Humanitarian institutions are usually faced with many challenges, including logistics problems, when working in unstable and insecure regions. Some parties are testing solutions to facilitate remote project management. 

Last Thursday, the African Development Bank (AfDB) announced the roll-out of the RASME (Remote Appraisal, Supervision, Monitoring, and Evaluation) project in Angola, after a 3-day training.  

RASME is a suite of tools and processes to collect data in real time. It was developed to enable AfDB, its clients, and development partners to better prepare projects, and progress reports, and assess impact openly and transparently.

According to the AfDB Group country manager for Angola, “this project can significantly enhance the data collection which we use to assess the effectiveness of our development work here in Angola.” 

 “It is significant that we are launching RASME in partnership with the Government of the Republic of Angola,” he added. 

The data-gathering tool is the result of a partnership between the African Development Bank's Information Technology Department (CHIS), the World Bank's Geo-Enabling Monitoring and Supervision Initiative, and the KoBoToolbox Foundation, a non-governmental organization affiliated with the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative.

With RASME, AfDB staff, including project and sector managers, country and regional program managers, and government officials will now be able to compile project-related information directly from the field, using a smartphone, tablet or laptop, drones, and satellites. Data can be collected in a variety of formats: text, video, graphics, and even survey responses.

To date, RASME has been deployed in fourteen African countries, including Gabon, Cameroon, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, and Mozambique. According to Dra Rossana Silva, Head of the International Economic Cooperation Department at the Angolan Ministry of Finance, "ensuring open and transparent reporting of our development initiatives is central to our mission. RASME is an important enhancement of our capacity to do this.”

Samira Njoya