CARPHA hosts monitoring and evaluation workshop, Saint Lucia participates
CARPHA hosts monitoring and evaluation workshop, Saint Lucia participates

Saint Lucia: Various departments of the Ministry of Health, Wellness and Elderly Affairs were brought together for a five-day workshop on Monitoring Evaluation and Data Analysis.

This capacity development exercise was facilitated by CARPHA with a focus on improving accountability and transparency as it pertains to the implementation of various projects and programs throughout the Ministry.

CARPHA’s Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist, Patricia Smith Cummings, said the data collected would assist in better-implementing programs, building capacity, health interventions and policy-making.

The CARPHA Specialist spoke on some of the expectations coming out of the exercise.

“Based on the modules that are being presented this week and the group work that the participants are doing, we expect, of course, to have increased knowledge as it relates to monitoring and evaluation. There’s a component that’s also really important, and that is data appreciation, and that is not a component that is always included. But it really helps individuals regardless of where they sit within the broader Ministry of Health and health programs to be able to see their contribution to the overall improvement of data and to the overall improvement of strategic health information.”

A wide range of participants from various departments within the Ministry of Health attended the workshop. Corporate Planning’s Heidi Khodra-Jaganath said she is looking forward to better grasping the concept of data collection.

“At the end of the five days, I’m looking to learn the principles of monitoring and evaluation. How can we can integrate it to understand how programs run so we can get our desired outcome.”

Project Coordinator at the Ministry of Health, Jeanette Jn. Louis-Hughes said the ongoing session was timely.

“The World Bank provided funding for us to implement two significant projects, the Health System strengthening project and the OECS Regional Health project. Both of these projects are expected to make significant changes and improvements in the delivery of healthcare services. So pursuing that workshop where we focus on monitoring and evaluation where we really zoom in on the impact and outcomes of those projects is quite timely,” she said.

Medical Officer of Health Dr Glensford Joseph spoke highly of the sessions, “This so far has been very, very exciting. While I would have significant knowledge in the area of monitoring and evaluation, the team from CARPHA would’ve brought a new dimension in the way they deliver the information so that persons from our level can appreciate the concept of monitoring and evaluation and its importance in the delivery of the various programmatic areas of the Ministry of Health.”

The session included a hands-on aspect where participants were expected to identify new programs and also suggest improvements for others. And while Saint Lucia is the first country to benefit from the training program, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Dominica, and Grenada will soon follow.