The book is recommended for government officials, donor staff and others who are working to help countries build their capacities to systematically measure their performance, and to use this information to achieve results on the ground.
Some highlights of this book are:
- profiles of countries that have built well-functioning government M&E systems, such as Chile, Colombia, and Australia
- a discussion of the special case of Africa, which has many severe capacity constraints
- checklists of ways to strengthen a government M&E system and to strengthen government demand for M&E, using a mixture of "carrots, sticks, and sermons"
- the importance of conducting a country diagnosis and preparing an action plan
