National governments, regional and local government bodies, as well as businesses and nongovernmental organizations are making greater use of strategic management principles, as well as program and project-based approaches. These approaches are being dynamically introduced in the activities of CIS governments (CIS - Commonwealth of Independent States, former USSR) to address social and economic development issues. Strategic, program, and project-based approaches rely on introduction of systems that help to monitor progress of programs and projects, as well as obtain timely and reliable information on intervention outcomes.

At our conference, we plan to look at various aspects of designing and implementing monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems as applied to strategies, programs, and projects at the level o organizations, sectors or countries. Conference participants will be able to discuss all sorts o issues related to the outlined theme, and specifically the following:

• Designing M&E systems. The purpose of M&E systems. Key components, challenges with their design: information, analytical, and operational components of the system; links and relations among system components. Steps in developing M&E systems. Stakeholders to be involved.  
• Normative aspects of introducing M&E systems. Legal and normative documents that facilitate introduction of M&E systems. Organizational policies and procedures. Standards and principles of program M&E. Licensing activities and certifying experts in the field of evaluation.  
• Practical experience with introduction of M&E systems. Examples of functioning M&E systems in government, business, and NGOs. Strengths and weaknesses. Challenges with introduction of M&E systems and ways of addressing them.
• Information and communication technologies in M&E systems. What kinds of specialized software is used in M&E systems. What is the role of Internet and modern communications. The role of government databases in M&E systems. Data processing systems and original software in M&E systems.
• Expertise and human resources for M&E systems. Key competences. Learning and training. Educational programs.