Kimutai, GladysRosemary, JamesOluoch, Solomon Otieno2013-03-012013-03-012013-03-01http://ir-library.ku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/6465Department of Business Administration,2011. HQ 799 .K4O4Monitoring and Evaluation are closely related concepts that are distinct but complementary. Monitoring is a continuous collection of data on specified indicators to facilitate decision making on whether an intervention is being implemented in line with the design while evaluation is the periodic and systematic collection of data to assess the design, implementation and impact in terms of effectiveness, efficiency, distribution and sustainability of outcomes and impacts. The youth in general is facing one of the greatest development challenges at the moment, and the government and donors have come up with interventions to address this issue. The objectives of this study were to find out factors influencing effective monitoring and evaluation of the National Youth Service empowerment projects. The study was to determine how effective the empowerment projects implemented by NYS are monitored and evaluated. Data for the study was collected using the descriptive method where a questionnaire was administered to managers and supervisors. The data was subsequently analyzed by use of descriptive and inferential statistics. The study findings identified monitoring and evaluation system and compared them with the best practices. The findings further indicated that those working on ongoing projects are under pressure to demonstrate and learn from the impact of their work, involved all stakeholders to show the long-term effect of their work to the intended beneficiaries. The results of the study show that monitoring and evaluation practices of the NYS fell short of the best practices, most of the best practices were inconsistently done and others were not done at all. Planning of the monitoring and evaluation was adequately and consistently done by the respondents. The study also identified quite a number of the challenges the NYS faced in carrying out monitoring and evaluation of the youth empowerment projects. These challenges made it hard for the NYS to effectively monitor and evaluate the projects they implement. The most significant ones include inadequate funds, lack of expertise, and lack of baseline data. The study made some recommendations in order to mitigate the challenges faced.enThesis