The 64th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference (CPC2019) took place in Kampala, Uganda from 22 to 29 September 2019. Themed ‘Adaptation, engagement, and evolution of parliaments in a rapidly changing Commonwealth’, the CPC2019 was an opportunity for over 500 Parliamentarians, parliamentary staff and decision makers from across the Commonwealth to benefit from supportive learning, professional development, and the sharing of best practices among colleagues.
As part of the event, the Global Parliamentarians Forum on Evaluation (GPFE) in collaboration with the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) and the Parliament of Uganda organized a panel discussion on 27 September 2019 that focused on how African parliamentarians are moving forward on the commitments of the Colombo Declaration. The Chairperson of the African Parliamentarians’ Network on Development Evaluation (APNODE), Hon. Evelyn Mpagi-Kaabule, participated as a panelist and used the opportunity to highlight the major milestones and ongoing work being done by APNODE across the African continent and beyond. Hon. Mpagi-Kaabule stressed that “more parliaments and parliamentarians need to demand and utilize evaluation in their oversight function” especially if parliamentarians are to lead the way in the rapidly changing Commonwealth. Hon. Mpagi-Kaabule further encouraged the audience to use development evaluation as a useful tool for well-informed decision-making – an essential aspect of development.