functioning
• Safeguarding Focal Points — who collect assurance information across projects, offices or partner organisations
• PSEA Coordinators — who monitor prevention measures, reporting pathways and organisational compliance
• MEAL Managers — who must integrate safeguarding-sensitive indicators and data protocols into programme M&E systems
• Programme Managers — who need to act on safeguarding risks and assurance findings within delivery plans
• Compliance and Internal Audit Officers — who review safeguarding controls, evidence trails and corrective actions

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have practical experience of safeguarding, PSEA, child safeguarding, programme quality, MEAL or compliance work. They should understand basic concepts such as safeguarding risk, reporting pathways, confidentiality, informed consent, indicators and routine monitoring. Familiarity with Excel tables, filters and simple charts is expected; participants will work with templates rather than advanced statistical models or coding. A laptop with Microsoft Excel is strongly recommended for the dashboard exercises. Prior use of KoboToolbox or Power BI is helpful but not required. This is not a beginner introduction to safeguarding policy or case management.

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor-led briefings followed by applied workshops built around a humanitarian programme operating across multiple field sites. Participants critique existing safeguarding indicators, map data flows from community feedback to management action, and redesign unsafe collection practices. Small groups analyse anonymised case and channel-use datasets in Excel, draft KoboToolbox form questions, and translate findings into a Power BI-style dashboard specification. Facilitated peer review tests whether each design is survivor-centred, decision-useful and feasible. The final session converts learning into an individual 90-day implementation plan.

Course outline

Day 1: Safeguarding M&E foundations and results design

• Safeguarding assurance versus programme performance monitoring
• Survivor-centred principles for monitoring design
• Safeguarding theory of change and results pathways
• Output, outcome, quality and risk indicator distinctions
• PSEA, child safeguarding and adult safeguarding measurement boundaries
• Core Humanitarian Standard commitments and safeguarding evidence
• Stakeholder mapping for communities, partners and governance bodies

Workshop: Participants develop a safeguarding theory of change and draft a results chain for a multi-site humanitarian programme.

Day 2: Indicators, data collection and data protection

• Indicator selection criteria for safeguarding systems
• Indicator reference sheets and calculation protocols
• Disaggregation by age, gender, disability, location and channel
• Baseline, target and threshold setting without incentivising under-reporting
• KoboToolbox form design for safe feedback collection
• Informed consent, data minimisation and retention schedules
• Data-flow mapping, role-based access and confidentiality controls

Workshop: Participants create two indicator reference sheets, a safe community-feedback form and a safeguarding data-flow map.

Day 3: Monitoring reporting channels and response quality

• Reporting-channel accessibility and trust measurement
• Community consultation methods that do not solicit case disclosures
• Referral pathway functionality checks
• Service-provider mapping and survivor choice considerations
• Case-management data boundaries for safeguarding managers
• Timeliness, completeness and quality metrics for response systems
• Partner safeguarding monitoring and verification approaches

Workshop: Using a case study on low community trust, participants design a channel-effectiveness review and partner monitoring checklist.

Day 4: Analysis, dashboards and management action

• Data-quality assessment using completeness, validity and timeliness checks
• Anonymised trend analysis for allegations, concerns and referrals
• Interpreting increases in reporting without treating them as programme failure
• Microsoft Excel pivot tables and safeguarding summary tables
• Power BI dashboard measures and visual design principles
• Risk heat maps and safeguarding escalation thresholds
• Corrective-action trackers and management accountability

Workshop: Participants analyse an anonymised safeguarding dataset and produce a management dashboard outline with prioritised actions.

Day 5: Evaluation, learning and implementation planning

• Evaluation questions for safeguarding effectiveness
• Qualitative methods for assessing trust, inclusion and perceived safety
• Sampling approaches for safeguarding-sensitive inquiry
• Ethical review and do-no-harm protocols for evaluations
• Triangulating monitoring findings, feedback and audit evidence
• Learning loops from findings to policy and practice change
• Safeguarding M&E governance and 90-day implementation planning

Workshop: Participants assemble their safeguarding M&E pack and present a 90-day implementation plan for peer and instructor review.

Tools & standards covered

KoboToolbox, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Power BI, Core Humanitarian Standard

A typical training day

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in the East Africa Time zone, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

How you can take this course

Certification

Participants who complete the full five days receive the Skillset Development Certificate of Completion, stating the course title, course code, dates and delivery format — suitable for professional-development records and employer reimbursement.

Frequently asked questions