Over the past years there has been a rapid increase in national and international resources to mitigate against the HIV/AIDS epidemic, however maximum benefit of these efforts has not been fully realized due to weak monitoring and evaluation processes in place. Increased M&E capacity is therefore critical to ensure effective utilization of resources allocated to the national response. In response to the need and demand for M&E capacity building especially in the area of human resource development NACA in collaboration with the African Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Partnership (ACHAP), the Botswana USA Partnership (BOTUSA) and IDM have developed a Monitoring and Evaluation Course to train all stakeholders in the national HIV/AIDS response to equip them with the concepts and skills required to implement comprehensive M&E systems.

Monitoring and evaluation are universal activities indispensable to effective and efficient operation of any program/project. The development of a monitoring and evaluation program will ensure that waste of resources during program implementation is avoided and that the program stays on course. In the absence of a monitoring and evaluation framework program managers and other stakeholders often find themselves not having control over events. Training in the development and implementation of a performance monitoring and evaluation system is therefore significant and essential to program implementation.

To achieve the foregoing; the Monitoring and Evaluation curriculum necessarily provides for stakeholders involved in the implementation of HIV/AIDS programs performing at different system levels. The curriculum has been divided into three Botswana National Vocational Qualification Framework levels and has taken into account trainee experience and inputs in the monitoring and evaluation processes. M&E curriculum levels which have been based on the three levels of the Botswana National Vocational Qualifications Framework (BNQF) are:

• Level 1- Foundation (Basic)

The foundation level is more targeted to implementers at grassroots level and trainees here would require technical support from parent bodies/institutions. The medium of instruction may be vernacular.

• Level 2- Intermediate

The intermediate level is more targeted at program assistants who perform under some guidance and supervision from those they work under.

• Level 3- Certificate (Advanced)

The certificate level is targeted at program office/monitoring and evaluation officers who have a direct responsibility to manage implementation and monitoring and evaluation processes for HIV/AIDS programs. (The policy maker’s awareness seminar will be developed from the M&E curriculum and does not fall within BNVQF levels).

To effectively implement the M&E Curriculum the following strategies will be adopted:

      • Learner centered approach where materials and learning and teaching strategies are
      • responsive to the needs and interests of the learner.
      • Application of knowledge and skills using work related examples.
      • Trainers with monitoring and evaluation and HIV/AIDS training will be fielded.
      • Use of practitioners as additional resources
      • There will be continual monitoring and evaluation of teaching and learning.