Following the first sub-regional consultation in East and Southern Africa in April 2021, the second Eval4Action sub-regional consultation took place in West and Central Africa on 27 May 2021. The consultation provided a platform to regional and national evaluators and other stakeholders to consult on ‘What actions for influential evaluation should be prioritized to accelerate the achievement of the SDGs and the Africa We Want?’. The consultation was organized by the African Evaluation Association (AfrEA), the young and emerging evaluators network of AfrEA, African Parliamentarians Network on Development Evaluation (APNODE), Réseau francophone de l'évaluation (RFE), CLEAR Anglophone Africa, CLEAR Francophone Africa, African Development Bank, African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) and Twende Mbele. The speakers at the event included Samuel Kouakou (Vice President of AfrEA), Saturnin Zoetyande (Co-chair, AfrEA YEE network), Hon. Noel Rossan Goakun Toe (Member of Burkina Faso National Assembly) Abdoulaye Gounou (Chief of Evaluation Office in Benin), Bakary Kone (Director, Strategic Planning, Partnerships and Resource Mobilization at ACBF), Urbain Tsala (Chair, Cameroon Development Evaluation Association), and Mamadou Coulibaly (Vice President, RFE). The main priorities emerging from the consultation include: Building capacity on evaluation especially of young and emerging evaluators Strengthening national evaluation policies in countries in the sub-region To nurture Made in Africa evaluations The sub-regional consultations in Africa are a follow up to the Eval4Action pan African regional consultation held in December 2020. Together the priorities emerging from the sub-regional consultations will shape an African evaluation action plan for delivery of the SDGs by 2030. Watch the sub-regional consultation recording here.

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 Asia Pacific Evaluation Association together with UNFPA Evaluation Office and EvalYouth Global Network are organizing the first Eval4Action regional consultation on evaluation, COVID-19 and SDGs, to be held on 25 June 2020, 8am ET. This digital event will also mark the official launch of the campaign in the Asia Pacific region. The virtual consultation will bring together VOPE leaders, parliamentarians, government officials and development partners. The speakers include Marco Segone, Director, UNFPA Evaluation Office, Khalil Bitar, Chair of EvalYouth Global Network and Asela Kalugampitiya, President of Asia Pacific Evaluation Association. Tessie Catsambas, Former President of American Evaluation Association will moderate the consultation. UPDATE: The regional consultation recording is available here. Access the Asia Pacific regional evaluation strategy that was developed as a follow to this consultation.

The first Eval4Action regional consultation took place in the Asia Pacific region on 25 June 2020. This interactive event with over 170 participants led to rich discussions on actions required to strengthen evaluation in the region towards the achievement of the SDGs. As a follow up to the consultation, Asia Pacific Evaluation Association (APEA), EvalYouth Asia and the Parliamentarians Forum for Development Evaluation established a committee and an advisory group to develop a Regional Evaluation Strategy based on inputs received at the consultation. The committee includes VOPEs, young and emerging evaluators, parliamentarians, evaluation network leaders, business community and development partners. The committee further engaged with stakeholders and potential partners to co-create the draft Regional Evaluation Strategy around eight themes. The eight themes are: Professionalizing evaluation Building partnerships to strengthen evaluation capacity Strengthen community engagement in evaluation Promoting Young and Emerging Evaluators Strengthening VOPEs Engaging parliamentarians for demand and use of evaluation Promoting national evaluation policies and systems Using evaluation in reporting of SDGs The draft Strategy will be presented to stakeholders in the region on 9 October 2020 and will be finalized with their inputs. A regional coalition will be developed to implement the Strategy to advance the evaluation agenda in the region towards the achievement of the SDGs. If you would like to provide inputs to the draft Asia Pacific Regional Evaluation Strategy, read the flyer for more information. Register for the event here. For further information please contact apea.secretariat@gmail.com and evalyouth.asia@gmail.com. Follow @APEAeval and @EvalyouthAsia on Twitter! Read more about Eval4Action regional consultations here.

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.

On 22 April 2021, the Eval4Action first sub-regional consultation was held in East and Southern Africa to support the development of the African evaluation community’s action plan towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The consultation was organized by the African Evaluation Association (AfrEA), the young and emerging evaluators network of AfrEA, South African Monitoring and Evaluation Association (SAMEA), African Parliamentarians Network on Development Evaluation (APNODE), Réseau francophone de l'évaluation (RFE), CLEAR- Anglophone Africa and Twende Mbele. The speakers at the event included Fazeela Hoosen (Co-chair, AfrEA YEE network), Dr. Kobena Hanson (African Development Bank), Dr. Nana Opare Djan (Twende Mbele), Prof. Ian Goldman (SAMEA), Hon. Paurina Mpariwa (Member of Parliament, Zimbabwe) and Mark Mulobi (young and emerging evaluator). The event included interactive sessions where participants had an opportunity to shape priorities to promote influential evaluation in the sub-region. The main priorities emerging from the consultation include: Nurture and promote evaluation action for Made in Africa evaluations Strengthen evaluation capacity especially among young and emerging evaluators Institutionalize evaluation at the national level This sub-regional consultation is a follow up to the Eval4Action pan African regional consultation held in December 2020. In addition, a second sub-regional consultation will be held in West and Central Africa on 27 May 2021. Together the priorities emerging from the sub-regional consultations will shape an African evaluation action plan for delivery of the SDGs by 2030. Watch the sub-regional consultation recording here.

In the first of its kind social media outreach in the evaluation community, more than 700 VOPEs (Voluntary Organizations for Professional Evaluation), EvalYouth chapters, young and emerging evaluators, parliamentarian networks, UN agencies, NGOs, the private sector, academia and others converged at the Eval4Action Tweetathon on 7 April 2021. In the lead up to the event and during it, about 14,000 tweets led to 105 million impressions, putting worldwide attention on the importance of accelerating influential evaluation in the Decade of Action. The Tweetathon also marked one year of the Eval4Action campaign. The 24-hour global conversation was kicked off by the global co-leaders UNFPA Evaluation Office, EvalYouth Global Network, Global Parliamentarians Forum for Evaluation, and were joined by IOCE and EvalPartners. This was followed by seven Q&A regional dialogues, led by the: Asia Pacific Evaluation Association (APEA) and EvalYouth Asia in the Asia Pacific Eurasian Alliance of National Evaluation Associations (EvalEurasia) and EvalYouth chapter for Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and South Caucasus in Eurasia Middle East and North Africa Evaluation Network (EvalMENA) and EvalYouth MENA chapter in MENA European Evaluation Society in Europe African Evaluation Association (AfrEA) and the Africa wide young and emerging evaluators network (AfrEA-YEE) in Africa EvalYouth LAC chapter in Latin America and the Caribbean; and American Evaluation Association (AEA), Canadian Evaluation Society (CES) and the Academia Nacional de Evaluadores de Mexico (ACEVAL) in North America. As the Eval4Action torch went across the world, participants joined from more than 80 countries and engaged in more than 10 languages, widely amplifying the call for accelerating action for influential evaluation. To catch the Tweetathon highlights, see the Twitter Moment. As a follow up to this engagement, and to the Eval4Action Commitment Drive held last year, a Walk the Talk video drive will be held in October 2021. This new initiative invites everyone to showcase actions delivered to accelerate influential evaluation. This is because the Decade of Action is also the decade of delivery, to supercharge all actions and solutions towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals by their 2030 deadline. The Eval4Action campaign is intensifying efforts to galvanise this momentum in the evaluation community and beyond, to inform a sustainable and equitable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. For a deeper look at the Tweetathon conversation, see a snapshot of responses to the four questions that framed the all-day global conversation: What does influential evaluation mean to you? What actions for influential evaluation should be prioritized for equitable & sustainable recovery from COVID-19, and to get back on track to achieve the SDGs? How can young & emerging evaluators accelerate action for influential evaluation? What actions are you or your network taking to accelerate influential evaluation?

The Eval4Action seventh regional consultation will take place in North America on 20 April 2021, on the theme ‘Influential evaluation to advance the Sustainable Development Goals’. It is being organized by the American Evaluation Association (AEA), the Canadian Evaluation Society (CES), ACEVAL, the Young and Emerging Evaluators Network of AEA and EvalYouth Mexico in partnership with UNFPA Evaluation Office and EvalYouth Global Network. The regional consultation is an opportunity for evaluation practitioners, evaluation users, VOPE leaders, young and emerging evaluators, policy makers and other stakeholders to shape regional priorities for influential evaluation, to accelerate progress toward the Global Goals. The event also marks the launch of Eval4Action in North America. UPDATE: The regional consultation recording is available here. For any questions, please email zachary.d.tilton@wmich.edu.

The fourth Eval4Action regional consultation will take place in Europe on 21 October 2020 at 9 am EDT, 3 pm CEST. The event is organised by the European Evaluation Society (EES), the Network of Evaluation Societies in Europe (NESE) and EvalYouth Europe. This event will mark the launch of the Eval4Action campaign in Europe. The consultation will include interactive sessions to bring together diverse ideas and voices that will shape the regional evaluation agenda to accelerate the achievement of SDGs in the region. The speakers at the regional consultation include Daniele Lamarque (President, EES), Vlatko Danilov (Chair, Advisory Board, NESE), Alena Lappo (Chair, EvalYouth Europe) and Eval4Action co-leaders, Khalil Bitar (Chair, EvalYouth Global Network) and Marco Segone (Director, UNFPA Evaluation Office). Read EES’s latest blog for details on the consultation. UPDATE: The regional consultation recording is available here. For any questions, please email secretariat@europeanevaluation.org

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An all-day global #Eval4Action Tweetathon on accelerating action for influential evaluation will take place on 7 April 2021. Everyone can join this global conversation via their Twitter handle, using the hashtag #Eval4Action. The event marks one-year of the Eval4Action campaign, advancing global advocacy and multi-stakeholder partnerships to strengthen national evaluation capacities to accelerate the delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals, in the Decade of Action. The Tweetathon will be kicked off by the campaign co-leaders, UNFPA Evaluation Office, EvalYouth Global Network and the Global Parliamentarians Forum for Evaluation at 4 pm EDT on 6 April. Over the next 24 hours, seven regional Tweetathons will be held across the globe, every two hours on the GMT. Eval4Action co-leaders, international partners and all regional leaders will host the all-day Tweetathon, passing the Eval4Action Torch across the globe. The Tweetathon will conclude with the launch of the ‘Walk the Talk’ video drive, a follow up to the Eval4Action Commitment Drive held in October 2020. Together, the Tweetathon and Walk the Talk are a call to action, for renewed mobilization and commitment to deliver actions for influential evaluation, to accelerate the delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals. Interested to learn how you can join and support the Tweetathon? Get more ideas. Spread the word on the Tweetathon by using the promotions pack.

On 7 April 2021, the Eval4Action campaign turned one! In its first year, Eval4Action has rallied a worldwide call for stronger coordination and partnerships for action towards influential evaluation. Launched when the COVID-19 pandemic was spreading across the globe, the campaign seized the moment to advocate for equitable and sustainable response and recovery from the pandemic that is backed by evidence. Through the year, the campaign put a spotlight on evaluation having the highest multiplier effect on sustainable development. In a short time, Eval4Action mobilized the global evaluation community in an unprecedented way. Today, the campaign’s 127 partners are co-creating and shaping evaluation advocacy in regions and countries, with young and emerging evaluators leading the way. Key milestones High-level launch by UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem and UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, Ms. Jayathma Wickramanayake took place in June 2020. Marathon of nearly 70 motivational statements from the global evaluation community marked this event. Eval4Action was launched via regional consultations in the Asia Pacific, Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), Europe, Eurasia and Africa. The seventh regional consultation will take place in North America on 20 April 2021. The consultations have mobilized regional and national partnerships to build national evaluation capacities. In the Asia Pacific, the consultation led to the development of the regional evaluation strategy. Regional action plans are in development in MENA, LAC and Europe. In October 2020, a global call for institutional and individual commitments to action for influential evaluation was launched, to accelerate the achievement of the SDGs at all levels. The Drive resulted in 125 voluntary promises, including high-level commitments and those from young evaluators to increase action for influential evaluation. As a follow-up, the Walk the Talk video drive will take place in October 2021. The Eval4Action Twitter Chat was held with 27 co-panelists including all regional and international partners in May 2020. The tremendous outreach of the Chat brought worldwide visibility to Eval4Action and to evaluation being a key accelerator for the SDGs, especially during COVID-19. Building on this experience, an all-day #Eval4Action Tweetathon took place on 7 April 2021. The campaign launched Eval4Action blogs to feature ideas, reflections and knowledge on strengthening and utilizing evaluation as an accelerator to achieve the SDGs. Moving forward in its second year, the campaign has co-created its global agenda via a priority survey and an informal dialogue with partners. The campaign efforts are now focused on intensifying regional and national action for influential evaluation and strengthening multi-stakeholder partnerships for evaluation at all levels. To inspire a movement for transformational change, the values of shared ownership and participation continue to guide Eval4Action in 2021 and beyond.

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) regional consultation will focus on the region's commitment and future action plan towards Eval4Action. It will be held on 10 July 2020, at 4 PM Jerusalem time, 1 PM GMT. The interactive event is organized by EvalMENA (along with its member VOPEs) and EvalYouth MENA Chapter, jointly with UNFPA Evaluation Office and in partnership with UNFPA Arab States Regional Office. The regional consultation invites the evaluation community, young and emerging evaluators, policy makers, development partners and civil society to help shape the action plan for Eval4Action in the region. The speakers include Dr. Nuha Iter (President, EvalMENA), Sawsan Al-Zatari (Chair, EvalYouth MENA), Mohammad Qaryouti (Vice-President, IOCE), Marco Segone (Director, UNFPA Evaluation Office), Khalil Bitar (Chair, EvalYouth Global Network), Dr. Luay Shabaneh, (Regional Director, UNFPA Arab States) and Hon. Ibtissame Azzaoui (Member of Parliament). The interactive group discussions will be facilitated by a group of experienced facilitators from and beyond the region on the following topics: Role of EvalYouth MENA in Eval4Action Role of EvalMENA in Eval4Action Evaluation needs in the MENA region Strengthening national evaluation capacities National evaluation policies Role of VOPEs in VNRs Cross cutting themes: SDGs and COVID-19 Equity-focused and gender-responsive evaluations: Leaving no one behind Read an article by UNFPA Arab States Regional Office on Eval4Action and the MENA regional consultation. UPDATE: The regional consultation recording is available here. For other questions and clarification, please email evalyouthmena@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.

The Asia Pacific Communication Hub (APC Hub) is the communication platform for evaluation endeavors in the region. It was initiated by the Asia Pacific Evaluation Association in the context of the Eval4Action campaign, to support regional communication and outreach on influential evaluation. With the launch of Eval4Action in Asia Pacific, several regional events and initiatives were launched to raise awareness on influential evaluation among the evaluation community and non-traditional actors. Due to COVID-19, nearly all events and initiatives were held virtually in 2020. This requires enhanced capacity to communicate and network effectively on digital platforms with the regional stakeholders. The APC Hub is managed by a team of volunteer young and emerging evaluators. It was formally launched in December 2020 during EvalVision Asia. The first undertaking of the Hub was to plan and manage communication for EvalVision Asia including creating content and managing social media platforms. The APC Hub also initiated and maintains the regional events calendar, resource database and provides support to partners on dissemination and promotions of evaluation focused initiatives. It also supports live coverage of virtual events on social media platforms. Read a brief introduction to the Hub. For details contact, Ana Erika Lareza at apea.coordinator@gmail.com. #APChub APC Hub team members

The first Asia Pacific Winter School for young and emerging evaluators (YEE) will take from 29 to 31 March 2021. The three day event will be facilitated by YEE champions from the EvalYouth Global Network and other internationally renowned and experienced evaluators. The Winter School’s practical and interactive sessions will focus on technical capacity building and career development of YEEs in the field of monitoring and evaluation. The Winter School will also serve as an opportunity for YEEs in Asia Pacific to network and actively contribute to EvalYouth Asia. Ninety applicants have expressed interest to join the Winter School, and the selection of 30 participants is underway. The virtual Winter School is being supported and led by EvalYouth Asia, Asia Pacific Evaluation Association (APEA) and Sri Lanka Evaluation Association (SLEvA) in partnership with Evaluation Community of India (ECOI), EvalYouth Sri Lanka, EvalYouth India, EvalYouth Afghanistan, EvalYouth Pakistan and the Center for Evaluation, University of Sri Jayewardenepura. For details contact Randika De Mel, EvalYouth Asia co-leader at rldemel@gmail.com.

The first national evaluation week in the Asia Pacific region will take place in Colombo, Sri Lanka from 5 to 9 July 2021. The EvalWeek2021 is jointly organized by Sri Lanka Evaluation Association (SLEvA), Parliament of Sri Lanka, Government of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka Parliamentarians Forum for Evaluation, University of Sri Jayewardenepura and EvalYouth Sri Lanka. Framed around the theme ‘Evaluation for a prosperous Sri Lanka’, the EvalWeek seeks to: Improve individual and institutional capacities to produce independent, credible, and high utility evaluations Improve policies and systems to plan, resource, implement, and use evaluations Encourage decision makers to actively support monitoring and evaluation at their respective institutions The five day event includes capacity building sessions, keynote speeches, panels and interactive sessions. The closing ceremony will be held at the Parliament of Sri Lanka. For further information, contact Dulmina Chamathkara, EvalWeek Manager at sleva.evalweek@gmail.com.

With its launch in April 2020, Eval4Action is mobilizing action for influential evaluation to accelerate the achievements of the Sustainable Development Goals. Today, the campaign has nearly 120 partners that are spearheading global, regional and national action for influential evaluation. For a brief recap of the campaign activities in 2020, watch this video. As the campaign moves forward in 2021, partners from all the regions shared their feedback and suggestions via the Eval4Action 2021 priority survey. This was followed by an informal dialogue with 40 global and regional Eval4Action leaders that came together to frame priorities for the campaign at the global and regional levels. The feedback received from the survey and the informal dialogue has been instrumental in shaping the global direction for Eval4Action. The campaign priorities are focused on intensifying regional and national action for influential evaluation and strengthening multi-stakeholder partnerships for evaluation at all levels. In particular, Eval4Action will focus on: Supporting the regions in the design and roll out of the regional action plans for influential evaluation Establishing regional communication hubs together with regional stakeholders Facilitating cross sharing among regions Follow up to the Eval4Action Commitment Drive, accelerating action for influential evaluation Strengthening outreach of the campaign in the global fora A brief paper summarizes the outcomes of the survey, the informal dialogue and Eval4Action priorities and plans for 2021.

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.