Sector Indicator Guidance for Programming
The country Programming Instructions that were sent to EU Delegations and HQ services in mid-May 2012 for the programming period 2014-2020, requested the EU Delegations and services to provide, in the second phase of the programming process, a description of specific objectives for proposed priority sectors as well as the main results expected and corresponding indicators, mentioning targets where possible. In December 2012, a joint EEAS/EuropeAid note set out the next steps for the bi-lateral country programming process with a view of meetings with the Commissioner who requested at that stage of the programming process an initial description of expected results and indicators for each specific objective in order to have a better basis of examining proposals for choice of sectors.
The strong emphasis on results constitutes a clear expression of the commitment in the Agenda for Change to strengthen our capacity to monitor and report our contribution to development results. Results-orientation must be built into the programming process from the outset with the identification of the intended results and corresponding indicators to be able to measure progress.
The purpose of the present guidance note on sector and cross cutting indicators is to support Delegations with the preparation of Multi-annual Indicative Programming documents (MIPs), in particular in the process of specifying indicators linked to expected results. It aims to support this process by providing a menu of options of key indicators for Delegations to draw from as they are developing their MIPs. The indicators listed in each sector note are aligned to EuropeAid priorities as set out in the Agenda for Change and other key policy documents. Indicators with commonly accepted definitions and for which data is in principle available on a regular basis in most of the countries EuropeAid works in have been given priority.
At the same time, it should be noted that due to the inherently different operating contexts across countries, it is not possible to provide an exhaustive list of sector indicators which cover every possible situation in a meaningful way. Delegations may therefore need to select additional context specific indicators for inclusion in the country MIPs.