Governments in a number of developing countries are devoting considerable efforts to strengthen their monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems and capacities. They are doing this to improve their performance by establishing evidence-based policy-making and budget decision-making, evidence-based management, and evidence-based accountability. The World Bank s Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) has accumulated considerable experience in this topic via a program of research and technical assistance which has analyzed the experience of governments in a wide range of countries and public sector environments. IEG s publications on this topic document good-practice and promising-practice country systems for M&E. They also include diagnostic guides, country diagnoses, examples of highly influential evaluations, and didactic material on monitoring and evaluation tools and on impact evaluation, among others. The purpose of the present volume is to synthesize and digest for readers this body of knowledge. This volume highlights the experience of several countries which have succeeded in building a well-functioning government M&E system, including Chile, Colombia and Australia. The special case of Africa, where there are many severe capacity constraints, is also examined. Ways to strengthen a government M&E system and to strengthen government demand for M&E are presented, and the importance of conducting a country diagnosis and preparing an action plan are stressed.