After studying Development Economics and obtaining a Master's degree in 2013, Laure held various positions as a project manager or consultant and worked for 6 years in Africa before joining Planète Enfants & Développement in 2023 as Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (SERA) Manager. She tells us about her job, the questions she asks and the challenges she faces.
SERA - Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning - what is it?
How can we be sure that the aid allocated to recipient countries is well used? How can we be sure that development projects and programs are producing the expected results? How can we ensure the stability and anticipation of funding from donor countries? How can we measure quality? SERA was born out of all these questions about the effectiveness of official development assistance and cooperation between donor and recipient countries.
NGOs like Planète Enfants & Développement are responsible for bridging the gap between funders and vulnerable populations. Each of these two parties trusts us: one by entrusting us with its capital, the other by using our services. It's this very point that attracts me to this job: bringing two worlds together, deciphering realities, clarifying decisions, improving and adapting solutions, encouraging questioning and learning.
The contexts in which we operate are changing rapidly, and the social sector is under considerable strain. Our legitimacy rests on our ability to propose viable, sustainable solutions for those who need them most, solutions that enable change. This mission can only be achieved by analyzing our practices, encouraging innovation, initiative and resilience, and making informed decisions. This is what SERA is all about.
In practical terms, what does your day-to-day role involve?
The job of the SERA Manager involves collecting and analyzing data to measure the achievements, results and effects of programs, the needs of beneficiaries and the understanding of the environments in which the organization operates.
At Planète Enfants & Développement, I rely on 4 people in Nepal, Vietnam, Cambodia and Burkina Faso to carry out these missions. We provide key information that will enable project managers and the organization to make decisions: redirecting an activity, increasing the number of participants, planning, but also sharing best practices, identifying failures and valorizing the solutions found.
We intervene in all phases of the project: during the writing phase, to set evaluation milestones; at start-up, to provide a data management plan; during implementation, to monitor, evaluate, report or learn; and at closure, to participate in the conditions for perpetuating and appropriating the lessons learned.
How is this monitoring and evaluation mission being received in the field?
Generally speaking, SERA can be frightening. It can be perceived as an object of control, as being too time-consuming, or as being secondary to the vital needs of beneficiaries in contexts of extreme vulnerability. SERA can appear complex and inappropriate, and can therefore be neglected.
As a result, my role is to ensure the right balance between the urgency of the response and the need to review that response, step back and adapt our solutions. It's about being open to all possible solutions, without preconceived ideas. It's a job that requires pedagogy, rigor, passion, determination, confidence and responsiveness.
Appropriating and personalizing the SERA tools is essential: Planète Enfants & Développement has its own identity and its own tools, because we apply them in specific contexts and with specific people. SERA reveals our identity and our essence. This is the pride and commitment that my position as Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning Manager represents for the association.
