16/02/2021

Institutional Set-Up of the Future System for Monitoring and Evaluation of Social Services

The fourth meeting for establishing an effective system for monitoring and evaluating the delivery of community social services for people with disabilities was held online, on 16 February 2021. The meeting was dedicated to the institutional set-up that should establish and implement an effective national system for monitoring and evaluation of social services in the community, defining roles, responsibilities of different actors / actors, mechanisms and reporting requirements.

The meeting was held with active participation from more than 40 representatives of the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, the EU Delegation in Skopje, the Institute for Social Activates, social work centres, community social service providers (public and private) and the project team of the project “Support to the Modernization and Deinstitutionalization of Social Services”

“We will discuss about institutional setup, in terms of structures, roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders that should be involved, or are involved in our view, in the monitoring and evaluation system…I must confess that I am looking forward for the moment when we would not need monitoring and evaluation. Why? Because that is the moment when humankind will start living and acting not based on duties and obligations but on love, compassion and care for the others. I am looking forward to the moment when the word “services” will be replaced with the word “care”. But until then, we must do monitoring and evaluation…Monitoring and evaluation is practically a reminder process. It is like a recap of what we have done, how we have done, which are the lessons learned.” emphasized the project expert Mihaela Stoichici Varlan in her opening statement.

“Setting up the M&E Departments under the existing structures on all levels (central, local, service providers), will strengthen capacities of the existing structures at all levels for planning and implementing M&E. On the other hand, this will ensure better conditions for provision of quality social services mainly for persons with disabilities, as well as for other vulnerable groups,” stressed Aleksandra Georgievska, a project expert that participated in the preparation of the architecture for monitoring and evaluation of social services.

The experts provided additional proposals related to setting up Councils of Beneficiaries within the public and private providers, inclusion of the Independent Mechanism for Monitoring from the Ombudsman and most important strengthening the role of the Centre for Social Work in provision of M&E. This process requires commitments and focus of gradual transfer of the responsibilities for internal monitoring and evaluation of Institute of Social Activities from central to local level on the centres for social work.

Additionally, the experts offered alternative to proposed setting of an effective M&E System- establishing an Agency for Quality of Social Services.