Since 2003 the Government of Ghana has adopted the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS) as its medium term national development policy framework. The first medium term development strategy, the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS I) was formulated in 2002 and implemented over the period 2003 – 2005, while the Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS II), a successor to the GPRS I was formulated in 2005, to be implemented over the period 2006 – 2009.

In order to track progress towards implementation, a comprehensive Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) plan was prepared as part of the GPRS process. The aim is to facilitate the tracking of progress of policy implementation and effectiveness as well as identifying bottlenecks associated with implementation of the Strategy for early resolution.

The M&E arrangement for the GPRS involves four main components:

• Annual monitoring of progress towards implementation using a set of agreed indicators, and measuring progress against target;
• Conduct of participatory monitoring and evaluation (PM&E) to obtain feedback from citizens at the grassroots about the extent to which the key objectives of the GPRS are being met from their perspective;
• Conduct of thematic studies (i.e. PSIAs) to understand the intended and unintended consequences of policy interventions and/or policy reforms on the well-being of stakeholders; and
• Conduct of evaluation of the GPRS to determine the relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, impact and sustainability of a programme or project outlined under the GPRS.

The National Citizens’ Assessment survey which is a Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation framework is usually undertaken to complement the quantitative data obtained from the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and the Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in assessing the impact of key GPRS policies, and also to provide an opportunity for citizens to participate in the monitoring and evaluation process of the GPRS. Indeed a key part of assessing the effect of GPRS policies is to find out from citizens whether they have experienced improvement in their lives with respect to specific policy objectives of the GPRS II.

So far, two Citizens’ Assessment Surveys have been conducted in 2004 and 2005. The 2005 Citizens’ Assessment Survey was the last for the GPRS I (2003 – 2005) period, while the 2008 Citizens’ Assessment Survey is the first to be conducted under the GPRS II. The scope of the 2008 Citizens’ Assessment Survey is limited to the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), which is a key health sector initiative to support the GPRS II policy objective of ensuring sustainable financial arrangements that protects the poor. The objective is to ascertain from the citizens whether the NHIS is providing an affordable health care financing arrangement as envisaged under the GPRS II.