NGO Public Health Monitoring and Evaluation Training Course

Course overview

NGO public health programmes are expected to show more than activity counts. Donors, ministries of health and community partners need credible evidence that outreach, service-delivery and behaviour-change interventions are reaching intended populations and contributing to measurable health outcomes. Staff often inherit indicator sets, reporting templates and routine data systems that do not align, making it difficult to identify data-quality problems, explain performance variance or produce decision-ready reports.

This course builds practical monitoring and evaluation capability for public health projects, from theory of change and logframe design through indicator reference sheets, sampling, data collection, routine data quality assessment and evaluation planning. Participants learn to distinguish outputs, outcomes and impact; formulate SMART indicators with numerator, denominator, disaggregation and data-source definitions; build monitoring plans; analyse coverage and trend data in Excel; and apply OECD DAC evaluation criteria to public health interventions. The course addresses common NGO settings including maternal and child health, immunisation, nutrition, WASH, HIV, TB and community health programmes.

Instructor-led sessions are paired with a five-day public health programme case study. Participants work with a realistic results framework, KoboToolbox-style survey data and DHIS2-style routine reporting extracts to investigate weak performance, assess data quality and communicate findings. Each participant leaves with a completed M&E package: a theory of change, indicator performance-tracking table, data collection and quality-assurance plan, analysis workbook and concise donor-facing learning brief tailored to a current or planned programme.

The programme is designed for practitioners who already contribute to NGO health projects and need to take greater responsibility for evidence, reporting, adaptive management or evaluation commissioning. It is equally useful for managers approving M&E plans who need to challenge indicators, resource data systems and act on findings with confidence.

Course objectives

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

• Construct a public health theory of change linking intervention activities, assumptions, outputs, outcomes and intended impact
• Develop a logframe with SMART health indicators, baselines, targets, disaggregation requirements and verification sources
• Write indicator reference sheets defining numerator, denominator, calculation method, frequency, responsibility and data limitations
• Build a costed monitoring plan and indicator performance-tracking table for an NGO health programme
• Apply routine data quality assessment methods to test completeness, timeliness, accuracy and internal consistency
• Analyse service-coverage, utilisation and disaggregated outcome data in Microsoft Excel using pivot tables, charts and variance calculations
• Design a mixed-methods evaluation plan using evaluation questions, sampling logic, data-collection tools and OECD DAC criteria
• Produce a decision-focused M&E learning brief that presents findings, limitations, recommendations and management actions

Benefits of attending

Target competencies

Who should attend

• Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning Officers — who design indicator systems and prepare evidence for donors and programme managers
• Public Health Programme Managers — who need to use routine data to improve service delivery and justify programme decisions
• Health Project Officers — who collect, compile or validate facility and community-level monitoring data
• NGO Data Analysts — who turn programme datasets into reliable coverage, trend and disaggregation analysis
• Technical Advisors in Health — who must assess whether intervention designs have measurable and credible results pathways
• Grants and Reporting Managers — who need defensible results narratives, indicator updates and donor reporting evidence

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have at least six months of experience supporting, managing or reporting on a health, nutrition, WASH, HIV, TB, immunisation or community health project. They should understand basic project terms such as activities, outputs, outcomes, targets and beneficiaries, and be comfortable working with simple tables in Microsoft Excel. Prior use of DHIS2, KoboToolbox, statistical software or formal evaluation methods is not required. The course does not assume epidemiology training, advanced statistics or coding. Participants will gain most value by bringing a current logframe, indicator list or reporting challenge, although this is optional.

Training methodology

The course combines focused instructor-led demonstrations with a single NGO public health case study that develops across all five days. Participants build and critique a theory of change, calculate indicators from routine service data, inspect reporting anomalies, and use Excel to create pivot-table summaries and charts. Small groups conduct a simulated data-quality review and evaluation-design workshop, then present recommendations to a mock programme steering group. The final session includes individual application planning, allowing each participant to adapt the course templates to a live health programme, reporting cycle or evaluation assignment.

Course outline

Day 1: Results architecture for NGO public health programmes

• Public health programme results chains and causal pathways
• Theory of change assumptions and external risk analysis
• Logframe structure for health and social care interventions
• Distinguishing activities, outputs, outcomes and impact
• Equity, gender and disability inclusion in results design
• Donor reporting requirements and national health information alignment
• Adaptive management triggers within a results framework

Workshop: Participants map a theory of change and draft a results chain for a community maternal and child health programme.

Day 2: Indicators, targets and monitoring systems

• SMART indicator selection for public health interventions
• Numerators, denominators and indicator calculation rules
• Indicator reference sheet design and metadata fields
• Baseline, target and milestone setting methods
• Age, sex, geography and vulnerability disaggregation
• Indicator performance-tracking table construction
• Monitoring plans, reporting calendars and role assignments

Workshop: Participants create three indicator reference sheets and an indicator performance-tracking table for the case programme.

Day 3: Data collection and routine data quality

• Routine health information systems and DHIS2 reporting flows
• KoboToolbox form design for household and community data
• Data-source mapping across facilities, outreach teams and partners
• Routine data quality assessment dimensions
• Completeness, timeliness, accuracy and consistency checks
• Data-cleaning rules, audit trails and version control
• Ethical handling of personal and sensitive health information

Workshop: Participants conduct a desk-based routine data quality assessment and produce a corrective-action log from flawed monthly reports.

Day 4: Analysis, interpretation and evaluation design

• Coverage, utilisation and referral-completion measures
• Excel pivot tables for facility and community health data
• Trend analysis, target variance and outlier detection
• Disaggregated analysis for equity gaps
• Interpreting findings against programme context and assumptions
• OECD DAC evaluation criteria in public health settings
• Mixed-methods evaluation questions, sampling and tool selection

Workshop: Participants analyse a service-delivery dataset in Excel and draft an evaluation matrix for an underperforming intervention.

Day 5: Learning, reporting and M&E action planning

• Results narratives that distinguish evidence from attribution
• Data visualisation choices for donor and management audiences
• Learning questions and after-action review methods
• Recommendation prioritisation using feasibility and expected effect
• Communicating data limitations and uncertainty
• M&E budget lines, staffing and implementation sequencing
• M&E action plans for the next reporting cycle

Workshop: Participants produce and present a donor-facing learning brief, supported by an M&E action plan for their programme case.

Tools & standards covered

DHIS2, KoboToolbox, Microsoft Excel, OECD DAC Evaluation Criteria

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