The continuous oversight of an activity to assist in its supervision and to see that it proceeds according to plan. Monitoring involves the specification of methods to measure activity, use of resources, and response to services against agreed criteria.
The World Health Organization (WHO)’s Health Systems Strengthening Glossary defines monitoring as “the continuous oversight of an activity to assist in its supervision and to see that it proceeds according to plan.” According to the glossary, monitoring “involves the specification of methods to measure activity, use of resources, and response to services against agreed criteria.” The glossary itself is an extensive list of terms and definitions—many of which the Coalition has decided to use—that draws from technical briefs, research, and textbooks. This specific definition references the WHO’s glossary of technical terms on the economics and finance of health services, which was written by J. L. Roberts, a consultant for Health Economics at the WHO Regional Office for Europe.
World Health Organization. “Health Systems Strengthening Glossary.” World Health Organization, 2011. https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/documents/health-systems-strengthening-glossary.pdf?sfvrsn=b871d95f_4.