NIPN work plan and progress monitoring

The early months of the National Information Platform for Nutrition are critical for building relationships with sector ministries, solving institutional and technical issues and developing work plans. A fundamental first step is to develop an initial, realistic and detailed work plan for all partner organisations combined, which takes potential risks and delays into account. A detailed work plan will contain for each detailed activity, a set of milestones, deliverables, resources required, and performance indicators to measure progress of each activity.

The implementation of the work plan must be managed and monitored by the coordinator, who may also have to hold individual staff or organisations accountable for their performance. Progress is to be continuously monitored (on a monthly basis) against the proposed work plan, milestones, deliverables, indicators and budget plan, using adequate monitoring tools. Delays or changes in the plan need to be discussed with regard to the consequences for the deliverables of NIPN and to agree possible mitigation measures. Monthly progress monitoring meetings are an excellent tool to hold all NIPN actors accountable for their respective deliverables, roles and responsibilities.

A Project Steering Committee, or in its absence the Multisectoral Advisory Committee, may play a role in support of the NIPN coordinator and review NIPN progress on a regular basis, analyse the causes of potential delays or blockages, make decisions on how to overcome any major difficulties encountered, assess emerging risks and contribute to mitigation measure that would be needed, in line with the terms of the contract.