ICTs and monitoring of MDGs: a case study of Kenya HIV/AIDS monitoring and evaluation in a donor multi-agency context

Abstract

Information and communication technology (ICT) has been recognized as a key enabler of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This paper will address one aspect of the relationship between ICT and MDGs by focussing on the way ICT has been employed for monitoring HIV/AIDS initiatives in Kenya. The objective of the paper is to better understand how a donor multi-agency presence has influenced the strengthening of HIV/AIDS monitoring and evaluation as set in international policies. Based on the case study of the Kenya National HIV/AIDS Programme, the paper takes an institutional theory perspective to identify the main competing logics producing misalignment between policy discourses and their enactments by different policy actors engaged in the restructuring of HIV/AIDS monitoring and evaluation systems. Poor donor-aid coordination has been recognized as one of the major sources of discrepancies between restructuring plans and their enactments. This has caused verticalization and centralization of monitoring systems and poor local ownership of HIV/AIDS information hampering improved design and implementation of HIV/AIDS programs. The paper concludes by highlighting implications for a more effective usage of ICT in monitoring MDGs and their integration into local contexts.

Keywords:

• information technology
• monitoring and evaluation
• HIV/AIDS
• MDGs
• donor aid
• Kenya

Notes

Elaine Byrne, Brian Nicholson and Fadi Salem are the accepting Guest Editors for this article.