The participatory monitoring and evaluation process is an action learning process in which socially marginalized groups such as women, children, Dalits and the disabled, participate along with men, project staff and external consultants. Its success depends on the participatory attitude (bichar) and behaviour (achar) of the development partners. In other words, participation is an ideology, an approach and a way of life. It rests on the premise that people have 'knowledge' and that knowledge is power. This challenges the unequal power structures and promotes social equity and social justice.
It is said that Nepal is a champion when it comes to formulating development policies and strategies. The implementation, however, is weak and inadequate monitoring and evaluation in development programming results in poor performance. The top-down ideology, rampant corruption, shouldering of low responsibility, poor rule of law, dependency on external sources, lack of political commitment to action, weak discipline, among others, challenge the institutionalization of participatory democracy and political stability in Nepal. This publication explores the place of development M&E in Nepal in a total of 14 diverse articles, including book reviews and readers' comments written by NEPAN members and others.