Launched for the first time in 2019, gLOCAL Evaluation week is a platform for evaluation knowledge-sharing and networking events. What sets this initiative apart from other evaluation forum is that it features both physical and online events organized by public, private, and academic institutions and organizations that produce, use, or promote evaluations to strengthen development programs.
The inspiration for gLOCAL Evaluation Week came from the acknowledgement of the two forces that are shaping today’s evaluation landscape: global knowledge shaping local evaluation practices and local experiences influencing global evaluation thinking.
As part of the Independent Development Evaluation’s (IDEV) contribution to gLOCAL Evaluation Week which took place from 3 to 7 June 2019, IDEV facilitated three events – one workshop and two webinars:
1. Workshop: ‘Optimizing the AfDB’s Program-Based Operations Support as a Package’
The workshop on ‘Optimizing the AfDB’s Program-Based Operations Support as a Package,’ took place on Tuesday, June 4th 2019. The workshop, sought to enhance awareness and knowledge among key AfDB staff on the essence and value of engaging with partners and stakeholders around the issue of program-based operations (PBOs) to deliver on development objectives and to enhance broader stakeholder buy-in and uptake of IDEV evaluation findings and recommendations. Presentations by Mr. Clément Banse, Principal Evaluation Officer, AfDB; Ms. Jacqueline Nyagahima, Principal Knowledge Management Officer, AfDB; and Ms. Carina Sudgen, Principal Governance Officer highlighted the value of partner/stakeholder engagements drawing on two events earlier held in Pretoria, South Africa and Nairobi, Kenya. Discussion during the workshop revolved around how IDEV can replicate such partner/stakeholder engagements for other evaluations, as well as what worked, what did not, and why?
2. Webinar: ‘Promoting Evaluative Evidence Use: Opportunities and Constraints’
The second event was a joint CLEAR-AA and APNODE (African Parliamentarians’ Network of Development Evaluation) webinar titled ‘Promoting Evaluative Evidence Use: Opportunities and Constraints,’ took place on Thursday, June 6th 2019. The webinar sought to tease-out experiences and perspectives of parliamentarians and parliamentary researchers to highlight ways via which MPs leverage opportunities and/or navigate constraints in their effort to enhance and advance the utilization of evaluative evidence. Ms. Hermine Engle, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, CLEAR-AA, moderated the session; with Ms. Josephine Watera, Assistant Director/Head, Monitoring & Evaluation Division, Parliament of Uganda and Ms. Nagnouma Kone, Consultant, APNODE Secretariat serving as panelists. The interactive event attracted 23 participants from all over Africa, and examined the following issues:
- Why is the use of evaluation findings still disappointingly low, despite its growing recognition, and the significant resources devoted to evaluation?
- What incentives / disincentives affect evaluative evidence use in parliamentary contexts?
- How do the complex political environment of parliament affect the behavior of MPs / staff around evidence use?
- How has APNODE contributed to promoting evaluation use for improved policy and decision-making? What have been the threats and opportunities in this effort?
- How can networks such as APNODE be better supported to contribute to the development evaluation agenda?
- What are the strategic imperatives needed to ensure a sustained approach to enhancing and advancing the use of evaluative evidence within African Parliaments?
The discussion session generated many insightful viewpoints as participants shared their experiences. Discussions also highlighted the unique relationship between research, civil society and MPs.
Watch the webinar recording
3. Webinar: ‘Most Significant Change in Evaluation: The experience from the application of MSC in the African Development Bank’
The third activity hosted by IDEV was a webinar on the “Most Significant Change” in evaluation which took place on Friday, 7th June 2019 from 10:30 am to 12 pm GMT (Abidjan local time). The Most Significant Change (MSC) technique is a systematic, transparent and participatory method of collecting and analyzing qualitative information about change. This information is in the form of stories of change, obtained through individual interviews, which are then subject to selection by different stakeholder groups. The webinar, delivered by Mr. Madhusoodhanan ‘Madhu’ Mampuzhasseril, Chief Evaluation Officer, IDEV, drew on the extant work by Dr. Rick Davies in the 1990s, and subsequent evaluation of the Bank’s Decentralization Strategy and Process in 2009. The presentation not only highlighted what MSC is about, but also how AfDB has used this tool.
In total gLOCAL Evaluation Week hosted a record number of 270 events across the five continents and in 37 countries for the evaluation community.