By Leticia Taimo, Margie Roper and Zamokuhle Thwala Khulisa Management Services 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. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, South Africa’s education system was facing tremendous challenges in providing quality education in the majority of the country’s schools. As Khulisa has reported in early grade reading evaluation reports, the basic education system in South Africa (Grade 1 to 12) consistently performs poorly on international ratings. In 2016, the Progress in International Reading and Literacy Study (PIRLS) indicated that 78% of South African Grade 4 learners were not reading for meaning. This means that 8 out of 10 South African children do not learn to read for meaning in the early years of school. [1] The COVID-19 pandemic and its ensuing series of lockdowns, school closures, and the necessity to rotate learners and observe strict social distancing protocols have intensified these challenges tremendously. In the wake of the pandemic, evaluating teaching methods and learner outcomes has become more critical than ever to address learning losses and build back better. At the same time, evaluations have become more difficult to conduct during the pandemic. More so than ever before, evaluations must be flexible and adaptable in order to be effective. The circumstances of the pandemic, while challenging, have created unique opportunities for innovation and accelerated the demand for, and immediate use of, evaluation data. Conducting actionable evaluations during a pandemic: What we’ve learned Khulisa and its partners undertook an assignment focused on evaluating early grade reading; creating language benchmarks for learners in two languages; and researching the social-emotional effects of COVID-19 on early grade reading, learning, and teaching. The circumstances of the pandemic, while challenging, have created unique opportunities for innovation and accelerated the demand for, and immediate use of, evaluation data. The bulk of the data collection took place in September 2021, between two devastating waves of COVID-19. Conducting this work during such a difficult time for the South African education system taught us several important lessons about how to make our evaluations accessible and immediately useful to policymakers: While conducting a high-stakes evaluation, it is crucial to build and maintain a strong relationship with the client/partner, in this case, the South African Department of Basic Education (DBE) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The DBE was very interested in the results of these evaluations and played a crucial role in evaluation design, instrument development, and training and selecting fieldworkers. Constant communication and joint planning with DBE led to more trust and buy-in, which increased the chances DBE would adopt the recommendations that emerged from our evaluations. For example, in February 2022, due to the recommendations provided in Khulisa’s research and other studies, the DBE and the Government of South Africa changed COVID-19 regulations to allow learners to return to school full-time and ended rotational learning. Evaluators must be agile and flexible in choosing the data collection methods that are responsive to their client’s needs. While in the proposal-writing stage, since it was uncertain when and how schools would reopen, Khulisa intentionally included a data collection method that did not require physical presence in schools. Khulisa contracted Geopoll to conduct Computer Assisted Telephonic Interviews (CATI) with school management teams, teachers, and parents, which ensured we were able to collect the data we needed amidst the uncertainty of pandemic school closures. Breaking data collection into multiple points within the span of the evaluation helps increase the data’s usability. In our case, we broke the data collection into three phases: 1) collecting data from school leaders; 2) collecting data in schools (whenever we were allowed back in schools); and 3) collecting data from parents. This approach helped us be strategic about which questions to ask when and to whom, avoiding duplication of effort and maximizing our evaluation insights. Our phased data collection approach also allowed the client to receive evidence in a timely fashion and take action in the moments that mattered most. Moving forward This project was implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the lessons learned are useful for all evaluations – not only those conducted during a crisis. Constant engagement with key stakeholders and flexibility in project implementation are important for dealing with unexpected challenges in every project. Thus, it’s essential to build in sufficient time for flexibility when budgeting for the evaluation, and to be intentional about creating opportunities for key stakeholders to be involved in the evaluation process and take action on the results. In the case of the COVID-19 research portion of Khulisa’s project with DBE and USAID, which has now been concluded, our team was successful in accelerating demand for the use of evidence by policy makers. We also learned that, as evaluators, we should always consider innovative ways to be responsive to client needs and provide timely data, which leads to increased interest in the evaluation findings and ultimate use of the evidence. We will be taking these lessons forward in our evaluations in the future. The other component of this project (the language benchmarks and two impact evaluations) are still underway, and we are looking forward to seeing how evidence emerging from this project phase is used for action. [1] Spaull, N. 2017, The unfolding reading crisis: the new PIRLS 2016 results. Available from: https://nicspaull.com/2017/12/05/the-unfolding-reading-crisis-the-new-pirls-2016-results/ Leticia Taimo works at Khulisa Management Services as Senior Associate Evaluator. She has worked on several evaluation, research and assessment projects for a variety of stakeholders (private sector, NGOs, government and international donors). Ms Taimo was awarded the Mandela Rhodes Scholarship in 2013 and the Commonwealth Scholarship in 2014 as recognition of her commitment to social change in the African continent. Follow Leticia on LinkedIn and contact her via ltaimo@khulisa.com. Margaret Roper leads Khulisa’s Education and Development Division, supporting clients such as USAID, UN agencies and the LEGO Foundation. She provides technical expertise and leadership on programme development, monitoring, evaluation and knowledge sharing in education, human trafficking and social development. Ms Roper is a PhD candidate at Lancaster University, United Kingdom (UK). Follow Margaret on LinkedIn. Zamokuhle Thwala is a Junior Project Manager at Khulisa Management Services focusing primarily on providing project and fieldwork management support. Ms Thwala has strong project management skills, data quality assurance, as well as project administration. Prior to joining Khulisa, Ms Thwala worked for the University of the Witwatersrand. She has also worked in other community-based projects, mostly focusing on young people. Follow Zamokuhle on LinkedIn.

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 Ayabulela Dlakavu and Tebogo Fish CLEAR - Anglophone Africa (CLEAR-AA) It is generally accepted that evaluation theory and practice originates from the Global North. These origins mean that evaluation has not escaped neoliberal ideology which dominates the economic, political and social organisation of the developed Global North. Voluntary Organisations for Professional Evaluation (VOPEs) likewise are a Global North invention, tasked with a mandate of advancing evaluation practice as a vehicle of improving development planning, decision-making, policy and programme formulation and implementation. As with evaluation theory and practice, the form and structure of African VOPEs are also based on the Global North model of national evaluation associations or societies. Having studied and worked with VOPEs in Africa, we are of the view that the unique challenges and barriers faced by VOPEs in developing regions and countries warrant the development of a new VOPE model for the Global South. For instance, African countries generally experience widespread development challenges such as high levels of poverty, unemployment, inequality and political instability. The reality of low demand for evaluation and the limited use of monitoring data by public sector institutions minimizes the effectiveness of interventions aimed at addressing these challenges. The limited human and financial resources dedicated to evaluation practice, as well as monitoring for compliance only, are common challenges that impede the use of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) evidence for decision-making. Therefore, a western VOPE model, which has largely emerged from a context of high demand for evaluations from national and subnational governments, adequate evaluation capacity, funding, as well as citizens’ demand for transparency and accountability of government operations, is not suitable for the African context. An enabling environment, therefore, does not exist for the Global North VOPE model that is stimulated by existing evaluation capacity among practitioners, a significant demand for evaluation from the state, civil society and the citizenry. This Afro-centric evaluative paradigm should therefore drive the indigenisation and innovation in M&E practice on the continent. The macro-environment within which African VOPEs operate is as follows: challenges with regards to evaluation capacity, the nascent nature of evaluation practice (evaluation agenda generally driven by bilateral and multilateral donors/development partners), lack of demand for evaluation from governments and national legislatures, the dominance of performance reporting (monitoring), lack of citizen demand for evaluation (although citizens hold the state accountable in certain procedural and substantive democracies). This context is not similar to the enabling environment present in the Global North. It, therefore, follows that African VOPEs need to be structured in a manner that is responsive to the challenges posed by the macro-environment described above. It is the duty of African VOPEs and evaluators to develop Afro-centric research and evaluation methodologies that will enable the adequate participation of all intended African beneficiaries of development intervention irrespective of race, gender, age and class. There is a need for African VOPEs to build a cadre of evaluators that is able to theorise and apply a nuanced evaluation paradigm that seeks to highlight and address issues relating to high unemployment, poverty, inequality and political instability. An Afro-centric evaluation paradigm should not seek to impose neoliberal ideology such as demanding democratisation but should rather advocate for governance that is responsive to the socio-economic challenges described above. An Afro-centric evaluative paradigm should seek to measure the degree to which development interventions in Africa are able to incrementally address poverty, unemployment and inequality which often trigger political instability in the form of civil unrest, unconstitutional changes in government and revolutions. This Afro-centric evaluative paradigm should therefore drive the indigenisation and innovation in M&E practise on the continent. Scientific revolutions are partly induced by methodological innovation that challenges traditional methods of inquiry. It is the duty of African VOPEs and evaluators to develop Afro-centric research and evaluation methodologies that will enable the adequate participation of all intended African beneficiaries of development intervention irrespective of race, gender, age and class. Afro-centric evaluative methodologies should be routed in indigenous modes of knowledge generation such as storytelling. Furthermore, anthropological methodologies that are routed in participant observation, such as ethnography, should be advanced by African VOPEs and affiliated evaluators. African VOPEs and evaluators have a historic mission of not only charting an independent and alternative evaluative path for Africa, but also defining development indicators that are relevant to the African context. Through such a rigorous and strategic repositioning of African VOPEs and evaluators, national VOPEs will be able to influence policymakers and development practitioners due to an enhanced ability to measure and articulate the development needs and demands of African populations. The African Evaluation Association (AfrEA) has gone in the right direction by placing the Made in Africa Evaluation (MAE) approach at the top of Africa’s evaluation discourse agenda. This MAE paradigm is the Afro-centric evaluation approach that we have advocated for in the preceding section above. Through AfrEA’s advocacy, the macro-environment also presents opportunities for the advancement of Afro-centricity in evaluation scholarships and practice on the continent. It is this African character that will also strengthen Afro-centric conceptualisation of what development should look like in an African socio-economic and political context that has proven that neoliberal socio-economic policy and political systems are not necessarily suited to Africa. African VOPEs and evaluators have a historic mission of not only charting an independent and alternative evaluative path for Africa but also defining development indicators that are relevant to the African context. While VOPEs are central to building strong and sustainable Afro-centric national evaluation systems, other evaluation stakeholders such as governments, evaluation capacity development stakeholders, civil society organisations, and bilateral and multilateral donors/development partners must also play a part. While VOPEs are central to building strong and sustainable Afro-centric national evaluation systems, other evaluation stakeholders such as governments, evaluation capacity development stakeholders, civil society organisations, and bilateral and multilateral donors/development partners must also play a part. Evaluation capacity development (ECD) stakeholders such as the Centre for Learning on Evaluation and Results – Anglophone Africa (CLEAR-AA), the Centre for Learning on Evaluation and Results – Francophone Africa (CLEAR-FA) and other ECD stakeholders must provide technical and financial assistance to the endeavour of developing Afro-centric evaluation methodologies, working side-by-side with African VOPEs. It is only through an Afro-centric evaluative lens that African evaluators will be able to accurately capture the extent to which this continent has achieved the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, African Union Agenda 2063 and national development plans and visions. This is the intellectual and professional challenge to which African evaluation practitioners must respond. Ayabulela Dlakavu is an M&E practitioner, analyst of public and foreign policy and political economist based at the Centre for Learning on Evaluation and Results-Anglophone Africa (CLEAR-AA). He is also a PhD candidate and Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Johannesburg. Ayabulela is also a member of the South African Monitoring and Evaluation Association (SAMEA) and African Evaluation Association (AfrEA). Follow Ayabulela on Twitter and LinkedIn. Contact him via ayabulela.dlakavu@wits.ac.za. Tebogo Fish is a researcher working at CLEAR-AA in Johannesburg, South Africa. She holds a Master’s Degree in Research Psychology with research interests in M&E and development issues in Africa. Tebogo is also a member of SAMEA and AfrEA. Follow Tebogo on LinkedIn. Contact her via tebogo.fish1@wits.ac.za.

By Dana Cristina Repede Member, Young and Emerging Evaluators group of the European Evaluation Society (yEES!) 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. Dana Cristina Repede interviewed Virgil Pamfil, the acting President of RoSE (Romanian Society of Evaluators) to unpack the VOPE’s efforts to professionalize evaluation in Romania, notably through developing occupational standards and implementing a code of conduct for evaluators. Professionalizing evaluation Dana: In your video for Eval4Action’s Walk the Talk you speak about RoSE’s endeavor to professionalize evaluation in Romania. What does professionalization of evaluation mean and what are the few steps that RoSE took to that end? Virgil: On one hand, the discussion about the professionalization of evaluation should be put in terms of developing an appropriate enabling environment. This may involve designing, adopting and implementing legislation and/or policies to institutionalize national evaluation systems, but also institutionalizing the profession through different elements such as developing occupational standards, codes of conduct etc. In Romania, the occupational standards for evaluators were thought to make a major contribution to the development of the profession because they participate in the design of a large array of activities within evaluation: performance, workforce design, etc. through standardizing them. Occupational standards have implications not only on productivity, but also on the development of human capital. Therefore, by enabling the basis for the development of educational schemes, such as initial and continuous learning for evaluators, the standards ensure that there is a link between human capital investment and productivity, the market’s needs, etc. In line with this, RoSE has been certified as a training provider since 2013 and delivers training and mentoring to evaluators. On the other hand, professionalization has to be developed at individual level through strengthening the capacities of individuals’ knowledge and skills. In other words, the personal drive of an individual to continuously improve, and to be responsible or accountable for actions taken, is especially significant in the evaluation profession. RoSE considers itself as an active actor that participates in building an evaluation culture because of its two-tier strategy of taking action at institutional and individual level. RoSE has been a catalyst for action through its activity of knowledge sharing and networking. In this respect, the three projects implemented in partnership with VOPEs from North Macedonia, Albania, and Kosovo under the peer to peer programme supported by International Organization for Cooperation in Evaluation (IOCE) is a key milestone in RoSE interventions. Dana: What is RoSE’s roadmap for continuing to professionalize evaluation in the future? Virgil: This is difficult to say because it is still a long way from building an evaluation culture in Romania as the National Policy, Strategy, and Action Plan are still pending. However, as a EU Member State and a beneficiary of EU Funding Instruments, Romania has to comply with a complex regulatory framework that defines requirements to evaluate impacts of the EU programmes. While on one hand, the evaluation is driven by the EU level law, on the other hand, the Member States can make use of their national approaches. It is therefore up to each country to support the evaluators’ job market and profession in accordance with market needs. In Romania, there is an increasing need for evaluators to cover various areas of interventions in sustainable development to measure the achievement and performance of policies, programmes and projects. However, not having specific evaluators profiles that cover these areas included in the Code of Occupations prevents Romanian evaluators from participating in certain calls for experts as they would not comply with the requirements. Dana: Is evaluation in Romania recognized as an established profession (shared purpose, common identity, common agreement of the practitioners on the responsibilities and characteristics of the profession)? Virgil: More or less! In Romania evaluation is very much considered as a cross-cutting occupation. The evaluators come from different fields of expertise. Therefore, they are assigned in most cases on a short-term basis to do a job that complies with their previous work records. It is like the problem with the chicken and the egg – who was first? Without having specific previous working experience an applicant evaluator won’t win the assignment, and if they don’t get assignments an evaluator cannot gain working experience. The academic and continuing education opportunities for evaluators are leading to higher competition and fewer roles. A framework for defining occupational standards Dana: How do you do an Occupational Standard framework for the field of evaluation? Please share your experience and recommendations. Virgil: In Romania, the process of establishing the Occupational Standards was rather long because of the many stages that had to be followed in accordance with the law and the standard procedure enforced by the Romanian Authority of Qualifications. It took about one year, and fortunately it was fast-tracked thanks to RoSE’s internal expertise for drafting occupational standards. The first step was to collect data on the occupation and process them under an occupational analysis in order to convince the national authorities of the importance of our action. Once the occupational analysis was endorsed, the next step was to identify the necessary key competencies structured by elements of competence, knowledge, skills, and behaviours, working contexts, and the range of variables. Afterwards, the Draft Occupational Standard was subject to audit and assessment by several authorities, such as the Government's Sectoral Committee and the National Authority of Qualifications. Finally, after about 12 months of work, in 2012, the Occupational Standard was published online by the National Register of Qualifications, as a reference for education and certification of competencies for project evaluators. Dana: Which are the evaluator competencies included in the Occupational Standard for Project Evaluators (OSPE)? Virgil: These were structured into three categories, namely: key competencies, competencies that cover related occupations and specific competencies. There are five specific competence units as follows: individual preparation for evaluation, organization of evaluation process, project evaluation, validation of evaluation results and provision of technical assistance for selecting the projects. Each competence unit has set the level of responsibility and autonomy, and it is structured by elements of competence, criteria for achievement of the associated results and tasks. They also provide specific information on the working conditions, range of variables and compulsory knowledge. It is worth highlighting that the OSPE designed by RoSE refers to evaluators of projects, due to limitations in the Code of Occupations of Romania (COR), which does not include the positions of Evaluator of Programmes and Evaluator of Policies. Even though it is the Government’s responsibility to include these occupations in the COR, there is a lack of awareness about the different profiles of evaluation professionals. With effective lobbying, the occupational framework could be diversified with a larger array of evaluators profiles. Code of professional conduct Dana: Why is a Code of Professional Conduct important for the evaluation profession? Virgil: In Romania, when selecting a person to provide evaluation services, only a statement of no conflict is requested. Unfortunately, it does not include rules about behaviours, values, and decision-making skills. Therefore, RoSE as a professional organization has decided to define its own Code of Professional Conduct to set standards and expectations for its members. We consider that the Code of Conduct of evaluators is a mandatory addition to the competency framework. Dana: How difficult is it in Romania for an evaluator to adhere to the Code of Professional Conduct? Virgil: There is no obligation in Romania for an evaluator to adhere to a Code of Professional Conduct. As far as I know, no other organization formally requires the evaluators to adhere to a Code of Conduct, but only to sign a statement of no conflict of interest. As a professional VOPE, RoSE’s priority was to define its professional culture quickly, to set standards and expectations to enable its customers and partners to know its values,and to create a level of transparency for a healthy business relationship. Evaluation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Dana: How can the professionalization of evaluation be beneficial in the national review system of SDGs? Virgil: It is indisputable that professionalization of evaluation is beneficial and it is a must for the national review system of SDGs. Two elements are necessary for an effective SDG implementation and monitoring: good coordination at the level of government because the process is expected to be country-led evaluation work, and a multi-level perspective with functional interlinkages and coordination between all actors. The importance of evaluation in the process is that it generates evidence and evidence can contribute to strategies to operationalize the SDGs and inform policy and management decisions. However, adequate evaluation capacity is needed to ensure the quality of measuring SDG targets. This means that each country, and Romania in particular, must develop an effective professional framework for evaluators with clear profiles that cover the entire Policy Intervention Level (policy, programme, project, activity) at the government and civil society levels. Dana Cristina Repede has a Masters in Monitoring and Evaluation from the University of Saarland and Masters in Sociology from the Université Libré de Bruxelles. Currently she works as an M&E consultant with Ann-Murray Brown consultancy. Dana has worked for the European Commission holding various positions such as Programme Manager, Policy Officer and External Auditor. Follow Dana on LinkedIn and contact her via derepede@gmail.com. Virgil Pamfil has 30+ years of experience in the area of public administration and civil service reform, socio-economic development, education, democracy and rule of law, capacity building, decentralization and governance programmes. With a master’s degree in economics, postgraduate studies and certifications in project management, he has been assigned as a key expert in projects in various countries. In 2015 Virgil received an IOCE Regional Award for his contributions to evaluation in Europe. Follow Virgil on LinkedIn and contact him via vpamfil@evaluatoriasociati.ro.

By Tessie Tzavaras Catsambas Founder and CEO/CFO, EnCompass LLC 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. When EvalYouth Global Network, Global Parliamentarians Forum for Evaluation and the UNFPA Evaluation Office announced the Eval4Action campaign, the EnCompass team immediately signed on for three reasons: Evaluation. We believe in the role of evaluation in promoting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and leaving no one behind. As Marco Segone (Director, UNFPA Evaluation Office) said in the introductory video for Eval4Action, evaluation is well-positioned to have “the highest multiplier effect on sustainable development.” We agree, as evidenced in EnCompass’ mission: to support organizations through evidence, engagement, and learning to harness their strengths and diversity for sustainable positive impact. Values. Our values of celebrating diversity and co-creation align well with Eval4Action’s values of inclusion and partnership. The focus on action resonates with us as an inclusive invitation to every person and organization to contribute based on their strengths. Youth. Sustainable change must involve young people, because they should have a role in shaping the future that belongs to them and future generations. They bring energy, passion, ideas, confidence, and impatience. Participating in the Eval4Action campaign gave EnCompass the opportunity to focus action on these important values, to see the link between actions already taking place across our company, and to find new ways to support the SDGs. Let me share briefly what we learned through our participation in the Eval4Action campaign: Lesson 1: An openness to younger people opens the mind, invites curiosity, and energizes communities. Young people are invested in the future in a more immediate way than those of us who have been around for a while. Things that older people had to unlearn and or learn later in life, young people know, because they grew up with them. They have instincts informed by that knowledge and fresh ways of seeing possibilities. In action: Hosting a GEDI scholar. For a long time, we hoped to get to a place where we could host a scholar from the American Evaluation Association’s Graduate Evaluation Diversity Initiative (GEDI). In 2020, we were able to host our first GEDI scholar, and hope to continue to be a participating host organization for the programme in the future. Our excitement when we welcomed our first GEDI intern was palpable and the experience was rewarding for all of us. Participating in the Eval4Action campaign gave EnCompass the opportunity to focus action on these important values, to see the link between actions already taking place across our company, and to find new ways to support the SDGs. Lesson 2: Action builds confidence and renews commitment. You can surprise yourself with what your own action can achieve, especially when others are engaging in similar action. You can be inspired by yourself and your colleagues and be optimistic about what is possible, and you can take action to bring that possibility to life. In action: Developing the Gender Transformative Design and Evaluation Learning Programme. EnCompass has been working in gender since the earlier days of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and conducted some of the earliest gender-based violence (GBV) research under the United States Agency for International Development’s AIDSTAR One Project. Since then, we have refined and integrated new approaches and tools such as an Appreciative Gender Assessment, the Gender Integration Continuum, the Toolkit for GBV Integration in the Transport Sector, and many others. Inspired by the Eval4Action campaign, we decided to launch a new online learning programme in the EnCompass Learning Center (ELC) that brings together some of the things we have learned over the years. This was harder to organize than you would think; with staff members working all over the world, we had to put in extra effort to make people available for pulling this course together. The result has been rewarding, both because of our own learning, and because of the enthusiastic response by the broader learning community. We have now set new goals for ourselves to expand our gender programme with additional modules such as gender budgeting, gender indicators, integrating LGBTIQ+ communities, and intersectionality with race and ethnicity. Being part of the Eval4Action campaign gave us a lift in these efforts, knowing we are not alone, and fired us up by the shared intensity of commitment to a vision where no one is left behind and our planet is protected and cherished for future generations. Lesson 3: Focusing on and engaging in action becomes a mindset. The focus for action invited participants to turn their good intentions into reality, showing us that we can each contribute toward the SDGs. The motivation and confidence that is built from focused and intentional action develops a new muscle in the brain and the way we approach our work. Yes, we were intentional before, but now, we have become more so. The SDGs offer standards through which we review our broader success and progress, and they call us to tackle complex international development questions in new ways. As a company, we are discussing how to move more effectively toward racial and ethnic equity, how to build more equity and mutuality in our relationships with partners in the countries where we work, and how to enact inclusion inside our company and with our clients’ communities. Being part of the Eval4Action campaign gave us a lift in these efforts, knowing we are not alone, and fired us up by the shared intensity of commitment to a vision where no one is left behind and our planet is protected and cherished for future generations. In action: Volunteering time to support the Eval4Action launch and offering free slots to EvalYouth in ELC classes. The COVID-19 pandemic had just hit when Eval4Action launched, so when in-person regional launches became impossible, EnCompass enthusiastically agreed to host and emcee the online launches. It ended up being a bigger endeavor than anticipated because of the enthusiasm generated by the campaign in every region! For our staff, participating in Eval4Action was one of the most exciting things we were doing, and colleagues eagerly awaited news of each new launch. For those most closely involved in the regional launches, the most exciting part was working closely with EvalYouth leaders in different regions. These EvalYouth leaders brought an unrestrained vision of what was possible, and were undaunted by obstacles. For example, when we wanted to have language interpretation, EvalYouth leaders found volunteers among themselves; they organized group facilitators and preparation meetings, created communication material in different languages, and found quick avenues to disseminate the news. Inspired by these young leaders, EnCompass decided to offer a series of free spots in ELC classes when the regional launches ended, so we could do our small part in supporting this incredible, awesome network called EvalYouth. So, Eval4Action colleagues, what’s next? We have no doubt that EvalYouth will lead the way, and EnCompass is ready to be by their side. Tessie Catsambas has 30 years of experience in planning, evaluation and organizational development. She was the 2019 president of the American Evaluation Association. She is an innovator in appreciative evaluation methods, authored the first published research on appreciative evaluation (Journal for International Health Care Quality, Volume 14, Supplement I, December 2002), and co-authored Reframing Evaluation Through Appreciative Inquiry (Sage Publications 2006). Follow Tessie on Twitter and contact her via tcatsambas@encompassworld.com.

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.

To step up capacities and networks on evaluation communications, Eval4Action with regional VOPEs and EvalYouth regional chapters, have launched volunteer-driven communication hubs in all seven regions. The hubs comprise of nearly 50 volunteers, with young and emerging evaluators in the lead. The regional communication hubs will provide communication and outreach support to Eval4Action’s global advocacy initiatives. They will also provide communication support to the regional partners to implement the regional evaluation action plan and expand evaluation advocacy at regional, national and grass-root levels. The regional communication hubs were launched following the success of the pilot Asia Pacific Communications (APC) Hub, established in 2020. The APC Hub was initiated by the Asia Pacific Evaluation Association in the context of the Eval4Action campaign, to support regional communication and outreach on influential evaluation. A global meeting to kick off the regional communication hubs took place on 10 March 2022. A communications training for the hubs, based on a needs assessment survey, took place on 25 April 2022. These efforts will help build greater communication capacities among regional evaluation networks and Eval4Action partners, to increase strategic communication, mobilization and advocacy for national evaluation capacities. For further information on the hubs, 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.

The year-end newsletter showcases Eval4Action's progress and achievements in 2021. 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.

The Asia Pacific Regional Evaluation Strategy launched by Asia Pacific Evaluation Association, EvalYouth Asia and the Parliamentarians Forum for Development Evaluation – South Asia is implementing eight themes led by volunteers. The eight themes are focused on professionalization of evaluation, partnership, community ownership, strengthening evaluation associations, capacity building of young and emerging evaluators, engaging parliamentarians, promoting national evaluation policies and systems and use of evaluation for delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals. Four thematic groups involved with the strategy implementation have released resource materials and a survey report that will help to further professionalize evaluation and promote national evaluation policies and systems. These resource materials were released as part of the Eval4Action Walk The Talk video drive, as a concrete action to advance influential evaluation. The resource materials are available for free use. Professionalization of evaluation Competency framework for evaluators Pathway for assessment of competencies of evaluators Career mentor guide: Case of career development in monitoring and evaluation Using evaluation to report on the SDGs A Guide: Use of evaluation for SDG monitoring and reporting Promoting national evaluation policies and systems Study on the status of national evaluation policies and systems in the Asia Pacific 2021 For further details, please contact apea.coordinator@gmail.com.

The third Eval4Action regional consultation will take place in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) on 1 October 2020 at 8 am (Mexico City), 10 am (Buenos Aires) and 9 am EDT. The interactive event is organized by the Monitoring, Evaluation and Systematization Network of Latin America and the Caribbean (ReLAC), EvalYouth LAC, UNFPA LACRO and FOCELAC. The event also marks the launch of the Eval4Action campaign in LAC, following which the campaign partners will drive a participatory process to create a shared regional evaluation agenda to accelerate the achievement of SDGs in the region. The speakers at the regional consultation include Marco Segone (Director, UNFPA Evaluation Office), Josette Arevalo (EvalYouth, Vice Chair), Silvia Salinas (ReLAC Coordinator, IOCE President), Florita Azofeifa (Evaluation Manager, MIDEPLAN) and Harold Robinson (Regional Director, UNFPA LAC). UPDATE: Access the consultation report (En, Sp), a short article (En, Sp, Pt), infographic on the consultation (En, Sp, Pt) and its deliberations (En, Sp, Pt). The regional consultation recording is available here. For any questions, please email evalyouthlac@gmail.com

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.

What is Eval4Action Walk the Talk? The Eval4Action Walk the Talk drive is a platform to showcase ACTIONS you have taken by October 2021 and their RESULTS, to accelerate influential evaluation to support equitable and sustainable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Why is Eval4Action Walk the Talk important? At the Eval4Action Commitment Drive in October 2020, 125 commitments were made to accelerate action for influential evaluation. It’s now time to showcase the delivery of these voluntary promises. All actions for influential evaluation (even those without a prior commitment) are vital to get back on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In line with Eval4Action objectives, this initiative hopes to inspire the evaluation community and beyond to energize evaluation advocacy at all levels, to move from promises to action and to motivate others to do the same. Learn more Who should join the Eval4Action Walk the Talk? EVERYONE. Whether you are a VOPE, evaluation professional, young and emerging evaluator, parliamentarian, government, evaluation user, academic, supporting the achievement of the SDGs and the advancement of influential evaluation in any way, you are invited to join the drive. If you made a commitment at the Commitment Drive, join Walk the Talk to show the world how you delivered your promise. If you did not make a commitment, you can join the drive too by showcasing your action. How can you get prepared? 1. Take action now Now is the opportune time to take new actions and/or accelerate your existing actions for influential evaluation. In September 2021, record a 1-minute video showcasing actions you have already taken (not actions you plan to take in the future) and their results as far as possible. In October 2021, post your video on Twitter during the drive. There is no limit to the number of videos you can post. The videos can be in any language. Read the video guide for a few tips. 2. Raise the momentum on Walk the Talk Start mobilizing your networks! If you are a global Eval4Action partner, mobilize your regional and national networks and other partners... If you are a regional Eval4Action partner, mobilize other regional stakeholders and national partners... If you are a national Eval4Action partner, mobilize your members, young and emerging evaluators, government counterparts and other actors... If you are an individual Eval4Action supporter, share this information with your networks... ...and invite them all to take action NOW to accelerate influential evaluation and post videos on their actions and results during the Walk the Talk drive in October 2021. For further information, read the FAQ sheet. Access the communications pack to prepare your contribution video for the Walk the Talk drive. It also includes communication assets to promote the drive. If you have questions, please reach out to contact@eval4action.org.

By Stefano D’Errico International Institute for Environment and Development In September 2015, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and soon after, in December that year, countries signed the Paris Agreement on climate change. Seven years later, the world has changed dramatically. The COVID-19 pandemic has hit economies and health systems across countries, while the climate emergency has caused environmental disruption and hazards threatening our existence on the planet. It is worth asking ourselves whether the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have become unreachable targets and whether the 2030 Agenda gives us the right tools to tackle the massive challenges ahead. This blog looks at SDG 2 on ending hunger as an example of the challenges that are currently affecting follow-up and review processes of the SDGs and proposes a few ideas on how evaluation could help to overcome them. Statistics without evaluation There is no doubt that so far the most significant result achieved by the 2030 Agenda is the production of sustainable development data. Many countries, regional and international organizations are reporting impressive efforts to further develop their statistical capacity; and the number of monitoring platforms reporting sustainable development indicators is growing exponentially. Unfortunately, we can’t say the same about sustainable development evaluation. So far, only three countries – Costa Rica, Finland and Nigeria - have attempted to assess their national policies and programmes against the principles of the 2030 Agenda. Apart from political will, there are some practical challenges to evaluating sustainable development. Defining the evaluand is often the first stumbling block that evaluation commissioners need to tackle. The guidebook Evaluation to connect national priorities with the SDGs (D’Errico S. et al 2019) provides guidance on how to choose the scope by presenting the practical experience of Costa Rica, Finland and Nigeria. The second challenge relates to assessing the effects of policies and programmes across the different areas of sustainable development. How can evaluators conduct a meaningful inquiry and keep the exercise feasible at the same time? So far, only three countries – Costa Rica, Finland and Nigeria - have attempted to assess their national policies and programmes against the principles of the 2030 Agenda. Ending hunger: an example Let’s look more closely at one of the goals: SDG 2, which aims to end hunger, achieve food security and promote sustainable agriculture. The UN Food System Summit that took place in July 2021 and the current estimates suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on how people access nutritious food. The pandemic has exacerbated an already alarming situation. In the last three years, the numbers of chronically malnourished people have grown to 821 million, while two billion people have been experiencing moderate to severe food insecurity. In the near future, the number of malnourished people may increase by over 130 million because of the COVID-19 crisis. Undernutrition often coexists with overweight and obesity, which are growing in all regions of the world. It is currently estimated that at least 2.28 billion adults and children are overweight. This explosive mix has been referred to as the double burden of malnutrition. The irony is that in the world there is enough food to feed 10 billion people. But the food system is under pressure from many stresses, among them: population and income growth, unsustainable agricultural expansion and production which erodes soil productivity and threatens forests, and increasing demand for animal-sourced products (IPCC chapter 5 on food security). To evaluate food security policies and programmes, we should look at food systems from the perspectives of those left behind. But policymaking narratives have often failed to include access to affordable food for low income urban and rural consumers (Cecilia Tacoli, Bill Vorley, 2015). The global debate has usually prioritised agricultural production and access to global value chains for smallholders and other producers instead of focusing on consumption, access to affordable food and sustainable agriculture. To evaluate food security policies and programmes, we should look at food systems from the perspectives of those left behind. As suggested by SDG 2 targets and by the literature on the topic, the adoption of sustainable agriculture and access to affordable food is critical to the achievement of other goals. Lessons from previous programmes and research suggest that the promotion of sustainable agriculture is key for a number of SDGs and indicators, including SDG 13 (to take urgent action to tackle climate change) and SDG 15 (to protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems). Access to affordable food is key for achieving SDG 1 (to end poverty in all its form everywhere); SDG 3 (to ensure healthy lives and promote well-​being for all at all ages); and SDG 11 (to make cities and human settlements inclusive, resilient and sustainable). The good news is that the statisticians have developed useful indicators to track food prices, the presence of subsidies favouring export and the adoption of sustainable agriculture. However, while the two indicators related to consumption have an international methodology and data, the indicator tracking adoption for sustainable agriculture is still classified as tier II, which means that despite the presence of an internationally recognised methodology, data currently does not exist (SDG indicator 2.4.1). What can evaluation teach us? This lack of monitoring data shouldn’t leave us in despair, in fact, that’s where evaluation can help through a holistic assessment of food systems and their impacts on other SDGs by investigating the foundations of sustainable development (see figure 1). Figure 1: The foundations of sustainable development SDG evaluation looking at food security from the perspective of people living in poverty and exclusion can help shed light on a number of goals, and identify lessons to promote sustainable practices for food production and affordable access to food. Evaluation can fill the monitoring gap by triangulating and debating different sources of evidence. Unlike monitoring, which relies on a limited number of indicators, evaluation can look more in-depth at the coherence of policies and programmes aiming to encourage affordable sustainable agriculture. It can also draw on the knowledge of sector experts and local communities. Furthermore, to be faithful to the 2030 Agenda principles, SDG evaluation should be an opportunity to give voice to local communities who can use it as an opportunity to demand their rights to food and agroecology. SDG evaluation looking at food security from the perspective of people living in poverty and exclusion can help shed light on a number of goals, and identify lessons to promote sustainable practices for food production and affordable access to food. Most importantly a participatory evaluation can be a learning opportunity where ministries and organizations working on different issues can all learn together how to manage trade-offs between sectors and build synergies for a more sustainable and equitable future. Stefano D’Errico is head of Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning at the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED). He is the lead author of the guidebook, Evaluation to connect national priorities with the SDGs: a guide for evaluation commissioners and managers. Follow Stefano on Twitter or contact him via email at stefano.derrico@iied.org. If you are interested to know more about food security, follow the new blog series recently launched by IIED.