Read updates on the campaign activities and news from partners around the world. If you would like to receive the newsletter directly in your inbox, sign up to receive Eval4Action updates here. As an individual advocate or a partner network, if you have news or information to share with the Eval4Action community, please write to contact@eval4action.org.

Read updates on the campaign activities and news from partners around the world. If you would like to receive the newsletter directly in your inbox, sign up to receive Eval4Action updates here. As an individual advocate or a partner network, if you have news or information to share with the Eval4Action community, please write to contact@eval4action.org.

Advancing Youth in Evaluation is a growing movement worldwide. With the launch of the Youth in Evaluation manifesto in May 2022, 140 organizations and 482 individuals have committed to undertake strategic and concerted efforts to build capacities of young and emerging evaluators and engage youth and young evaluators meaningfully in all stages of evaluation. To translate this vision and commitment into reality, co-created ‘standards on enhancing meaningful youth engagement in evaluation’ will provide a roadmap to step up the practice and accountability towards engaging youth in evaluation. The standards are organized around six dimensions: leadership and accountability; practice; advocacy and capacity development; knowledge management and communications; human resources; and financial resources. Tailored standards have been developed for specific target groups such as international agencies, VOPEs, governments, youth organizations, academia, and the private sector. The development of the standards has been led by the respective task forces via intergenerational and inclusive consultations and dialogue. Further details on the co-creation of the standards are available in this concept note. Everyone is invited to join the launch of the standards during the the Youth in Evaluation week in April 2023. The launch schedule is as follows: 25 April: Launch of standards for governments and academia 26 April: Launch of standards for international organizations and the private sector 28 April: Launch of standards for youth organizations and VOPEs Access the standards

Read updates on the campaign activities and news from partners around the world. If you would like to receive the newsletter directly in your inbox, sign up to receive Eval4Action updates here. As an individual advocate or a partner network, if you have news or information to share with the Eval4Action community, please write to contact@eval4action.org.

Read updates on the campaign activities and news from partners around the world. If you would like to receive the newsletter directly in your inbox, sign up to receive Eval4Action updates here. As an individual advocate or a partner network, if you have news or information to share with the Eval4Action community, please write to contact@eval4action.org.

Read updates on the campaign activities and news from partners around the world. If you would like to receive the newsletter directly in your inbox, sign up to receive Eval4Action updates here. As an individual advocate or a partner network, if you have news or information to share with the Eval4Action community, please write to contact@eval4action.org.

Read updates on the campaign activities and news from partners around the world. If you would like to receive the newsletter directly in your inbox, sign up to receive Eval4Action updates here. As an individual advocate or a partner network, if you have news or information to share with the Eval4Action community, please write to contact@eval4action.org.

Read updates on the campaign activities and news from partners around the world. If you would like to receive the newsletter directly in your inbox, sign up to receive Eval4Action updates here. As an individual advocate or a partner network, if you have news or information to share with the Eval4Action community, please write to contact@eval4action.org.

Read updates on the campaign activities and news from partners around the world. If you would like to receive the newsletter directly in your inbox, sign up to receive Eval4Action updates here. As an individual advocate or a partner network, if you have news or information to share with the Eval4Action community, please write to contact@eval4action.org.

Read updates on the campaign activities and news from partners around the world. If you would like to receive the newsletter directly in your inbox, sign up to receive Eval4Action updates here. As an individual advocate or a partner network, if you have news or information to share with the Eval4Action community, please write to contact@eval4action.org.

Read updates on the campaign activities and news from partners around the world. If you would like to receive the newsletter directly in your inbox, sign up to receive Eval4Action updates here. As an individual advocate or a partner network, if you have news or information to share with the Eval4Action community, please write to contact@eval4action.org.

By Yatin Diwakar and Harish Koidala EvalYouth Asia This blog is part of the Eval4Action ‘Walk the Talk’ blog series. The series details six nominated actions for influential evaluation that were contributed during the Walk the Talk drive, held in October 2021. These lessons and reflections inspire greater action for influential evaluation in the Decade of Action. One of EvalYouth Asia’s (EYA) stated objectives is to build the capacities of Young and Emerging Evaluators (YEEs), in line with the Asia Pacific Regional Evaluation Strategy. When EYA and Asia Pacific Evaluation Association (APEA) brainstormed on how to provide quick career development and capacity building opportunities to YEEs, we realised the need for conducting some basic training programmes that can plug the supply gap in capacity development in the region. Currently there are very few training programmes targeting YEEs who need support in navigating the complex world of the M&E profession. YEEs need support in learning the basics as there are few academic programmes in the region which teach M&E. They also need support to understand how to best develop their career in this field. When youth enter the evaluation sector from different academic backgrounds, they lack access to networks which can be leveraged to get better M&E jobs or consultancy opportunities. This background led to the organisation of a short winter school where YEEs from different countries could come together, learn a few key concepts related to M&E and share their experiences. Unfortunately, as the global COVID-19 pandemic limited travel, this plan was shelved. But this challenge was turned into an opportunity with the planning of a virtual event. Thus, the first Asia Pacific Virtual Winter School for YEEs was held from 29 to 31 March 2021 and encouraged by its success, the second winter school was held from 17 to 19 December 2021. Now, we plan to annually hold this event virtually and hope to have separate offline events as well. These winter schools provide opportunities to selected YEEs in the region to become competent, experienced, and well-networked professionals who contribute to evaluation capacity at national, regional, and international levels. Expected outcome for YEEs from the Virtual Winter School These winter schools are organised by EYA and APEA, in partnership with all the EvalYouth national chapters in the region, Sri Lanka Evaluation Association (SLEvA), Evaluation Community of India (ECOI), EvalYouth Global Network, UNFPA, and the Center for Evaluation at University of Sri Jayewardenepura with outreach support by the Asia Pacific Communications Hub. Partners supporting the Virtual Winter School The transition to an online event removed physical barriers for participants, allowing a well represented, multi-country participation at no cost. The winter schools had speakers and resource persons from around the globe. It had participants from the Pacific in the East to Africa in the West, Kyrgyzstan in the North to Australia in the South. While in itself this was a groundbreaking initiative in the region, what made it special was the way it was organised - exclusively through volunteers dedicating their time for completing each aspect professionally. The first winter school received ZERO funding, while the second received a small grant providing for a coordinator. Even in the paucity of funds, a dedicated team of organising committee members that represented various partners, volunteered to organise the winter school. Except two advisory members, all were YEEs, including the leaders and the consultant. This brought in a different energy and ethics to the group, where everyone worked together making best use of the online tools: Google Meet for weekly meetings, writing quick emails, and relying on WhatsApp for most communication. Calendar invites and shared drive spaces allowed timely collaboration enhancing partnership amongst volunteers across national borders. Similarly, WhatsApp groups of the participants promoted networking amongst the participant YEEs. The main event effectively used the meeting platform to engage the participants and provide a class-room like experience. While any online programme or even offline events nowadays will do all these things, what we found special about the Winter School was the importance given to youth, who were not necessarily well versed with the different tools or the specifics of organising an event at this scale. Still, they came together, explored and learnt together from each other and delivered a very professional event, not once, but twice in the year. The volunteers learnt nuances of online meeting platforms and tricks for effective use of collaborative tools. They prepared detailed guidelines and template documents (moderator slides, producer guides, speaker guides, selection procedure, social media plans, etc.) which now can be used for any similar event. It also provided a sense of unity to these disparate volunteers from across the countries in the Asia Pacific. The two Winter Schools provided opportunities to over 100 YEEs to hone their skills in M&E, but we believe that it offered the volunteers an even better opportunity and gave us the confidence to execute such a large, virtual, volunteer driven event successfully. Over the past year, many participants of the Winter School have now taken up responsibilities in their EvalYouth national chapters (alumni of the first Winter School were crucial in setting up the second group of EvalYouth chapters in the region), some are active with their VOPEs and all are using the knowledge gained to effectively build their careers. One might say that the two Winter Schools provided opportunities to over 100 YEEs to hone their skills in M&E, but we believe that it offered the volunteers an even better opportunity and gave us the confidence to execute such a large, virtual, volunteer driven event successfully. We hope that a new team of volunteers, comprising alumni of the winter schools and new co-leaders of the EvalYouth chapters will come together to regularly hold this annual online event and it will be complemented with some offline training programmes as well. This will contribute greatly to building M&E capacity in the region and in continuing the VOPE structures. This is imperative to strengthen the call for Evaluation for Action towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Yatin Diwakar is a PhD Scholar at the Centre for Technology Alternatives for Rural Areas at IIT Bombay. He is a co-leader of EvalYouth Asia, co-founder and co-leader of EvalYouth India and a core group member of Evaluation Community of India. He is also the co-leader of the NEPS theme of Asia Pacific regional evaluation strategy and the co-author of the status report of NEPS in the Asia Pacific. Yatin is also working with the Government of India in the preparation of the National Evaluation Policy Framework. Follow Yatin on Twitter. Harish Koidala is pursuing Masters in Public Policy from the National Law School of India University, Bangalore. He is the Mission Manager (Partnerships) with EvalYouth India and an active member of Evaluation Community of India. Harish was part of the team that organised the first Asia Pacific Winter school for young and emerging evaluators and the first ever Indian Evaluation Case Competition – 2021. Contact Harish via harishkoilada@gmail.com.

By Nazir Ul Haq Founding co-chair, EvalYouth Pakistan This blog is part of the Eval4Action ‘Walk the Talk’ blog series. The series details six nominated actions for influential evaluation that were contributed during the Walk the Talk drive, held in October 2021. These lessons and reflections inspire greater action for influential evaluation in the Decade of Action. On 23 March 2022, EvalYouth Pakistan marked its first anniversary with an event celebrating youth in evaluation in Pakistan. The event highlighted the experiences and learnings of Young and Emerging Evaluators (YEEs) from across Pakistan while conducting culturally responsive evaluations in indigenous and local communities. The event received great appreciation from participants who came from different parts of the world. The event also signified and encompassed the core values and guiding principles that EvalYouth Pakistan has set for itself in its strategy including diversity and inclusion, participation, equity, and innovation. As a founding co-chair of EvalYouth Pakistan, I am writing this reflective piece to highlight some of the good practices that worked for us and the important lessons that we learned along the way. 1. Finding your eval mates: While planning to establish a new EvalYouth national or regional chapter, you have to find people who share the same passion and are willing to join hands. But it is not always easy. When we set out, we learned from the IOCE’s website that there is a national VOPE in Pakistan, Pakistan Evaluation Association (PEA). We reached out to the president of PEA and as expected, we received wonderful support and encouragement and got linked with the young members of PEA. We also reached out to a group of young evaluators through the EvalYouth Asia regional chapter who immediately agreed to join hands for the initiative. And soon we were able to form a team of committed young evaluators who dedicated their time and energies and spearheaded the establishment of EvalYouth Pakistan. 2. Capitalizing on existing resources, knowledge and experiences: When we were planning for EvalYouth Pakistan, EvalYouth chapters in Afghanistan and India had just been launched with the support of EvalYouth Asia. The regional chapter had also documented the process that was followed in establishing the new chapters in the region. EvalYouth Asia not only made those important documents available to us, but its co-leaders also shared their experiences and lessons in establishing the new chapters in their own countries. This knowledge turned out to be invaluable for us as we established EvalYouth Pakistan. 3. Socializing the initiative: Although a lot of work is being done by EvalYouth Global Network, and the different regional and national chapters, the idea of EvalYouth national chapters is still not well known in many developing countries. So when starting out, it is essential to explain it well to get your eval mates as well as potential supporters on board. Realizing this important need, we had developed a brief concept note explaining the main objectives of establishing the EvalYouth chapter in Pakistan, what to expect from it and how it will work. While developing the concept note, we took guidance from EvalYouth Global background document. With the concept note shared widely in our networks, we were able to get onboard truly interested and passionate YEEs who have become an integral part of the chapter. 4. Make the launch big: Based on our experience we learned that a proper launch is a big advocacy opportunity. We organized a virtual launch event supported by PEA, with participation of some of the bigwigs in the field of evaluation from across the globe and key public and private sector stakeholders in Pakistan. The event was streamed live on our social media pages and was published in a prominent newspaper as well, attracting a sizable audience and spreading awareness about the initiative. 5. Developing a shared purpose: The new chapter usually attracts young and interested people who are looking for a reliable professional community and a meaningful platform for learning, networking, and exchange. They also come with some expectations. Therefore, it is essential to develop a shared purpose based on their needs and expectations and by considering what the chapter can deliver as a voluntary professional network. Before our official launch, we developed a strategy document in consultation with YEEs and PEA, and based on the review of the EvalYouth Global Strategy. The strategy highlights the shared purpose of EvalYouth Pakistan including its vision, mission, strategic goals, and key action areas. This also serves to drive the commitment of its members. Diversity and inclusion are key to the success of the new chapter, just as for any other initiative. There should be intentional efforts to ensure diversity and inclusion in the chapter’s governance, management as well as in its outreach efforts. 6. Diversity and inclusivity: Diversity and inclusion are key to the success of the new chapter, just as for any other initiative. There should be intentional efforts to ensure diversity and inclusion in the chapter’s governance, management as well as in its outreach efforts. Considering the diversity of the population in Pakistan, EvalYouth Pakistan’s governance and management strategy has been structured in a way that ensures YEEs belonging to each province have a seat in the Management Group. The chapter’s Executive Committee consists of one male and one female co-chair who are selected through self-nomination, then shortlisted by an independent committee and virtual voting, facilitated by PEA. Task forces have been developed by EvalYouth Pakistan around its four key action areas on capacity strengthening, engagement, networking, and institutional strengthening. The leadership of the task forces was determined through self-nominations, ensuring equal representation for each gender. The increased diversity and inclusion within EvalYouth Pakistan has ensured equitable representation and also contributed to more creative thinking within the chapter. 7. Promoting accessibility: Being a member of an EvalYouth chapter provides opportunities for learning, engagement, and networking. The EvalYouth chapters are also recognized as representatives’ bodies of YEEs by some of the key players in evaluation. In our first year, several of our members were able to avail scholarship opportunities to attend training by Encompass Learning Center and the Asia Pacific Winter School. Members also received bursaries to attend the Asia Pacific Evaluation Association (APEA) conferences and Evalfest. Several members were also invited to facilitate and moderate sessions in P2p+ Career Advisory and webinars organized by the Sri Lankan Evaluation Association (SLEVA) and APEA. To ensure that more YEEs get access to such opportunities, membership to the EvalYouth chapter should be widely promoted. For this purpose, EvalYouth Pakistan has a dedicated Task Force responsible for expanding the network and engaging those who join the chapter. Although it was a bit tough to find partners during the initial months, eventually partnerships did form, as EvalYouth Chapters offer such a huge potential for promoting evaluation. 8. Developing partnerships: Building partnerships with relevant organizations helps to achieve strategic objectives of the chapter. EvalYouth chapters in different regions and countries have been able to develop partnerships with different organizations and enjoy their institutional support including with UN agencies. EvalYouth Pakistan has developed a partnership strategy outlining the key priorities for partnerships and has identified potential partners. Although it was a bit tough to find partners during the initial months, eventually partnerships did form, as EvalYouth Chapters offer such a huge potential for promoting evaluation. EvalYouth Pakistan officially welcomed UNICEF Pakistan as its first partner two weeks before its first anniversary. 9. Fostering networking: Networking is of great value to a new EvalYouth Chapter. We have been encouraging our members to participate in various evaluation networks and initiatives in the region and across the globe. EvalYouth Pakistan’s members serve in EvalYouth Global, EvalYouth Asia, EVALSDGs network, APEA, and P2p+ Career Advisory Initiative. EvalYouth Pakistan’s members serve as volunteers, organizers, moderators, and facilitators in events and activities organized by other EvalYouth chapters and VOPEs. Based on these engagements and networks, they gain experience and bring their learning back to EvalYouth Pakistan which has proved to be valuable for us. With the new chapter, we have to be patient and focus our energies because the first year of the EvalYouth Chapter is usually the year of giving! 10. From shared purpose to shared responsibility: Working for EvalYouth Pakistan so far and serving as its first co-chair has been truly rewarding for me. I have learned a lot, met some amazing people, and made great friends. But I have also found it a bit challenging at times to balance my role as a co-chair together with my job, personal life, and other voluntary work. With the new chapter, we have to be patient and focus our energies because the first year of the EvalYouth Chapter is usually the year of giving! A few committed young people have to keep it running while developing a strong foundation for its continuity and sustainability. With a strong foundation in place, there should be intentional efforts to empower more leaders by delegating responsibilities, and by engaging more volunteers. I believe that in the first year of EvalYouth Pakistan, we have been able to create a shared purpose within the network and have set a strong foundation with a well-defined structure, roles and responsibilities, and a strategic framework. From now onwards, our focus will be on fostering shared responsibility. Nazir Ul Haq is an experienced planning, monitoring, evaluation, and learning (PMEL) professional with around eight years of diverse experience working in Pakistan and in Southeast Asia. As a PMEL expert, Nazir has worked on various development themes including health equity, humanitarian assistance, economic development, governance, regional cooperation, agricultural development, and education. He is co-chair of EvalYouth Pakistan, a co-leader in EvalYouth Asia, and a member of the Pakistan Evaluation Association, Asia Pacific Evaluation Association and EVALSDGs group. Follow Nazir on Twitter and contact him via nhaqcl@gmail.com.

By Shelby Corley Co-founder, Three Hive Consulting and Eval Academy This blog is part of the Eval4Action ‘Walk the Talk’ blog series. The series details six nominated actions for influential evaluation that were contributed during the Walk the Talk drive, held in October 2021. These lessons and reflections inspire greater action for influential evaluation in the Decade of Action. It was a pleasure to be invited to contribute a blog about using evaluation as an accelerator to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs.) “This blog will write itself,” I told myself smugly. But then I thought more about the topic and came to a somewhat guilty admission: I never reference the SDGs in my work as an evaluator. My work is based almost entirely in western Canada, and my clients rarely, if ever, connect their efforts to the SDGs. They do, however, set goals and work to end poverty, improve health and well-being, and advance gender equality in the regions they serve. My thoughts here are based on my work as an evaluation consultant and as an evaluation capacity builder and are grounded in the experiences that I have had in my career and life to this point. I have arrived in evaluation as a career unintentionally, but appropriately. When I see governments and organizations sharing their goals, I cannot help but question – how will you know when you get there? Where did that goal come from? Are those strategies really leading you to achieve that goal? To me, these are obvious questions to ask, but I am regularly surprised at how infrequently or poorly they are addressed. What if we didn’t evaluate? When I kick off a new evaluation project or provide evaluation training, I like to explore the value of evaluation by asking people to imagine it didn’t exist. Imagine you didn’t reflect on progress and process. Imagine you had no data to guide decisions. How would you know if you’re doing the right things, the right way, at the right time, with the right people? You simply wouldn’t. Your decisions would be made on best guesses and recent memories of standout experiences. Without evaluation, we obviously would not know if we have achieved the SDGs, or if we are making progress toward them. Evaluation encourages reflection Evaluation makes us consider our current state and ask ourselves if that’s what we want. If we then want to do better, evaluation helps us understand how. By asking questions about quality, safety, efficiency, and equity, it helps us identify high-value activities that advance our goals, or see where we may be missing opportunities to do better. When we evaluate, we can learn from our history and better position ourselves to create the future we want for the world. It is incumbent on evaluators to help those around us understand the great value that comes with systematic reflection on progress and process. Evaluators need to both talk the talk and walk the talk. Problem: Evaluation isn’t well understood Evaluators will know what it’s like to have a new acquaintance not understand your job. Many people have experienced evaluation as an onerous task, if at all. Our field is not well known, and our value is not well understood. It is incumbent on evaluators to help those around us understand the great value that comes with systematic reflection on progress and process. Evaluators need to both talk the talk and walk the talk. We need strong voices to amplify our message across all levels of systems, all around the world. Opportunity: Evaluation can be more accessible Sometimes, evaluation is very hard. But many aspects of evaluation are relatively straightforward. The basic principle of why we evaluate – to learn and do better — is easy to understand. And many of the tasks involved are entirely doable by non-evaluators. Evaluation can’t be left solely to expensive consultants. Organizational leaders, programme managers and operational staff need to understand the value of evaluation and be empowered to contribute. Evaluation training, once a niche offering, is now easily accessible for those with internet access. Entry-level information about evaluation is abundant, including on our Eval Academy website. It has never been easier for anyone to learn about evaluation and integrate simple practices into their work. So how can evaluation help accelerate the SDGs? Evaluation can help accelerate the SDGs by being everywhere, all the time. Evaluation needs to grow and be prioritized. Evaluation tasks need to be embedded in everyone’s roles and throughout the entire life of a programme. The principles of reflection and improvement that are so fundamental to evaluation can permeate the world and accelerate the SDGs when evaluation tasks are understood and undertaken by everyone who designs and runs programmes and when policy makers understand the imperative to evaluate the world their policies create. For those of us whose work does not explicitly reference the SDGs, we can take opportunities to point out how the initiatives we support are aligned with the SDGs during our planning discussion and in our reporting. Remember that evaluators have a unique role in which we are often able to encourage our clients to reflect, to share new ideas and suggest different ways of thinking about initiatives—why not help our clients to see how their work relates to the SDGs? Calls to action Policy and grant makers: prioritize effective evaluation and strategic learning. Build in meaningful evaluation requirements so you know if your efforts are helping to achieve goals. Managers: train your staff. Empower them to learn about evaluation and integrate it into their work, even through small actions. Evaluators: talk about evaluation. Be great at what you do and demonstrate the value of your craft. Help your friends and colleagues learn about evaluation. How I Walk the Talk Having witnessed the need to grow awareness of evaluation and capacity to undertake it, my partner and I founded Eval Academy. We believe that evaluation has the power to uncover insights, change behaviours and transform how organizations and systems work – so everyone should evaluate! At Eval Academy, our team shares our experience of evaluation in relatively plain language, offering an introduction to evaluation for those who are unfamiliar with it, and more intermediate-level explorations of evaluation topics for those with some experience. With trustworthy articles and useful resource downloads, we are providing thousands of monthly visitors a simple way to learn about evaluation and integrate it into their work. In this way, Eval Academy is empowering people to accelerate their progress toward their goals – SDGs included. Shelby Corley is CEO of Three Hive Consulting, an evaluation consultancy, and Eval Academy, a website dedicated to building evaluation capacity. Shelby leads a small team of skilled and thoughtful evaluators who serve Canadian clients in the non-profit and healthcare sectors. Her evaluation and research experience includes primary health care, mental health and addictions, health innovation and virtual care, children and youth, housing and homelessness, and immigrant and refugee-serving organizations. Follow Sheldy on Twitter and LinkedIn.

How do we harness the potential of 1.21 billion young people in evaluation? It begins by recognizing, including, committing and investing in Youth in Evaluation. If you are part of the global evaluation community in any way, here are 6 ways you can champion Youth in Evaluation: 1. Adopt the Youth in Evaluation manifesto About 100 organizations and 300 people have already signed the manifesto. If you have not done so, sign the manifesto available in six languages here. Mobilize your partners and other organizations to sign it as well. Customize and use this email template to support this mobilization. 2. Implement your commitment Whether you are an international agency, government organization, a VOPE, academic institution, youth organization, private sector institution or an NGO, take an active role in delivering your commitment to Youth in Evaluation. Start by making a plan together with your local or regional EvalYouth chapter. Launch Youth in Evaluation in your country or region in partnership with other actors. 3. Join the co-creation of standards on meaningful engagement of youth in evaluation To support the implementation of the manifesto, standards on enhancing meaningful youth engagement in evaluation are being co-created for different stakeholder groups such as international agencies, governments, VOPEs, academia, youth organizations, private sector and NGOs. Join the relevant task force and make a contribution to developing the standards for your stakeholder group. Write to contact@eval4action.org to express your interest. 4. Support Youth in Evaluation communication and outreach Regularly spread the word on your digital channels using the communication assets available here. This includes social media materials, FAQ sheet, branding and translation guides. Use relevant international, regional and national advocacy days to advance the importance of youth in evaluation. Find the social media pack for International Youth Day here. 5. Spotlight the Youth in Evaluation logo and badge In your communications, in conferences and meetings, on your website, on your social channels, in your email signature, use the Youth in Evaluation logo to demonstrate your support and commitment. Find all logo related resources here, including the logo in seven languages. If you have signed the manifesto, place the received Champion badge on all your communications. 6. Break the language barrier To spread the word on Youth in Evaluation far and wide, take the lead in translating the Youth in Evaluation manifesto and logo in local, national and regional languages. To begin, have a look at this logo translation guide. To translate the manifesto in your language, reach out to contact@eval4action.org. Do you have other ideas to champion Youth in Evaluation? We invite you to join this growing movement.

By Dr Rashmi Agrawal Towards the SDGs In the keynote address delivered during EvalFest 2020, organized by the Evaluation Community of India (ECOI), Marco Segone, Director, UNFPA Evaluation Office, indicated that if the current trends were any evidence to go by, attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) would take several decades beyond 2030. That was even before COVID-19 arrived on the scene. In April 2020, the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), a UN global initiative, conducted a survey on the progress made and the major challenges faced in implementing the SDGs, covering 715 respondents from 104 countries in the SDG community. Respondents indicated that even before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world was not on track to achieve these goals. Two-thirds of the community believed that their country would only achieve up to half of the goals. Only 16 per cent of respondents believed that their country was on track.[1] These two pieces of evidence – one based on data and the other anecdotal – are enough to alert the global community that a significantly major push (perhaps superhuman) is necessary to reach anywhere close to the goals by 2030. Even before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world was not on track to achieve these goals. COVID-19 and the SDGs The COVID-19 pandemic appears to be throwing all development into disarray and exposing the inadequacies of all public health systems in more economically developed and developing countries alike. The effects of the pandemic has harmed millions of lives and livelihoods. It may take a few years for countries to recover from the economic and health crisis inflicted by the pandemic. To use the language of a cardinal principle of SDGs, those who were left behind earlier have been pushed back even further and those who had enjoyed a modicum of fruits of development have also been pushed into the class of left behind, raising the amount of corrective action required to get back on track considerably. Examples of the negative impact are not restricted to just SDG 8 related to employment and decent work but to many other SDGs addressing hunger, poverty, well being among other areas (SDGs 1, 2, 3, 4). Online education has replaced normal education methods. The major disadvantage of this trend is the exclusion of students who do not have access to the necessary technological equipment and/or the internet. An online survey conducted by the author and team in April 2020 (542 respondents from 58 countries) showed that continued lockdowns and other restrictions imposed raised negative feelings such as stress, anxiety and fear among the people (SDG 3) and even behaviour patterns had changed due to continued disconnect with the outside world[2]. Those who were left behind earlier have been pushed back even further and those who had enjoyed a modicum of fruits of development have also been pushed into the class of left behind, raising the amount of corrective action required to get back on track considerably. COVID-19 and the evaluation practice Evaluation itself has been affected by the pandemic. First, economic impact and budget constraints have affected the scope for evaluations. Some evaluations have been cancelled or postponed. Second, with drastic restrictions imposed upon some of the established evidence-gathering procedures such as face-to-face individual and group interviews, evaluation practice has been forced to modify its methods. Participatory methods such as Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) and the like, which demand personal proximity, are not possible. The evaluation profession is no doubt resilient enough to adapt its techniques to these restrictions. However, alternative techniques have their own limitations. For example, in countries where internet communication is not very widespread, online surveys do not reach all, particularly the most deprived sections. The examples are only indicative. However, these set a limit on knowing what is happening to those left behind. The evaluation profession is no doubt resilient enough to adapt its techniques to these restrictions. Eval4Action campaign The Eval4Action campaign has been conceived under these circumstances. The campaign intends to promote influential evaluations contributing to acceleration of results through evidence-based policies and programmes. A legitimate question, however, is how evaluation can by itself improve the progress towards the SDGs? This requires a) carrying out quality evaluations to produce quality evidence to indicate what policies and programmes work, and, b) convincing the policy-makers to plough this evidence into reshaping policies and programmes. The latter is more difficult to achieve. This is why the campaign is mobilizing the global evaluation community to come together to advocate for influential evaluation at all levels. Role of evaluators Evaluative evidence is required to assess the impact of the pandemic on the lives and livelihoods of the population and interventions made by the governments to tackle the situation. In these circumstances, the role of evaluators has increased many folds to generate quality evidence and guide the assessment of changed priorities and impacts by inventing new methodologies. Technological advances in information gathering, processing and dissemination need to be harnessed for more efficient evaluations, but at the same time, it should be recognized that such methods could be biased due to exclusion and may infringe individual privacies. The role of evaluators has increased many folds to generate quality evidence and guide the assessment of changed priorities and impacts by inventing new methodologies. How can VOPEs contribute? While developing evaluation capacities at all levels and professionalizing evaluation would raise the evaluation standards, leading to evaluations of high quality and utility, advocacy is required to ensure policy-makers use the evidence to frame policies and programmes. Coordination, synergies and constant dialogue between evaluators and other stakeholders like decision makers, legislators, media and the civil society at large are pre-requisites. VOPEs (Voluntary Organizations for Professional Evaluation) have an important role in all the areas - evaluation capacity building, maintaining professional standards, advocacy for use of evidence and so on. VOPEs have an important role in all the areas - evaluation capacity building, maintaining professional standards, advocacy for use of evidence. Takeaway This is the right time for some introspection on the time span set for the global development agenda. We need to re-look at the global agenda and reprioritize the SDGs to address the total well being of people – both material and mental. The COVID-19 pandemic could leave lasting imprints on the attitudes of people. While all the SDGs are important, emphasis on fewer goals related to poverty, hunger, health and inclusivity (SDGs 1, 2, 3 and 4) with fewer targets need to be considered. The role of evaluators is immense in the present scenario, both in creating demand and supply for evaluations and innovating appropriate techniques for evaluations. [1] Sachs, J., Schmidt-Traub, G., Kroll, C., Lafortune, G., Fuller, G., Woelm, F. 2020. The Sustainable Development Goals and COVID-19. Sustainable Development Report 2020. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://sdgindex.org/reports/sustainable-development-report-2020/ [2] Agrawal R., Rama Rao D., Rao B., Kalumgampitiya A., Rao S., Sivaramane N. 2020. Behaviours and coping strategies during COVID 19 - A Study on Impacts. https://krishisamhitha.net/covid19_report/ Dr Rashmi Agrawal is an IPDET alumni, retired as Director from Government of India, now working as an independent M&E consultant with various national and international organizations. She is a Core Group member of Evaluation Community of India (ECOI), Ex Board member of IDEAS and a member of EvalGender+. Contact Dr Rashmi Agrawal on Twitter and at rashmi.agrawal56@gmail.com.

By Gabriela Rentería Flores Chair, EvalYouth Global Network The year 2020 was marked by a swift departure from all paradigms of normal life; the status quo no longer exists. With alarming speed, COVID-19 deepened existing global challenges and overturned hard-won gains on global development. Through a multidimensional domino effect, it has evidenced deep-rooted vulnerabilities everywhere, even in the more developed countries. No region in the world has been exempt from the global economic shock nor the calamitous effects in every aspect of human life. These effects have been particularly strong on the young, women and other groups under already precarious conditions. One year into the COVID-19 pandemic, the world is still facing its effects. The COVID-19 crisis was initially a health crisis but has spread its effects to all other dimensions of development. Just for 2021, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates a global growth of 6.5 percentage points lower than the pre-COVID-19 projections of January 2019, directly affecting low-income households. This has not only pushed back millions into poverty, but it also imperilled the significant progress made in reducing extreme poverty in the world since the 1990s. [1] The International Labour Organization estimates that as of April 2020, almost 1.6 billion informal workers faced a 60 per cent decline in earnings, with women over-represented in the most hard-hit sectors. [2] For young people, the risks in the fields of education, employment, mental health and disposable income are increasing exponentially. These consequences are not only affecting them in the present, but will have long-lasting effects on their development, and after all, will have an impact on humanity as a whole. Almost every Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) has been affected by the pandemic. Hard-fought gains are under threat. Unquestionably, this pandemic has become the biggest challenge that the modern world and international development has ever faced; and, indeed, the uncertainty not only keeps surrounding our livelihoods, our social interactions, and our lives, but it will permanently modify and transform them. Under these meaningful and challenging times, dreaming for a better future is not only possible but desirable, and evaluating for a better future should no longer be an aspirational statement but an opportunity to take action for influential evaluation, to work even harder than originally planned. This pandemic has presented enormous challenges, but as young evaluators, we need to build from this crisis, collect the lessons learned, and transform them into knowledge that contributes to solutions for a better society. One that genuinely leaves no one behind. Dreaming for a better future is not only possible but desirable, and evaluating for a better future should no longer be an aspirational statement but an opportunity to take action for influential evaluation, to work even harder than originally planned. The attempts to respond to the current crisis need to consider the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as a roadmap to development. This will help us to build a better world, providing a stable and prosperous life for every person and ensuring also the health of the planet. Yet, this challenge cannot be dealt with in isolation, but with partnerships. Integrated solutions can lead us to build a greener and more inclusive future that can help every country to meet the SDGs. A response to the pandemic is not only about amending inequalities, but also about building a better and resilient world, for everyone, everywhere. The 2030 Agenda calls for breaking down silos, so we must work together and redouble our commitment and efforts to ensure that better practices and more evidence are utilized in subnational and national plans, as well as in international assistance. We have the historic opportunity to reach the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and we can do it by using evidence, by accelerating influential evaluation. We need to promote evaluation that makes a difference, that has a positive impact on the lives of people and that includes youth. Going out of this trap and achieving the SDGs by 2030 requires a generational commitment. While it is the responsibility of everyone to act towards the achievement of the SDGs, young and emerging evaluators (YEEs) should take the lead and contribute to sustainable and equitable development by creating innovative ways of approaching evaluation, building new partnerships, and advocating for a sustainable and resilient world. We need to promote evaluation that makes a difference, that has a positive impact on the lives of people and that includes youth. Young and emerging evaluators normally face the common challenge of exclusion and under-representation in the evaluation community and many other organizations. Now VOPEs, international organizations and governments, need to include youth as actors of social change to build a resilient and better future. Since its establishment, EvalYouth has been about actions and transformational change. Partnering with UNFPA and the Global Parliamentarians Forum in the Eval4Action campaign has enriched and complemented our vision. Eval4Action is about transformational change, actions, focusing on evaluation as a critical tool to accelerate the achievement of the SDGs. Furthermore, it is about opening opportunities, in particular to YEEs to participate and lead the articulation of regional evaluation action plans, for our ideas to be heard. Now it is time to seize these opportunities and demonstrate our ability to make a change, to go beyond commitments, to accelerate influential evaluation. Now it is time to seize these opportunities and demonstrate our ability to make a change, to go beyond commitments, to accelerate influential evaluation. I envision reaching 2030 where influential evaluation is widespread around the world to drive positive change, where YEEs are effective drivers of social change, where we can learn lessons from what has been done and integrate them into real action plans. A 2030 where we can commit again as humanity on new and more challenging SDGs, considering youth as key informants, advisors, and decision-makers. None of this will be possible without everyone's commitment and actions. [1] International Monetary Fund, 2020. World Economic Outlook Update. https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/Issues/2020/06/24/WEOUpdateJune2020 [2] International Labour Organization, 2020. https://www.ilo.org/globa l/topics/employment-promotion/informal-economy/publications/WCMS_743523/lang--en/index.htm Gabriela Rentería Flores is the Chair of EvalYouth Global Network and an Independent Monitoring & Evaluation Consultant. She holds a Bachelors degree in Economics and a Masters degree in Development Economics. She has worked in M&E projects for GIZ, UNDP, CONEVAL and subnational governments in Mexico. Gabriela is a member of the National Academy of Evaluators of Mexico (ACEVAL), EvalGenderMx and EvalYouth LAC. Follow Gabriela on Twitter and LinkedIn.

By Krithika Rajagopalan and Shagun Sabarwal CLEAR South Asia The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing development problems such as unemployment, poverty, and inequality, underscoring the need for carefully framing policies using data and evidence that is generated through reliable and strong monitoring & evaluation (M&E) systems. Many governments in low- and middle- income countries collect data but may not use it well. There is an opportunity to use emerging technologies and systems based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning to improve real-time decision-making. For technological innovations to be truly useful in driving effective decisions which affect millions of people, we need to improve the data quality, reliability of information generated and system readiness to absorb these technologies. The importance of decisions based on scientific evidence and facts cannot be understated amid the rising spread of misinformation which has also complicated the war against the pandemic. At the level of policymaking, one of the ways to ensure this is through M&E data that is generated in-house or by third-party evaluators. However, low quality data or the absence of the value of M&E data can lead to decisions taken which may be ineffective or in some cases, counter-productive. Studies suggest that even well-drafted programmes that appear to work well based on data collected on administrative indicators, can fail to work in practice. For technological innovations to be truly useful in driving effective decisions which affect millions of people, we need to improve the data quality, reliability of information generated and system readiness to absorb these technologies. Some of the common barriers to good quality data include system-level challenges such as inconsistency in the mode of data collection across various data generating units, and man-made errors at the data collection and data entry stages. Lack of proper integration of these databases might create duplicates, and might also lead to the publication of a combined version of data collected by different units at different points in time. This is problematic because such data may not be entirely representative. The underlying economic, political and social institutions also need to be conducive to collect good quality data. It is important for government departments to lay down comprehensive data collection protocols to collect quality data on policy processes and outcomes, secure the data that is collected, and institute an effective monitoring process to ensure adherence to protocol. Such protocols can enable consistency and resilience in the face of changes in the political system or staff within government departments. In our work at the CLEAR South Asia Center, which is hosted at the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) South Asia, we engage in many such capacity building and advisory services with government partners to help them use quality evidence to inform decisions. We also conduct workshops on helping stakeholders improve data quality through content such as conducting data quality checks and the design of robust data collection systems. It is important for government departments to lay down comprehensive data collection protocols to collect quality data on policy processes and outcomes, secure the data that is collected, and institute an effective monitoring process to ensure adherence to protocol. What did this work look like during the pandemic? There has been an increased prevalence of remote data collection over the last year. Researcher interest in methods such as Computer Assisted Telephonic Interviews (CATI), Interactive Voice Response Systems (IVRs), and self-reported surveys sent to respondents through SMS or the internet have seen a substantial increase globally. Some prerequisites for weaving them at a large scale into existing systems include digital literacy of respondents and survey staff, increased mobile-use penetration in a region, and internet and signal prevalence. Investing in these basics can help continue the propagation of low-cost remote data collection while ensuring quality data. Predictive analysis using AI is another recent innovation, which seeks to use large datasets from previous economic events to predict future events, and incorporates various interlinked factors affecting the outcome of interest. Poor quality data will constrain the ability to observe patterns in such a relationship. The foundation for this must be built on a deep understanding of the geographical region and context on which the data collection and analysis is centred, and requires personnel trained in machine learning[1]. New methods also include geospatial analysis in policy areas such as urban planning and transportation planning, which require the availability of internet facilities and accurate GIS mapping. Climate change is an emerging policy area that can benefit from the geospatial analysis[2] for new policy recommendations. The true potential for technological advancement in M&E can be harnessed only with a conducive infrastructure and enabling environment. Maintaining security to avoid misuse of the published data and documentation is important as governments, donors, and researchers use technology for activities of varying levels of complexity. The many threats to the security of administrative and government data can range from intentional breaches into government platforms or authorised persons/departments unintentionally exposing information to the public due to lack of adequate skills or awareness such as intentional unauthorised access by hackers, unintentional breach of security (lax security protocols by the authorised user) and authorised users illegally using data for unauthorised purposes. To avoid such breach of security, existing systems can be empowered using reliable data storage mechanisms such as encrypted hard disks, encrypted data transfer processes, and restrictions on access networks. The true potential for technological advancement in M&E can be harnessed only with a conducive infrastructure and enabling environment. Building capacity on the use of such technology is one vital component that we address at CLEAR South Asia through training courses on digital modes of data collection and measurement. The current crisis has highlighted the need to revisit these systems to ensure that innovations actually translate into actionable policies. We have a long way before M&E is used as effectively as possible to inform important decisions and improve development outcomes. The current crisis has highlighted the need to revisit these systems to ensure that innovations actually translate into actionable policies. As technological innovations abound, the focus should be on supporting currently fragmented M&E systems to move from data generation towards data use, and work towards improving their readiness to absorb technology. [1] A type of computer programme that performs specific tasks such as data cleaning and analysis based on information inputted by users. [2] Geospatial Information is a digital replication of the physical world in which all human, economic and environmental activity takes place. Analysing this information to guide decisions in termed as geospatial analysis. Krithika Rajagopalan is a Senior Training Associate at CLEAR South Asia and J-PAL South Asia. She supports the team in partnership development with governments, civil society organisations, donors and multilateral organizations. Follow Krithika on Twitter. Shagun Sabarwal is the Director of CLEAR South Asia and the Director of Policy, Training, and Communications at J-PAL South Asia. She promotes the Center’s mission to strengthen the monitoring, evaluation, learning systems, and data use of decision-makers in the region through capacity building and advisory services. Follow Shagun on Twitter.

By Thomas Archibald Associate Professor, Department of Agricultural, Leadership, and Community Education, Virginia Tech To achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and recover from the devastating impacts of COVID-19, business as usual is unacceptable. Paradigmatic transformations are needed as civil society, industry, and governments alike rethink how they work and how they define success in relation to social, economic, and ecological impacts. In parallel, conventional evaluation approaches are inadequate. Reductionist, linear, technical-rationalistic modes of thinking and evaluating are ill-equipped to face the complex dynamic challenges confronting us. As Michael Quinn Patton and the Blue Marble Evaluation (BME) community suggest, evaluating transformation requires transforming evaluation. One way to foster transformation in evaluation is to intentionally and explicitly focus on critical and evaluative thinking skills. Specifically, evaluative thinking can broaden recognition of evaluation as a powerful tool to improve public accountability and good governance, while simultaneously bolstering evaluation systems and capacities among evaluators and programme implementors alike. Evaluating transformation requires transforming evaluation. The needed transformations of evaluation One clarion call about transformation is from the BME approach, with its three overarching principles: global thinking, Anthropocene[1] as context and transformative engagement. The premise of the third principle is that, “Global, anthropogenic problems are so severe, threatening the future sustainability of the planet and humanity, that major and rapid systems transformations are needed.”[2] Another call for transformation is from Thomas Schwandt[3], reflected on thoughtfully by Zenda Ofir.[4] Against the backdrop and predominance of ‘normal evaluation,’ which is “wedded to notions of scientific rationality, social progress, effectiveness and efficiency in social programming, and the broad ideology of modernization,” post-normal evaluation draws on: Resilience thinking as a rationality of governing The return of politics to the people A recovery of practical reasoning Co-production to redefine the relationship between professionals and citizens, and Ethical accountability. Yet another call for transformation is the call for equitable evaluation, as expressed via the principles of the Equitable Evaluation Initiative, including that evaluation should be in service of equity, should be multiculturally valid and orientated toward participant ownership, and should answer critical questions about the historical and structural entanglements of societal conditions and the strategies designed to address them. One final call for transformation with clear implications for the evaluation of the SDGs is the movement towards decolonizing evaluation—which requires that evaluation itself be decolonized while simultaneously acting as a decolonizing force in society. This topic is discussed beautifully in a Twende Mbele webinar featuring Candice Morkel, Mjiba Frehiwot, and Mokgophana Ramasobana.[5] Taken together, Blue Marble Evaluation, post-normal evaluation, equitable evaluation, and decolonizing evaluation can guide evaluation towards the radical reimagining required by the challenges of evaluating the SDGs and COVID-19 recovery well. All four of these trends also highlight the importance of critical and evaluative thinking. Blue Marble Evaluation, post-normal evaluation, equitable evaluation, and decolonizing evaluation can guide evaluation towards the radical reimagining required by the challenges of evaluating the SDGs and COVID-19 recovery well. Evaluative thinking for transformative evaluation What is evaluative thinking? It must be the thinking we (or any one does) while evaluating, you might say. In a sense, that is true, but in recent years, a number of evaluation scholars and practitioners have taken a deeper dive into this elusive concept. According to Patton, “Evaluation is an activity. Evaluative thinking is a way of doing business. This distinction is critical. It derives from studies of evaluation use. Evaluation is more useful—and actually used—when the programme and organizational culture manifests evaluative thinking.”[6] My colleagues and I have defined it as follows, “Evaluative thinking is critical thinking applied in the context of evaluation, motivated by an attitude of inquisitiveness and a belief in the value of evidence, that involves identifying assumptions, posing thoughtful questions, pursuing deeper understanding through reflection and perspective taking, and informing decisions in preparation for action.” (p. 384)[7] Expanding the horizon of what worldviews frame our conceptualizations of evaluative thinking and reasoning, Nan Wehipeihana and Kate McKegg also consider the ethical imperative of acknowledging and upholding the place of indigenous knowledge systems in evaluative thinking.[8] Evaluative thinking is both a fundamental philosophical foundation of evaluation and a way to develop evaluation capacity of individuals and organizations—to unleash the power of inquiry. It is similar to critical thinking and reflective practice, but also distinct, in that it centers the four-step logic of evaluation to make value judgments. Evaluative thinking is both a fundamental philosophical foundation of evaluation and a way to develop evaluation capacity of individuals and organizations—to unleash the power of inquiry. Here are some ways evaluative thinking relates to transforming evaluation to evaluate transformation: Evaluative thinking democratizes and decentralizes evaluative inquiry. Therefore, sensitive to power dynamics, citizens from all walks of life can find their place in collecting, analyzing, and using data. Evaluative thinking taps into practical wisdom and a plurality of ways of knowing and reasoning. Due to the messiness of “wicked problems,” practitioners don’t just apply technical solutions to technical problems. We are not robots. Rather, we engage in “reflection-in-action, a kind of ongoing experimentation, as a means to finding a viable solution to such problems” leading to “a particular kind of craft knowledge (or the wisdom of practice).”[9] Evaluative thinking is systems and equity thinking. By constantly identifying assumptions, taking multiple perspectives, and exploring relationships, evaluative thinking helps do the systems-oriented ‘glocal’ work BME requires, including the attention to power, positionality, and privilege that equitable evaluation necessitates. Evaluative thinking balances intuition and rationality. In a time where we must re-center values and facts in the face of the dangerous erosion of public discourse for good governance, evaluative thinking admits a plurality of ways of knowing while maintaining a critical eye on the credibility of claims and evidence. In these four ways, among others, evaluative thinking has the potential to effect functioning cultures of transformed evaluation needed to evaluate the SDGs well for the betterment of all. [1] The current geological age, viewed as the period during which human activity has been the dominant influence on climate and the environment. https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/anthropocene/. [2] https://bluemarbleeval.org/principles/transformative-engagement-principle [3] Schwandt, T. A. (2019). Post-normal evaluation? Evaluation, 25(3), 317-329. [4] https://zendaofir.com/ten-essential-competencies-for-post-normal-evaluation/ [5] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buwDju-Os2o [6] https://www.theclearinitiative.org/resources/embracing-evaluative-thinking-for-better-outcomes-four-ngo-case-studies [7] Buckley, J., Archibald, T., Hargraves, M., & Trochim, W. M. (2015). Defining and teaching evaluative thinking: Insights from research on critical thinking. American Journal of Evaluation, 36(3), 375-388. doi:10.1177/1098214015581706 [8] Wehipeihana, N., & McKegg, K. (2018). Values and culture in evaluative thinking: Insights from Aotearoa New Zealand. In A. T. Vo &T. Archibald (Eds.), Evaluative Thinking. New Directions for Evaluation. 158, 93–107. [9] Schwandt, T. (2015). Evaluation foundations revisited: Cultivating a life of the mind for practice. Stanford University Press. Thomas Archibald is an Associate Professor and Extension Specialist in the Department of Agricultural, Leadership, and Community Education at Virginia Tech, where he also directs the Feed the Future Senegal Youth in Agriculture project. Thomas Archibald is winner of the American Evaluation Association Marcia Guttentag Promising New Evaluator Award, he serves on the Board of Directors of the Eastern Evaluation Research Society and is an Associate Editor of Evaluation and Program Planning. He received his PhD from Cornell University in 2013. Follow Thomas on Twitter and LinkedIn.

By Shada El-Sharif Climate Change and Sustainability Advisor; Founder, SustainMENA As countries begin to rebuild from the health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the United Nations has issued a call for the world to ‘build back better’. Early examples of this, like the European Green Deal have demonstrated how an ambitious, multi-sectoral plan that will impact the lives of millions of people can simply be captured by a few key bold targets to make the European economy more sustainable. Targets around climate action, biodiversity, circular economy and smart mobility have already raised the visibility of the Deal and will enable evaluation and communication of progress along the way. High quality and independent evaluation and communication of best practices and lessons learned around the implementation of the Deal will also help to sustain its buy-in within the European Union, and serve as an inspiration to other regions to embrace green recovery. MENA’s climate change and data challenge The Mediterranean region, which is home to several countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has been described as a ‘climate change hotspot’ in a United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) recent report, State of the Environment and Development (SoED)[1] in the Mediterranean. Populations and livelihoods in coastal cities of Egypt, Lebanon and Tunisia are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change (SDG 13) due to the increasing risk of sea level rise. It is no surprise that countries of the region are increasingly adopting low carbon and climate resilient policy frameworks. The Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia’s (ESCWA) latest Arab Sustainable Development Report (ASDR)[2] highlights significant challenges in data availability on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) across the 22 Arab States. For example, the limited information on ecosystems and interlinkages between climate change and invasive species was cited as one of the key barriers for advancing SDG 15 in the Arab world, where poor data availability hinders the capacity to incorporate impacts in management strategies, monitor progress and changes over time, and adapt plans to meet conservation challenges[3]. Jordan as a case study We often hear statements like “Jordan is one of the most water scarce countries in the world”[4] or “Jordan imports over 92 per cent of its energy requirements”[5], which is typically followed by a statement about the country being “the largest host of registered refugees in the world” (as of 2018, 2.8 million refugees registered with UNRWA and UNHCR)[6]. Jordan issued its Voluntary National Review (VNR) in 2017 on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda but has yet to submit its update. It has been tracking some of its SDG targets and indicators through the Department of Statistics (DoS)[7], however, communication of Jordan’s progress on the SDGs does not happen regularly enough to resonate with the public. This can be a lost opportunity, particularly to celebrate achievements. Better tracking, evaluation and communication around the SDGs in Jordan would galvanize the needed political buy-in to turn green transition plans into actions, and potential investment opportunities. Better tracking, evaluation and communication around the SDGs in Jordan would galvanize the needed political buy-in to turn green transition plans into actions, and potential investment opportunities. Progress on SDGs in Jordan: Despite limited communication of success stories, Jordan has made progress on key SDGs, both at the policy and project levels. For example: SDG 13: Jordan issued its Nationally Determined Contributions with a target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 14 per cent in 2030 (with 12.5 per cent contingent on receiving international assistance) SDG 7: Jordan concluded three rounds of direct proposals to establish utility scale renewable energy projects, based on its landmark Law on Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (2012) SDG 6: Jordan is home to Al-Samra Wastewater Treatment Plant, one of the most energy efficient wastewater treatment plants globally SDG 11: Jordan has a fleet of over 20,000 electric vehicles SDG 2, 6, 7, 15: The Sahara Forest Project[8] in Aqaba is a successful demonstration of a water-energy-food nexus project. What ‘build back better’ could mean for Jordan: Jordan, like other countries in the region, is exploring what ‘build back better’ means for its national context. A good starting point is the National Green Growth Plan[9] (NGGP) issued by the Ministry of Environment in 2017. In order to operationalize the NGGP, Jordan recently issued the Green Growth National Action Plans (GG-NAPs) for the economy’s key sectors: water, energy, agriculture, waste, transport and tourism. As shown below, the GG-NAPs seek to achieve five national objectives that are interlinked with the SDGs. The policy development and implementation process of the GG-NAPs is captured in the graphic below, along with the desired impacts including jobs, carbon reductions, resource efficiency, and poverty reduction, all of which must be measured, evaluated and communicated regularly. Evaluation and communication of impact Jordan already has a robust green policy framework in place, but key to its success will be the ability to define, measure, monitor, evaluate and communicate impact across the desired objectives of the GG-NAPs. This will also help to prioritize post-COVID green recovery measures in the medium and long term. Furthermore, the ability to forecast and communicate on the green jobs created by this paradigm will be instrumental in securing wider support for this agenda, since unemployment continues to be a pressing challenge. Jordan already has a robust green policy framework in place, but key to its success will be the ability to define, measure, monitor, evaluate and communicate impact across the desired objectives of the Green Growth National Action Plans. Robust monitoring and evaluation frameworks of the green projects will also help Jordan and MENA countries to access international climate and sustainable finance. Jordan is well positioned to ‘build back better’ by turning its natural resource and socio-economic challenges into opportunities, by adopting a data-driven, green recovery pathway that is both climate resilient and deploys low carbon technologies. The communication of data-driven success stories along its green recovery journey will further facilitate cross-fertilization of best practices at the regional and global levels. This underscores the strategic importance of embedding an effective evaluation and communication framework as an integral component of its green recovery model. [1] UNEP. 2020. State of Environment and Development in the Mediterranean. [2] ESCWA. 2020. Arab Sustainable Development Report (ASDR) [3] ibid. [4] MWI. 2017. Water Reallocation Policy 2016. [5] MEMER. 2019. Energy Sector Brochure. [6] Jordan Economic Growth Plan 2018-2022 (UNRWA: United Nations Relief and Works Agency, UNHCR: United Nations Higher Commission for Refugees) [7] Department of Statistics (DoS). 17 Dec 2020. SDG Tracker. http://jorinfo.dos.gov.jo/Databank/pxweb/en/SDG/ [8] Sahara Forest Project. https://www.saharaforestproject.com/ [9] Green Growth is defined by the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) as economic growth that is environmentally sustainable and socially inclusive. Shada El-Sharif is a recognized thought leader on climate change, green economy and sustainable development in Jordan and MENA. Shada El-Sharif is an advisor to the Government of Jordan on Sustainable Development and Green Recovery, and served as Director of the Jordan Environment Fund at the Ministry of Environment. She holds MEng and BSc degrees in Environmental Engineering from Cornell University, and is pursuing an MPA at the Harvard Kennedy School. Shada is Founder and CEO of SustainMENA, an advisory and public awareness platform on climate change and sustainability in Jordan and the MENA region. Follow Shada on Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn or contact her via shada@sustainmena.com.