Bellagio-Report-Vs-Apr-14

AFRICAN THOUGHT LEADERS FORUM ONEVALUATION FOR DEVELOPMENTEXPANDING THOUGHT LEADERSHIP IN AFRICA14 th to 17 th November 2012THE BELLAGIO CENTRE3

TABLE OF CONTENTSForeword – Zenda Ofir 6Emerging themes 11Next steps after the Bellagio forum 16AnnexesPhotographs 20Trigger Paper - Contemporary Development Challenges for Africa and theirImplications for Evaluation 23Trigger Paper - Made in Africa Evaluation: Uncovering African Roots inEvaluation Theory and Practice 32Trigger Paper - Institutionalisation of Evaluation In Africa:The Role Of The African Evaluation Association (AFREA) 39Online comments received from evaluators in Africa in preparation for the forum 43Forum Statements and Position Paper Abstracts 46Delegate Profiles 52Forum Agenda 574

FOREWORD – ZENDA OFIRThis Bellagio Forum was held to encouragefresh thinking in support of the Made in AfricaApproach to Evaluation program beingestablished by AfrEA. It arose from a realizationthat the ongoing emphasis on “building” or“strengthening” evaluation capacities on thecontinent without encouraging the activepromotion of “new thinking” about evaluationtheory and practice will eventually impoverishthe profession and practice in Africa. This lack -or low profile - of thought leadership 1 inevaluation in Africa has to be addressed: todate, evaluation innovations from Africa havebeen rare or largely invisible in shapingnational, regional or global evaluation thinkingand practices. 2Considering development contexts, frameworksand trends, and their implications for theevaluation profession provides a starting pointfor such thought leadership. There is asymbiotic relationship between developmentand evaluation 3 . Influential evaluation findingslead to new development approaches. Asdevelopment strategies evolve, so do evaluationapproaches. The African evaluation professiontherefore occasionally needs to take stock ofhow the development context is influencing –or should influence – the direction of theirtheory and practice.Some groundwork was done in preparation for,and at this forum. Participants discussed thedevelopment-evaluation interface and itsimplications for evaluation in Africa over thenext decade, engaging with1 Thought leadership is a current buzzword used here forlack of a better term. We define it as someone who engagesdeeply with specified issues – which can be theory and/orpractice - who is proven to understand them in depth, whointerprets them for others, who uses this deep understandingto innovate, and who is able and keen to share novel, oftenradical thinking and new directions that inspire others.These latter characteristics distinguish a thought leader fromthe conventional notion of an ‘expert’. A thought leadertends to set directions in theory and/or practice, and isusually sought after as strategist, mentor or advisor.2Of course this does not imply that nothing has been done.The statement reinforces that very little of note has beensystematically captured in the public domain, as confirmedby Alkin and Carden, 2012.3When reference is made to “evaluation” it implies the fieldof work, and the profession. This includes monitoring whichis an aspect of the broad field of evaluation, but it is not thesame as evaluation practice. Where it is important todistinguish between the two, M&E or the specific terms areused.• the unfolding context for developmentand evaluation• the core belief in the value of ‘Africarooted evaluation for development’• first steps towards a framework forAfrica rooted evaluation,• the notion of ‘Africa driven evaluationfor development’; and• potential strategies for action, changeand influence.(The goals and comprehensive rationale for theconference are articulated in the conferenceproposal).As noted above, development and developmentevaluation are inextricably linked. Creativityand entrepreneurship are demanded from both.It is the premise of the participants in thismeeting that desirable African futures can besupported through the appropriate use ofevaluation cognizant of these principles andvalues. A better understanding is needed ofthese issues in development evaluation, as wellas new perspectives that acknowledge inheritedlegacies, confront the present and work withfuture aspirations. In this manner Africans canmake an essential and significant contributionto global knowledge on evaluation fordevelopment.The unfolding context for evaluation inAfricaAfrica’s great diversity - in geography,demography, ethnicity, culture, developmenttrajectories and many others - prevent sweepinggeneralizations. Yet there are common macrotrends that shape the development context andconsequently have the potential to shape theevolution of evaluation on the continent.Recent studies as well as key events andcontributions such as the various presentationsat the Fourth High Level Forum on AidEffectiveness held in Busan in the Republic ofKorea as well as subsequent meetings informedparts of this analysis, which will be sharpenedand published in the near future.The following describe some of the mostsignificant aspects, and their implications forevaluation and thus priorities requiring attentionfrom the African evaluation community. Theypoint to areas in need of improved evaluationtheory, frameworks and models, or practices. In6

other words, these are areas where Africanthought leadership in evaluation and themastery of related evaluation practices areneeded.Living in a highly complex, networkedworldWe live in a highly interconnected, increasinglycomplex world. Global policies and strategies,designed around global priorities demandingincreasingly urgent action – climate change,food and water security, financial crises,poverty, human security, individual privacy,cyber security, migration, pandemics, and more– impact on regions and countries. Long,sometimes nearly untraceable value chainscontrolled by massive global companies,financial flows such as foreign directinvestment, aid and remittances reveal both thevulnerability of global, regional and nationalsystems and the interdependence of countriesand societies. Policy coherence is anincreasingly complex yet important matter;policy frameworks and interventions, thepartnerships that make them work, and theresults, whether negative or positive are highlyintertwined. National and regional developmentpolicies and strategies have to account for, andare influenced by global priorities andpressures, while multiple diverse actors andpartnerships are engaged in making them work(or frequently in this highly competitive world,in preventing them from working).Technologically, the explosion in mobiletelephone use and the significantly enhancedbroadband connectivity of many countries areincreasing Africans’ connections to one anotherand to the rest of the world.This situation indicates that for development tobe successful, policy regimes and strategyimplementation cannot be designed andmanaged in isolation from global to(sub)national levels. This means - among others- that in order to play any significant role indevelopment, the evaluation profession inAfrica has to produce thought leaders in, andbecome adept at!• assessing the extent and impact of policyand strategy coherence (or lack thereof)from global to (sub)national level• evaluating within the domains of key globalpriorities, such as those listed above• understanding and resolving the macromicrodisconnect4, and• focusing on relationships, and evaluatingcollaborative efforts such as convenings,networks, coalitions, partnerships andplatforms.Geopolitics, the competition for resources,power and influenceThe increasing complexity within whichdevelopment has to take place is starklydisplayed by the ongoing shifts in power,influence and resources - from West to East andfrom North to South. In this multipolar world,global institutions and policies are underpressure from an increasingly confident andassertive South. New alliances are formed, newideologies explored, new frameworks andmodels pursued, new priorities established andnew geopolitical struggles exposed. Soft powerand cyber power are overtaking conventionalnotions of hard power, with the!ubiquitousmedia increasingly victims of spin, and truthand facts frequently disposed of in order to suitideology and argument. Defense, diplomacyand development (the ‘3Ds’5) are becomingintertwined. Unpredictable, sometimes unseenor little understood forces and events bringinstability and uncertainty on the one handwhile on the other, new opportunities arise.!!!In all this, Africa is now a centre of attention,and will continue to be so over the next decade.It has many strategic resources that areimperative for the energy, military, electronicsand other major global industries. It hasabundant fertile land, yet diminishing waterresources. It has a growing consumer base. Themiddle class is larger, better informed and moredemanding. Governance systems and politicalleaders in an increasing number!of Africancountries are under pressure to be accountableand to employ effective strategies for stability,security, economic growth and the use ofresources for national benefit. Models ofgovernance beyond Western-dominateddiscourses are being tested, with benevolent(semi-) autocratic rule becoming increasinglyvisible. With educated and exposed Africans’growing pride, confidence and understandingcome increasing efforts to explore the fusion4The disconnect between ‘evaluated as successful’development interventions at sub-national level anddevelopment progress at national level – a phenomenonthat can be found up to the global level.5Reference IDS article Keizer and Engel.7

etween local experiences and knowledgesystems and other systems of ‘knowing’ in orderto replace or enhance current dominantdiscourses.Thus the recent convulsions in internationalrelationships and systems indicate thatdevelopment interventions will increasinglyhave to consider new and unconventional ideasand approaches amidst the tensions broughtabout by an ongoing struggle for both soft andhard power. At the same time leaders at alllevels – and in both the North and South – arebeing confronted by increasing demands forstability and prosperity, and also foraccountability for performance and ‘value formoney’ spent on aid or development.For the African evaluation community thishighlights the need for more intenseengagement with – and better tools to do so -i.a. the following:I. the (i) international and local politics andpressures that shape aid contributions todevelopment, and (ii) the politics ofevaluation within an aid-drivenenvironmentII. the beliefs and value systems underlying aidand development interventions (or keyconcepts such as leadership, ‘community’,‘empowerment’, good governance,institution building), and their evaluationIII. the role of power relations and powerasymmetries in development and inevaluation frameworks and interventionsIV. mutual accountability in aid programs – inother words, accountability for donors anddevelopment financiers as much as forother stakeholdersV. the unexpected and often negativeconsequences or results following from(often well-intentioned) interventionsVI. development frameworks, models,discourses and practices originating in LatinAmerica, Asia and Africa, and the lensesthrough which they can be evaluatedVII. thought leadership with respect toevaluation frameworks, models, discoursesand practices originating in Africa - thusrooted in African understandings whiledrawing from elsewhere, and led andmanaged from within Africa. !Demographics, democratization andeconomic developmentAfrica has a growing number of success casesrelated to policy reform for economic growthand good governance. The latter refers topolicies and institutions - irrespective ofideology and form – that are striving to, and/orlargely succeeding in tackling pressingeconomic, political and social (and to someextent environmental) challenges on a pathtowards national prosperity and citizenwellbeing.Coupled to increasing competition amongworld powers for resource exploitationcontracts and trade partnerships, foreign directinvestment and key infrastructure developmentsare some of the factors that have enabled Africato achieve a consistent growth rate of more than5% over the past decade. The ever-increasingconsumer base – an estimated 128 million newhouseholds may enter the middle class over thenext decade – enhances this potential. Themiddle class is usually better informed,educated and connected, enhancingopportunities for entrepreneurship andinnovation. They are also more aware in thepolitical sphere, with increasing expectations ofgovernance institutions based on effective andtransparent operation, and accountability fornational wellbeing.On the other hand, as economic and humandevelopment indicators show, Africa still facesmassive challenges in this regard. Theecological and ethnic diversity within countriescontinue to pose major challenges. Ignoranceand inappropriate politicking raise the spectreof unrealistic demands and expectations amongcivil society. Protests and too-rapid transitionsto democracy can initiate or exacerbateinstability and shape economic and socialdisaster. The benefits of growth are easilycaptured by economic or political elites, givingrise to massive inequalities between forexample men and women, rural and urbansocieties, and ethnic or religious groups. In spiteof decreasing fertility rates and increasingeconomic growth rates, the African populationis expected to double by 2050, posing newchallenges.With the largest working age population in theworld, Africa is thus ripe with potential but onlyif education and appropriate, sustainable jobcreation can keep pace. This appearsincreasingly unlikely unless Africa’s strengthsare mobilized in a highly effective manner, forexample through secondary and tertiarybeneficiation and the judicious cultivation ofnew trade opportunities, entrepreneurship andinnovation.As evaluation shifts from being donor driven tobeing driven from within Africa, it is importantto ensure the expertise required to evaluate8

efforts to address some of the most seriouschallenges faced by the continent. Africa’seconomic and societal progress and of itsecosystems remains under threat from thepressures noted above, while the sustainabilityof development efforts and the resilience of itspeople and their systems are encouraging butcertainly not assured. Evaluators have to beclear – and refrain from being naïve – aboutthose broader contexts, norms and values thatframe development efforts. They should also beclear about the norms and values that they holdin their evaluation work. They need to questionmore frequently not only whether anintervention reaches its goals, but the goalsthemselves - given the context in which theyhave been identified.This! means! that! evaluators! in! their! practice!need!to!i. consider during evaluations thediversity of the stakeholders as well ascontexts, thus ensuring thatdevelopment is not seen as being onlyabout average effects on a populationii. be cognizant of the macro, evolvingpolitical and economic contexts withinwhich interventions – and theirevaluations - are planned andexecuted,iii. be explicit about the norms and valuesthat drive particular interventions, andtheir evaluations, andiv. ensure that the approaches andmethodologies exist to evaluate (within)the complexity of such situations, andof efforts to find “big solutions” toregional challenges.Vulnerability and resilienceSocieties are increasingly vulnerable in aninterdependent, connected and competitiveworld. Changes in one country, whetherpolitical, economic, financial, social, in healthstatus or in the environment, can affect regions,or the whole world. Shocks, both natural andman-made, appear to be more frequent or moresignificant, with climate change increasingly atthe forefront. Value systems are shaken byexposure to foreign cultures, and groups judged‘inferior’ by others tend to lose their confidenceand self-esteem when they acknowledge thatclassification. As inequality grows across partsof the world, and differences are exploitedalong ethnic and religious lines, fragmentationand conflicts increase. Many fragile nationsremain in a state of extreme poverty,disempowerment or perpetual conflict, whileunbridled corruption across the world, at macroand micro levels, further weakens institutions.Countering vulnerability, and enhancing theresilience of individuals, communities, societalsystems and nations are increasingly part of thedevelopment narrative. This requires that theAfrican evaluation community become moreexpert ini. cultivating a culture of evaluativethinking, and of evaluation-drivenaction in societyii.iii.iv.better understanding the concepts of‘sustainability’ and ‘resilience’, andhow to evaluate for itengaging with the unintendedconsequences of development effortsavoiding the mindless and/or contextdivorcedapplication of critical notionssuch “democracy”, “human rights” and“equity”, andv. evaluating critical aspects related tovulnerability and its mitigation, such asthe role of power in development andin evaluation; of ‘empowerment’ effortsgiven on-going vulnerabilities; theeffects of macro issues such as climatechange, increasing instability as a resultof joblessness, multi-faceted, multidirectionalcorruption; and thedevelopment of governance andinstitutional systems.!New sources and instruments for aid anddevelopment financeThe financial crisis has resulting in shifts indevelopment finance that are likely to be feltonly over the next decade. The most visibleinternational source of development fundinghas been the development aid (now called‘international development cooperation’)provided by the group of OECD countries.While the aid streams will continue, in part dueto the important contribution of aid to ‘softpower’, they are likely to become increasinglymarginalized by other actors, financing sourcesand types of financing instruments.New actors include the BRICS and Gulf Stateswhich, as the recent engagements Accra andBusan showed, have diverse and nonconventionalapproaches to developmentcooperation and finance. Coupled to the factthat the power over poor countries of the global9

institutional regime of past decades 6 isdecreasing, these new modalities, if continued,are bound to have a significant influence overhow development using international financingis done. No less important is the growing, stillsomewhat invisible influence of the privatesector, and of models that speak more to privatesector approaches than to conventional aidregimes, such as impact investing and socialbonds.The global evaluation community – those whosee themselves as practicing evaluators, whoattend conferences and engage with the body ofknowledge around evaluation theory andpractice – is largely unaware of these shifts, andlosing ground to consulting companies withcloser ties to the private sector. This has thepotential either to improve or devalueevaluation practice significantly in these arenas.It depends on how the global and Africancommunities of evaluators respond. In practice,evaluators and evaluation thought leaders inAfrica have toi. study and engage with these new actorsand instruments – also in line with astronger focus on the role of the privatesector and South-South collaboration indevelopment - in order to betterunderstand their definitions,approaches and impactsii. create and/or master relevantdevelopment and evaluationiii.frameworks, models and methodologiesensure a focus on potential unintended(negative) consequences and resultsduring and following experimentationwith new financing modalities andfunding instrumentsiv. understand how to evaluatepartnerships, coalitions and platformsin this type of dispensation.The search for evidence, impact andinfluencePressure on national resources, coupled to theongoing power shifts across the world, hasincreased the urgency with which authoritiesseek both influence and effective solutions forpressing aid and development challenges. In aworld increasingly driven by soundbytes andshort attention spans, quick results or ‘impact’and reductionist approaches are frequentlyvalued, especially in the aid environment, at theexpense of more realistic developmenttrajectories for solutions to complex challengesthat can sustain in the long run. A technocratdriven focus on ‘influence’ through ‘evidencebasedpolicy making’ raises endless debatesabout the merit of methods and how decisionmakerscan best be influenced, mostly withoutsufficiently questioning the basic premises andvalues underpinning these notions.African evaluators therefore need toi. refrain from being too reductionist intheir own methodologies while alsoevaluating for too-simple solutions, atthe same time ensuring that they canwork with systems and complexitywhen helping to design “theories ofchange” based M&E systemsii.iii.be clear on what is “credibleevidence”, and what it could mean interms of ethics and impact if poorlyproduced evidence, or ideology-drivenevidence is pushed for use by policymakershelp shift the emphasis from an almostexclusive engagement with impactevaluation, towards (i) equally criticalaspects such as evaluation forsustainable development andresilience, and (ii) strategies toempower, through evaluative practice,a variety of stakeholders participating inthe development initiatives.Innovation, technology, intellectualproperty and the knowledge societyAfrica is a frontrunner in adapting technologicalinnovations to their context, as demonstrated bythe world leading M-Pesa mobile phonebanking system in Kenya. There is a growingfocus on the continent on innovation,entrepreneurship and the use of information andknowledge – both international and indigenous– for the solving of intractable challenges on thecontinent. The mobile technology explosion isone of the reasons for the movement towards“big data”, while cyber security and theprotection of individual right to privacy as wellas intellectual property rights are increasingly ofconcern. In a knowledge economy people feeloverwhelmed with information, yet recognizethe need for knowledge and for understandinghow to deal with complexity and evidenceinformeddecision-making.This means that African evaluators also have to6 Consisting(of(the(IMF(and(international(finance(institutions(–(list(and(reference10

i. focus more on efforts to synthesizeknowledge produced throughevaluationsii.iii.In summaryunderstand and use the large data setsand new techniques that can supportevaluation data collection, yet alsorecognize and counter the ways inwhich these can be misleading andmisusedbe in a better position to evaluate“innovation” – and to innovate inevaluation itself.There are currently reams of documentsemerging analyzing global and African contextsover the next decade. The analysis above hasbeen cognizant of several and will keepevolving. Although there are many implicationsfor the evaluation profession in!Africa,!several!main!aspects!requiring!attention!emerge.$$In essence, in addition to the1. dire need for sufficient capacities andthe application of evaluation standardsin order to conduct good qualityevaluations across the board2. thought leadership in evaluationtheory and practice, by manydisciplines and sectors, and theapplication of the resulting synthesizednew knowledge are urgently needed inorder to position Africa as a continentfrom which innovative frameworks,models and practices in evaluationemerge that are suitable for thechallenges faced by the continent3. while in parallel, strategies are neededto enhance the influence and power ofthe profession and the work of itsthought leaders in development.Thought leadership in theory and practice isurgently needed in priorities that includei. understanding the role of changingand complex contexts in evaluation,and using systems thinking forholistic solutionsii. the role of norms and values indevelopment and in evaluationiii. the need for Africa rooted and Africaled evaluationiv. policy coherence from national toglobal levels, to be analyzed intandem with the micro-macrodisconnectv. mutual accountability indevelopment financing programsand in development interventionsvi. evaluation beyond an obsessionwith “impact”, to include a strongerfocus on “managing for impact”(which includes ongoing monitoringfor impact, learning and adaptivemanagement); concepts such asvulnerability, sustainability andresilience; and a nuancedinterpretation of “value for money”vii. engaging with sensitive issues suchas macro political trends, the oftenmindless rhetoric around conceptssuch as democracy and humanrights, and the ongoing obscuring oftruth in ‘evidence’, and their role inthe effectiveness of developmentstrategiesviii. searching for unintendedconsequences and unexpectedimpactsix. synthesis that produces usefulknowledgex. evaluation in priority content areas,such as• climate change, food and watersecurity• human security• power and empowerment• relationships, especially inpartnerships, coalitions,networks, platforms• creativity, innovation andentrepreneurship• institutional systems for goodgovernance, including theelimination of corruption• impact investing, social bondsand other influences of theprivate sector.11

EMERGING THEMES11

AFRICA ROOTED EVALUATION FORDEVELOPMENT: THE CORE CONCEPTWHAT IS “AFRICA ROOTEDEVALUATION”?Evaluation theory and practice have largelyevolved from Western worldviews,perspectives, values and experiences. Over thepast decade, in several parts of the world suchas among the New Zealand Maori, people fromHawai’i, First Nations in the USA and Canada,and most recently in some parts of Asia,evaluators have started to explore new ways ofthinkingEvaluation theory andpractice have largelyevolved from Westernworldviews, perspectives,values and experiencesabout,defining,framingand doingevaluation.Althoughthere isgreatdiversity inAfrica, there are many common threads thathighlight the potential for departure fromWestern perspectives – notions of the individualversus the collective; the power distance insocietal hierarchies; and understanding ofcausality and the control of outcomes.“Indigenization” is a term used to describe “theblending of an imported discipline with thegeneration of new concepts and approachesfrom within a culture” (Adair et al, 2001). Todate most efforts to “Africanize” evaluationhave been modifications of Northern rooted anddriven practices. If evaluation is truly “Africarooted”,conceptual frameworks will emanatefrom the religion, cultural traditions, norms,language, metaphors, knowledge systems,community stories, legends and folklore, socialproblems, social change, public policies, etc. ofthe culture, rather than from some universalisticor “developed world literature” (Adair et al,1993, quoted by Chilisa and Malunga).The concept of Africa rooted evaluation stillneeds careful definition. But initial efforts to doso thus refer to evaluation theory and practicethat is grounded in African philosophicalassumptions about the nature of reality, drawingfrom African perceptions of the nature of being(“I am because we are”), from Africanworldviews and belief systems and ways ofknowing, and informed by Africans’ evolvingvalues and aspirations.The “Africanization of evaluation” from thisperspective therefore refers to a process ofplacing African philosophy, worldviews,knowledge systems and values at the center ofthe evaluation process.As pointed out by Chilisa and Malunga, threecategories of African philosophy are evolvingwith distinct epistemological assumptions(Kaphagawani, 2000) from which Africa rootedevaluation can draw: (i) ethno-philosophywhich emphasizes knowledge as theexperiences of people encoded in theirlanguage, folklore, stories, everydayexperiences, songs, culture and values, and theimportance of teamwork, cooperation,collectiveness, community spirit, and consensusbuilding; (ii) philosophic sagacity emphasizesthe role of sages in the construction ofknowledge; (iii) nationalistic-ideologicalphilosophy that comprises concepts such as theAfrican renaissance and Africanization.A first tentative effort was made by Chilisa andMalunga to propose an Africa RootedEvaluation Tree with (as a start) two branches:(i) a ‘decolonizing and indigenizing evaluationbranch’ to recognize the adaptation of theaccumulated Western theory and practice onevaluation to serve the needs of Africans; and(ii) a ‘relational evaluation branch’ that drawsfrom the concept of ‘wellness’ as personified inAfrican greetings and the southern Africanconcept of “I am because we are”. The wellnessreflected in the relationship between peopleextends also to non-living things, emphasizingthat evaluation from an African perspectiveshould include a holistic approach that links anintervention to the sustainability of theecosystem and environment around it.Evaluation in Africa will therefore focus on thecontributions of development to the wellbeingof individuals, their relatives and others around,as well as of non-living things. There is an interdependencebetween the individual, thecommunity and what surrounds them that have12

to be accounted for in development and inevaluation.Evaluation in Africa willtherefore focus on thecontributions ofdevelopment to thewellbeing of individuals,their relatives andothers around,This conceptby Chilisa andMalungaproposes that ifevaluation is tobe “Africarooted”, at thevery least itshould (i)analyze theextent towhich it contributes towards the realization ofthe “ideal community”, with indicators thatrefer to the principles of “ubuntu” (i.e. therelational evaluation branch); and (ii) ensurethat both Western and African priorities andindicators are recognized, and that both striveto put the African ideal community at the center(i.e. the decolonizing and indigenizing branch).These first thoughts can be further explored asthe idea of “Africa rooted evaluation” takes rootamong thought leaders in Africa.The imperative for “Africa rootedevaluation”The participants agreed that standard evaluationframeworks and ‘lenses’ frequently do notcapture the complexities and realities of theAfrican context, thus undermining thecredibility, utility and use of the results.Unspoken taboos remain largely undetectedunder the standard evaluation radar, andcontinue to haunt evaluation practice. Existingmodels and practices thus tend to miss out oncritical cultural, societal dimensions thatultimately become ‘killer’ barriers to therealization of the aspirations of a project,program or policy, and to the sustainability ofdevelopment efforts and results.An ‘Africa-sensitive’ evaluation lens on theoryand practice will bring greater credibility,authority and profile to African evaluation andto development efforts. It will help enhance theuse of evaluation, and help build appropriate,useful development knowledge. It will helppromote ownership and a culture ofresponsibility, learning and accountability indevelopment through evaluation.Chilisa and Malunga note that Africa-rootedevaluation approaches have always existedthrough the work of African sages – theindigenous knowledge holders in the oraltradition - as well as through the work ofAfrican scholars who have written extensivelyon African philosophies. It is now time to makethem more visible, identifying them in theeveryday things that Africans do to judge and toproduce evidence for their judgment. This willgive them much-needed space in academic andpractice discourse.Africa led evaluation for developmentThe Forum also concluded African evaluationshould be “Africa driven” or “Africa led” andnot only “Africa rooted”.Effective development has to deliver dignity,peace and prosperity for Africa and its people.Given the unparalleled development challengesfacing the continent, African evaluation has toplay a much stronger role through innovativeand progressive actions that have integrity ofpurpose, perspective and process, as well asutility. Evaluation with its roots in Africa has tobe explored and its potential developed side byside or integrated with Western designed andother types of approaches. In addition, allevaluation approaches need to mastered byAfrican evaluators and, where possible, furtherdeveloped through innovations in theory andpractice as Africa-led contributions to globalevaluation knowledge.This means that for effective development,Africans have to play a greater role in theevolution of evaluation theory and practice onthe continent. This will require dynamic andengagedAfricanthoughtleadershipacrossdisciplinary,sector andcountryboundaries.Africans have to play agreater role in theevolution of evaluationtheory and practice onthe continent.The encouragement and promotion of Africanthought leadership in evaluation theory andpractice are therefore paramount at this stage ofthe development of evaluation on the continent.Furthermore, if African evaluation is to play amuch stronger role through innovative andprogressive actions that have integrity ofpurpose, perspective and process, as well asutility, informed and empowered citizens willneed to advocate for its effective use and holdleaders accountable for performance andresponsiveness to citizens’ needs.African civil society therefore has to take greaterownership of evaluation, just as it should takegreater responsibility for managing national andlocal resources, and holding leaders to account.Evaluation is still limited to specialists working13

in civil society and the public sector, yet Africais a continent full of untapped potential, inparticular among its women and young people.Evaluation has the potential to contributesignificantly to their lives if it can serve tocultivate a culture of learning, innovation,strategic leadership and accountability.African evaluation should therefore not be thesole responsibility of managers, evaluationspecialists and scholars - but a way of life for itscitizens.African evaluationshould therefore not bethe sole responsibilityof managers,evaluation specialistsand scholars - but away of life for itscitizensThis willlikelyrequire newmodes ofcollaboration betweenthe public,private and‘people’sectors for amore inclusive and effective approach toevaluation. It demands mastery of importantexisting M&E approaches and methods,innovation in evaluation theory and practice,and a better positioning of evaluation as acredible, value adding profession.In all of this the African Evaluation Association(AfrEA), its affiliated national associations andthe Africa CLEAR centers can play a key role,especially in mobilizing scholars, organizationsand networks on the continent and beyondaround goals and strategies that can achieve theabove. As example, AfrEA has developed astrategy with the following components, severalof which are highly complementary to the intentand achievements of this Bellagio forum:i. The development of Africa “rooted”evaluation education, research andinternship programii. The launch of the African EvaluationJournal (AEJ)iii. Helping to develop and strengthennational evaluation associationsiv. Mentoring in evaluation incollaboration with EvalMentorsv. Strengthening AfrEA’s institutionalcapacities.vi. Biannual conferencesvii. Policy advocacy and lobbying forevaluationviii. Media and citizenship engagements.AFRICA ROOTED and AFRICA LEDEVALUATION FOR DEVELOPMENT –POTENTIAL STRATEGIESThe cause of evaluation in Africa rests on itscontributions to genuine development strategiesthat reflect the needs of stakeholders and benefitfrom engagement with both development andevaluation discourses. New strategies have tobe designed to facilitate a focus on Africarooted and Africa led evaluation. This BellagioForum was only the first small step of many thatare needed to move these ideas forward.The following elements of a larger strategy wereproposed at the Forum. The organizing partnerswill in a separate effort articulate in greaterdetail these and other proposals for action:1. Developing capacities for innovation inAfrican evaluation, while respecting theprinciples of capacity development as anendogenous process. Such strategies can bebased, among others, on government goalsfor evaluation that go beyondresponsiveness to challenges, todetermining accountability for value formoney, with key goals that include• governance and accountability tocitizens and to those who providesupport• the development of learning nationsand groups for informed reflection,innovation and change• stimulation of African thoughtleadership in evaluation, in particularthrough analytically orientedinstitutions (research and evaluationcenters; universities) to enhance theirrole as independent evaluationinstitutions, centers of expertise andthink tanks on evaluation• knowledge development andcontributions to global knowledge.2. Expanding the pool of evaluationknowledge generated from within Africacould include the following specificactions:• Generate, compile and classify atransparent repository of knowledge onAfrican evaluations• Map capacity building initiatives inevaluation in Africa• Move the compiled repositories andmaps to the wider African public• Gauge demand from specialistuniversities, think tanks and evaluation14

projects to partner in order to generateoriginal knowledge, by drawing lessonslearnt and best practices on the theory,perception and application of Africarootedevaluation• Document and disseminate results in ofstrategies to improve the status ofevaluation, and capacities on thecontinent• Document and disseminate theapproaches and results of research intoevaluation theory and practices doneon the continent.3. Catalyzing a strong, movement towards'thought leadership' that can enhance theevaluation profession in Africa, and supportdevelopment policy and strategy:African evaluators and other stakeholdersneed to commit to advancing monitoringand evaluation theory and practice. Morespecifically, they need to engage better with• key frameworks, policies and strategiesat national and regional levels;• international aid and other globalpolicy and regimes that influenceAfrican development;• the diversity of new actors anddevelopment funding modalities;• the belief- and value-laden nature ofboth development and evaluation;• evaluation theory and practice rootedin Africa.Civil society could play a leading role incanvassing ideas and fostering thoughtleadership in development evaluation by actingas a ‘broker of evaluative knowledge’ amongdifferent sectors. Such movements require notfor-profitactors that are credible, with ameasure of independence. Dynamic,continuous dialogues could take place guidedby evaluation thought leaders within a liberalthinking space in order to inform policies andenable institutionalized, sustainable, effectivesystems in government, including in evaluation.$ $15

$NEXT STEPS AFTER THE BELLAGIO FORUM!!!!!! !!16

In order to give life to the initiative, to ensurethat this Bellagio meeting is not a “once-off”event, and prevent these first efforts to becomemired in heavy time and resource intensiveprocesses, the following relatively simple stepsare under consideration:1. Stimulate interest and innovation:Shape and develop the Forum inputsinto a series of concise, useful products(including video) for different purposesand audiences – from civil society toacademia to influential policy makers.The products need to create awarenessand support, including through clearlyarticulating intent, and defining andstimulating debate and thinking on keyconcepts. It should support the “Madein Africa” strategy of the AfricanEvaluation Association. Publishing aspecial edition of the African EvaluationJournal is only one of the possibleacademic avenues that can be pursuedin this context.2. Engage a virtual thought leadershipforum: Establish a network / communityof practice of African evaluation“thought leaders” (on theory andpractice) who are prepared to advancework on key concepts related to Africarootedand Africa-led evaluation. This(ongoing) “Thought Leaders’ Forum”will meet once a year and collaborateon worthwhile “evaluation fordevelopment” related projects – alsousing new technologies and socialmedia for this purpose. They should notonly be evaluation specialists andshould include influential Africanthinkers. This will be hard to achieve inthe absence of clear incentives, but notimpossible. A PopTech style approachto virtual or face to face gatheringscould be one of the mechanisms forengagement.identified and engaged who can be partof, or support (in principle) the Forumand who can both help develop anduse its products - from the AU organs toacademic and development practitionernetworks, to evaluation associations.Important linkages to actors outside thecontinent can also be established. Itwill be necessary to purposefullyinclude unconventional actors, e.g. forSouth-South engagement, private sectorlinked initiatives, and developmenteffectiveness platforms. Connectionswith AfrEA’s “Made in Africa” initiativeneed to be nurtured, as well as withacademic units of highly specialistevaluators.4. Ensure some form of (limited)coordination, with a repository: This isneeded to ensure vision andmomentum for the forum but withoutgetting bogged down in structures. Itwill have as part of its charge to helpenhance – with others - the profile andinfluence of the work on importantnational, regional and global platforms.5. Provide examples of what such aforum can contribute: Interestedindividuals and organizations canimmediately be mobilized to engage intwo useful activities: (i) Work with afoundation or donor on a few of theirevaluations in order to see what itwould have meant to have an “Africarooted” and “Africa led” approach. (ii)Analyze key documents emanatingfrom African decision-makers todetermine their implications forevaluation and the evaluationprofession.3. Map (and later on engage) keyindividuals, organizations,networks/coalitions and initiatives: Keyactors on the continent need to beAfrican Thought Leaders Forum on Evaluation and Development, Bellagio, Nov 2012 17

African Thought Leaders Forum on Evaluation and Development, Bellagio, Nov 2012 18

ANNEXESAfrican Thought Leaders Forum on Evaluation and Development, Bellagio, Nov 2012 19

African Thought Leaders Forum on Evaluation and Development, Bellagio, Nov 2012 18

Contemporary Development Challenges forAfrica and their Implications for EvaluationRobin MooreUniversity of the WitwatersrandZenda OfirInternational Evaluation AdvisorTrigger papers have been commissioned with a view to encouraging a rich and effective debate at theforum. Representing a collation of the authors’ own wisdom while making use of evidence fromrecognised academic sources, we hope that they respond effectively to the questions at hand in ourevolving development context. They are intended to be forward looking, providing a platform that movesus beyond the elementary steps in the development/evaluation debate and encourages innovationthrough exploring crucial issues at an advanced level.Part One: What are the most importantdevelopment challenges for Africa in thenext decade?This short paper intends only to distinguish theparameters of key debates currently circulatingin the contemporary development environment,but does so in an effort to reflect the broadtrends of thought and aspiration thatcharacterise narratives about our future. Theseare offered for debate and disagreement, toopen our discussions.Framing conditionsThis section of the paper commences with adiscussion of five interlinked epochaldevelopments that together constitute theframing conditions for development in Africa.Any broad strategies for development (and theevaluation of these) will, we argue, need to takethese conditions into account as they computethe contexts of intervention, the resources athand and the purposes to be served. Naturally,these framing conditions will have varyingimplications for different contexts.The first framing condition is the role thatAfrica’s resource wealth is anticipated to playinto the future. The continent’s growth rateshave strengthened remarkably over the pastdecade, doubling its performance over that ofthe 1980s and 1990s. For example, Angola’seconomy grew faster in the 2000s than anyother economy in the world. Although thegrowth has been somewhat uneven, projectionsforecast that 128 million households could liftinto middle-class consumer patterns in the nextdecade (McKinsey Global Institute, 2010;Swilling, 2012). The demand forAfrica’s mineral resources grew significantlysince around 2000, especially as a result ofindustrial expansion in China, India, Russia andother emerging economies, as well as escalatingdemand for strategic minerals from the West. Itwas the continued buoyancy of this demandthat protected Africa’s growth rates from evensteeper declines during the world economicmeltdown (Swilling, 2012; UNECA, 2012).Analysts suggest that the demand for Africa’sminerals will continue and indeed escalate, andthat mineral commodities are in a ‘super cycle’of sustained increased prices, with the promiseof improved tax revenues for Governments whoare able to take advantage of these price-levels(UNECA and AU, 2011). The concomitantimplication, however, is the ability anddetermination of Governments to counter thepernicious dynamics that have often rendered acountry’s mineral wealth a ‘curse’ rather than ablessing – including an over-dependence of aneconomy on these resources with a resultantAfrican Thought Leaders Forum on Evaluation and Development, Bellagio, Nov 2012 23

lack of diversification, and a tendency for theyield from these resources to be captured bypolitical and economic elites, rather than beinginvested in broader-based developmentalgoods.The second framing condition (already impliedabove) is the shift in the global economiccentre of gravity eastwards and southwards.While the United States remains the strongesteconomy globally, projections estimate China’srise to this position in the foreseeable future.The financial meltdown of 2008, the deepindebtedness of the traditional centres of theworld economy and the continuing Eurozonecrisis have inhibited growth on the Africancontinent, but at the same time exposed therelative strength of the Asian economies and arange of other emerging countries, some inAfrica. Although Africa’s growth dipped fromaround 6% to 2.5% in 2009 (ADB, 2010), it’srecovery from these levels is already evident.The countries with the strongest GDPs tend tobe the resource-exporting countries (but tend tohave the least diversified economies), while themore diversified economies of Egypt, Tunisia,South Africa and Morocco are powerful enginesof growth on the continent. Ghana, Kenya andSenegal are diversifying quickly and theirinvestments in innovation are reflected in theirgrowing trade within the continent (McKinseyGlobal Institute, 2010; Swilling, 2010). It isclear that food will be increasingly seen asvaluable a strategic resource into the future asminerals and oil are. This is reflected not only inthe recent global price escalations, but also inhow some countries are buying up stretches ofthe best arable land in Africa in order to ensurebespoke supplies for their own populations. Theimplications of this shift in the global centre ofeconomic gravity includes a changing set ofprimary customers for Africa’s resources,together with a changing set of conditionalitiesfor the exchange of those resources. The termsof trade with China, for example, may be quitedifferent from those with Scandinavia. Similarly,Africa needs to see its trading partners (not onlyin terms of commodities, but the full range oftradables) increasingly located in the South, andon the African continent. What opportunitiesdoes this open for trade regimes more beneficialto the development and diversification of theeconomies in Africa, and in the South morebroadly? Finally, the current fragility of theeconomies of the US and the EU is alreadyhaving an impact on how these countries seetheir development relations with the South, notleast in the levels of development aid availablefor disbursement, but also in the purposes ofaid. There are implications here for thecharacter that these relationships acquire intothe future. For example, the DfID White Paperof 2009 speaks of ‘our common prosperity’, ‘ourcommon security’ and ‘our common climate’(Maxwell, 2009). Are we encountering an era inwhich capital (or at least some players)comports itself differently in the future, with agreater eye to more equitable development andsustainability? These shifting power gradientshave implications for how development projectsshould be conceived, and how they areevaluated. See for example the stance reflectedin the African consensus position ondevelopment effectiveness taken at Busan in2011 (AU and NEPAD, 2011).The third framing condition is the wave ofdemocratisation and citizen activism that is afeature of the recent history of the continent. Anunprecedented number of countries on thecontinent are conducting increasinglymeaningful multi-party elections, with growinglevels of social inclusiveness (UNECA, 2009).The political sphere in Africa is widelycontested and fluid, and although armedconflict and coercive strategies are still evident,electoral politics represent the predominantarena for contestation. Having said that, thephenomenon of the Arab Spring has vividlyillustrated the growing levels of citizen activismthat have arisen together with acceleratinglevels of urbanisation. The activism arises fromincreased expectations from the growing middleclasses, or from those with a sharper view of theinequities of wealth distribution (OECD, 2012).A study by the African Development Bank hasattributed this revolution in the Arab world,aside from a rejection of long-term politicalrepression, to the twin demands for jobs andeconomic justice. The study traces the growthof unemployment among relatively welleducatedyouth, as well as a decline in realwages in what was a “functional distribution ofincome away from labour” (ADB, 2012: 11).The ubiquity of ICTs, together with social mediaand the internet, contribute to a restructuring ofsocial order away from hierarchical structuresand towards social laterality and concomitantdemands for greater levels of accountability andgovernance transparency (Rifkin, 2011). Alliedto this is the phenomenon of resourcenationalism, voiced as both a popular demandand as a growing set of regulatory measures tobetter capture and redistribute the yield fromthe extractive industries (UNECA, 2012). Thelevels of militant activism currently underway inAfrican Thought Leaders Forum on Evaluation and Development, Bellagio, Nov 2012 24

(for example) Nigeria around the petroleumindustry, or in South Africa around the platinumand gold mining industries, are indicators of alikely groundswell for a more equitable socialcontract in relation to natural resources. Thisdiscussion of citizen activism is not to comedown on one side or the other in the debate onthe role of authoritarian rule in achievingdevelopmental ends in a developing societycontext (for example, Khan, 2005), but ratheronly to observe the organic rise of citizenactivism in Africa as a factor at play in thearena.The fourth framing condition is that it is nolonger sufficient to be planning and providingfor the state of affairs as they are now, but ratherthe imperative is to cater also for theeventualities of the future. A feature of thecontemporary era is our realisation of howglobalised the potential disruptions to oursocieties can be. There is now little doubt thatclimate change is a reality, is reflected not justin the dramatically shrinking ice-caps at thepoles but in the climatic conditions thatinfluence food crops, water supplies,settlements and the livelihoods of millions.Some analysts predict that Africa will beparticularly severely affected, withconsequences for human security in allrespects. Agriculture provides a substantialproportion of the continent’s GDP, at bothsubsistence and commercial levels, andchanging climatic conditions can radically alteryields, not only because of changing rainfallpatterns, but also because of unprecedentedcrop diseases or insect infestations. Equally, thevitality of the globe’s various economies areprofoundly implicated in one another, anddisarray in one context inevitably bleeds intoothers. Both economic and political instabilitiesprovoke human migrations, sometimes resultingin armed conflict, but almost alwaysaccompanied by destitution that hasimplications for the contexts of transit andarrival. The mobility of populations (whetheraffluent or otherwise) has also brought with itthe mobility of pandemics of disease, and we’veseen the swiftness with which newly mutatedorganisms can wreak havoc in societies. Wehave learned also that while some eventualitiesof the future can be predicted, others cannot. Avital capacity for societies is alertness for theunforeseen, and well-trained rapid responsecapabilities. This has implications for the kindof training that is provided in Governmentcircles, as well as in civil society. Thisdisposition, together with robust socialinstitutions, contribute to the levels of resiliencethat we have available to deal with theeventualities of the future.The fifth framing condition is the salience oftechnologies and innovation in enablingAfrican economies to diversify and expand insustainable and inclusive directions. Swilling(2012) reviews and synthesizes a range ofcontemporary studies that consider the cyclicalnature of the global economy and the role thattechnology plays in these cycles. He finds acommon perspective in a number of differentquarters that points to an imminent future wherethe driving force behind technologicalinnovation will be responses to the rising pricesof resources and the threats of resourcedepletion. These innovation imperatives will beto decouple economic activity from its currentlevels of dependence on natural resources andnon-renewable sources of energy, in particularby generating technologies of radically greaterefficiency. If the evidence of climate changeremains unconvincing to some policy-makers,the hard economics of the commodities marketswill drive the investments in alternativetechnologies. Already the fields ofbiotechnology, information technology,alternative energies, nanotechnology andbiomimicry promise a significant shift inrelationship between growth and resourceconsumption. However, the projection is thatthe bulk of technological innovation (and thevalue to be derived from this) will be situated inthe developed world, and small pockets ofadvanced developing countries. There is littleenthusiasm about Africa’s capacity to contributeto the new wave of leading edge technicalinnovation. Yet, the imperative for innovation(economic and social) lies at the heart ofAfrica’s developmental future, since the currentdistributive order and pattern of livelihoods isclearly not sustainable. Although resourcescount for only about a quarter of Africa’s GDP,they represent some 80% of Africa’s exports,tying the continent into a particular relationshipwith the global economy. The imperative is notto transition from a resource-based to a lowtechnologyeconomy, but rather to inject adynamic of innovation into every level ofactivity, from selected niche-advantagetechnology fields at the most sophisticated end,to transformative adaptations that boostlivelihoods in rural smallholdings. Kenya’ssuccess in innovating cell-phone banking, androlling it out to reach all corners of the country,stands as just one fine example of Africa’scapacity to leapfrog successive generations ofAfrican Thought Leaders Forum on Evaluation and Development, Bellagio, Nov 2012 25

technology and produce a world-leadinginnovation that has made a difference in thelives of millions. What would it take to deepenand intensify Africa’s capacity for innovationand technological mastery, in all fields ofendeavour and levels of economicsophistication?Developmental ImperativesWhat developmental vision for the continentarises from the various commentaries that haveinformed this overview? Any brief summary ofsuch a vision must necessarily generalise, andthus overlook the dramatically diverse contextsdistributed across the continent, for which verydifferent pathways may be available. The visionis initially an economy-driven one, seeing thatas the fundamental means by which livelihoodsand human fulfilment can be changed for thebetter. But the economic vision carriesentailments for the capabilities of Governments,for social contracts within societies, forregulatory regimes across continental regions,and for the value systems that animate societiesand individuals.The vision for the medium-term future of thecontinent (the next decade or two) is one wherea strengthening consensus across Africa is forcollective efforts to direct the continent’sresources towards more sustainable ends,including economic activities that have aplanning time horizon beyond the affordancesof the mineral and natural resources thatcurrently sustain the growth of many countries,and including the factors that make for thelonger-term fulfilment of societies, likeeducation and health systems. Whether theresources are minerals, tobacco or grain, therents derived from these must be directed moreeffectively towards the diversification of thecontinent’s economies (including downstreambeneficiation), towards industries that are moreinclusive of the broader population, towardsincreased intra-continental trade, and towardshigh quality social services. What models arealready available on the continent, andglobally, for how this can be done?This has implications for the significantstrengthening of the capacity of states tonegotiate fair deals with the extractiveindustries (or agribusiness) and their clients, andto distribute the yields into long-term provision,whether these be in the form of infrastructure orsocial institutions like education and health.The adoption of the Africa Mining Vision (AMV)in 2009 by the African Union Heads of Stateand Government constituted a significant stepin this direction, and reflects earlier intentions(for example in the Lagos Plan of Action, andNEPAD’s mining chapter) to link the mineralsindustries with other sectors of the economy.What regulatory frameworks, and industrialstrategies, either at country levels or regionally,would assist in extracting and retaining betterlevels of value from resources?The proliferation and growth of otherdimensions of African economies – whetherthese are downstream value-adding activities toexisting industries, or entirely diversifiedactivities like manufacturing, service industriesor cultural industries – will rely on theincreasing capacity of the state to (at the veryleast) deliver services and provide the enablingconditions for diverse industry to flourish. Somewould argue that a distinctively African modelof the developmental state is required, a modelthat is resonant with the contemporaryconditionalities of the continent and the globe(Routley, 2012). Are there current examples thatmight provide insights for an indigenous modelof the developmental state for the 21 st Century?Botswana and Rwanda are examples that oftenprovoke debate.Regional agreements and co-operation need toextend beyond economic issues and embracethe social dynamics of Africa in the productionof a social justice charter for the continent, orsome means by which civil protection is moreeffectively assured to vulnerable constituencies.This charter would need to indicate the rights,responsibilities and freedoms of the peoples ofAfrica, including perspectives on gender issuesand religious freedoms. The diversity of oursocieties has been deepened by the mobility(voluntary and forced) of populations, as well asby the intergenerational diversity of perspectivethat have deepened as a consequence of ourchanging social structures. Issues of identity canquickly deteriorate into pretexts for conflict(rather than celebrations of strength in diversity),especially in resource-stressed environments orsocieties of deep inequities. The charter wouldneed especially to consider the tides of humanmigration that are a factor of both the fragility ofsome of Africa’s states and theentrepreneurialism of its peoples. Can the AUprovide a platform on which the contestedviews of social identity and human rights can bediscussed and adjudicated?The continent must cultivate its dispositiontowards innovation, as an urgent andredemptive requirement for its capacity to fulfilAfrican Thought Leaders Forum on Evaluation and Development, Bellagio, Nov 2012 26

the imperatives outlined above. We take aninclusive view of the notion of innovation as“being the capacity to generate, acquire andapply knowledge to advance economic andsocial purposes” (Marcelle, 2011 in DST, 2012:97). In other words, innovation includes theability to adapt knowledge from other contextsand apply it in locally appropriate ways, as wellas the ability to generate entirely noveltechnologies. Equally, innovation applies tohow we adapt the functioning of publicservices, economic systems and socialinstitutions to better suit contemporary andfuture purposes. While some innovationgenerates entirely new technologies, much of itis necessarily about hybridity, in that oursolutions will almost always be how weincorporate the future to address the present,blends of the local and the imported, the knownand the new. Innovation is something that ispracticed in all settings, no matter how modestor sophisticated, and needs to be the means bywhich all corners of society can transform theirfutures for the better (DST, 2012). There is muchevidence of innovation in even the mostvulnerable of communities (rural and informalsettlement dwellers would not survive withoutthese capacities), but we don’t do enough toidentify the essential creativity of the humanspirit and disseminate it for use more broadly.Equally, Africa is fully capable of drivingleading-edge technologies in powerful ways; weneed the political determination to set theagenda, and drive it to fruition. Obviously thereis much that can be done deliberately to fosterinnovation, whether through education andtraining, or through regulatory systems, but therole of inspirational leadership is vital,appealing as it must to the agency of citizens totake control of their lives and work against thestructures that inhibit human fulfilment. This isan outward-looking and forward-looking visionof development that admits to no limitations towhat can be achieved in Africa, by Africans.Part Two: What are the implications forevaluation theory and practice, and for theprofession?Evaluation and development are in a symbioticrelationship. The one draws from, and evolveswith the other. Ideally, well-performedevaluation should lead, or at least give somedirection to development. It provides evidence,reasoning and insights that are integrative androoted in practical realities. Yet such evidencebased(or evidence-informed) evaluationinspireddevelopment is seldom achieved.Policy-making continues to be a highly politicalprocess, and across the world the use ofevidence in such processes is not always wellunderstood or is sharply contested.In Africa in particular, evaluation is a young,although fast-growing, profession that still has todevelop the credibility and visibility as anessential and critical support for understandinghow development can best be done. In spite ofthe encouraging statements in the recentAU/NEPAD Busan preparation paper on theAfrican Consensus and Position onDevelopment Effectiveness, it is not yet ownedand cultivated by African stakeholders as auseful, indeed fundamental, input into theirwork.The vast majority of evaluators are engaged inthe evaluation of aid programmes (now mostoften called development cooperation) or ofphilanthropy interventions. More recently theemphasis has shifted to “developmenteffectiveness” in which aid is of varyingimportance depending on the extent of acountry’s dependence on external support.Thus if used, the work of African evaluators – orof evaluators working in Africa - can affect vastnumbers of people, often the most vulnerableand marginalized. This means that it is aprofession that requires a very high level ofspecialised expertise and integrity in order to“do no harm”.Imperatives for the African Community ofEvaluatorsThe framings and imperatives for developmentlaid out above have significant implications forevaluators in Africa. The following is an attemptto capture some of the most important withoutclaiming to be comprehensive. It is meant tostimulate discussion about the most criticalissues facing the evaluation profession in Africaas it continues to grow for the benefit of thecontinent.African evaluators need to engage with keyframeworks, policies and strategies at nationaland regional levels. Evaluation in Africa is stillprimarily project driven because of the nature of(primarily) aid and philanthropy interventions.This leads to a “micro-macro disconnect” wheresuccessful projects do not necessarily translateinto successful development. There are also aAfrican Thought Leaders Forum on Evaluation and Development, Bellagio, Nov 2012 27

host of pertinent national and regional 7 policiesand strategies that, if implemented, will shapedevelopment in Africa over the next decade.We, as African evaluators need to be able to (i)use these frameworks in our work, (ii) evaluatethem, and (iii) use professional experience andevaluation evidence to challenge and enrichthem (including, if appropriate, in the context ofa uniquely African developmental state).This means (among others) that Africanevaluators should understand better how toaddress the micro-macro disconnect. Thisincludes understanding better how to evaluatefor the scaling of development interventions,How to assess the merit, value and coherenceof the strategic initiatives at these differentlevels, how to consider the effect of the powerrelations and asymmetries related to their designand implementation, and how to help designlocally-owned M&E systems to support them.To date, evaluators and evaluation associationshave been largely absent from national andcontinent-wide discussions on criticaldevelopment issues. We do not have sufficientcredibility and profile to play a significant rolein such critical processes, and have yet to usenational efforts as well as the regional andglobal evaluation architecture to strengthen ourposition.African evaluators need to engage withinternational aid and other global policy andregimes that influence African development. Asnoted throughout this document, Africandevelopment is also strongly influenced byglobal policy regimes (trade, financialregulation, migration, security, etc.) 8 and byglobal politics – both of which are often not inAfrica’s best interests. Propaganda transmittedin the old and new media, and the fastmovement of news and information wheresoundbites take the place of reasoned argumentand evidence, have the potential to givecredence to interested perspectives anddistortions and overshadow more informed andaccurate analyses.. Their effects will grow asresource competition grows. African evaluators7 Such as the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM);Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme(CAADP); Programme for Infrastructure Development inAfrica (PIDA); Consolidated Plan of Action for Science andTechnology; Environment Action Plan (EAP); MinimumIntegration Plan (MIP); African Action Plan: 2010-2015;African Mining Vision; AU Gender Policy; and more.8 Refer to the extensive writings of RobertPicciotto on this topic.need to have the capacities to understand thesedynamics and the profile that enables them toaddress them. This includes the ability toengage with global and regional forums thatinfluence important policy regimes, to evaluatetheir effect on African development, and toensure that both the (potential) positive andnegative consequences of global policies andstrategies and their implementation are wellunderstood and communicated to Africandecision-makers.African evaluators need to engage with adiversity of new actors and developmentfunding modalities. Power and financial shiftsin the world over the past decade have resultedin a very different development landscape.New, often non-Western models ofdevelopment and of development financinghave increased and are rapidly gaining traction.Aid percentages – both absolute and relative toother sources of funding - are going down whilefinancial flows from philanthropy, the privatesector and emerging economies are increasing.Foreign direct investment and instruments suchas impact investing and social developmentbonds are increasingly important. The Africanevaluation community is un(der)prepared forthese developments, and other actors such asauditors or major management consulting firmsare increasingly active in the evaluation of thesenew efforts .Two of the main challenges this poses to theevaluation community are a stronger focus on(i) the principle of “do no harm” and assessingunintended (negative) consequences; and (ii)making explicit the values that underpindevelopment and evaluation approaches.African evaluators need to engage with thebelief- and value-laden nature of bothdevelopment and evaluation. Citizen activism,the striving towards democratisation (in amanner that suits different developmentmodels), an increasing confidence in localsolutions, and assertions of pride in localidentity require African evaluators to examineand make explicit the beliefs, values andprinciples that underlie frameworks fordevelopment, as well as those that informevaluation, and their implications.This also highlights the importance of seekingindigenous approaches to, and models for,development and evaluation, while continuingto draw from the best international advances.Societies that value, for example, communityoriented,collective leadership and traditionalAfrican Thought Leaders Forum on Evaluation and Development, Bellagio, Nov 2012 28

hierarchies, rather than individual-oriented,egalitarian social structures, will require verydifferent evaluation frameworks andmethodologies.African evaluators need to understand how tomonitor and evaluate (pathways towards)concepts and goals essential to achievingeffective and sustained development. Keydocuments on global, Africa-wide and nationaldevelopment strategies emphasize theimportance of capacity strengthening andempowerment, sustainability 9 , growth withequity and increasingly also of resilience. Inspite of both development and evaluationrhetoric there is either little expertise worldwidein the monitoring and evaluation of theseconcepts, and/or limited efforts in Africa to putexisting knowledge in practice. In spite of itsimportance there is a particular dearth of workon the monitoring and evaluating of resilience(at the level of the individual, community,country, continent or planet) in the face ofshocks such as conflict or disaster, and ofslowly evolving situations such as increasingimpoverishment or climate change. Andalthough much more is known aboutmonitoring and evaluating empowerment andcapacity, this knowledge is often poorly appliedin evaluation practice.Such issues require extensive expertise inworking with complexity, systems,relationships, unintended outcomes and thesalience of context – all areas in whichcapacities on the continent need to bedeveloped. Yet the current strong emphasis onspecific types of impact evaluation continues tohave the potential to divert attention andresources away from building a knowledge baseon these extremely important issues.African evaluators and other stakeholders needto own and advance monitoring and evaluationtheory and practice. For all the reasons above,monitoring and evaluation need to bedeveloped and owned by Africans, and used fortheir own benefit. It should not be imposedfrom outside or seen as only useful to others.What is done elsewhere should inform andenrich African evaluation, and vice versa. It istherefore crucial for the African evaluationcommunity to strive to ensure that its capacitiesand approaches are as relevant, high quality9 In the sense of transformative change and thesustainability of positive development outcomes andbenefitsand visible as they can be in support of thedevelopment of the continent. For these reasonsthe objectives and initiatives of the new “Madein Africa” initiative of the African EvaluationAssociation (AfrEA) deserve praise and support.In Summary: Some Key Priorities for theEvaluation Profession in AfricaThe mastery of critical monitoring andevaluation approaches and methods: In thelight of the above, evaluators in Africa need tomaster – and clearly display and communicatetheir mastery – of important concepts andmethodologies not yet commonly found incapacity-strengthening efforts on the continent.These include, among others, challenging andsometimes controversial issues such assophisticated work on systems-basedmonitoring and evaluation, theories of changeand theory-based (impact) monitoring andevaluation for adaptive management (Thisrather than rigid, over-simplified logframes).Equally, we need to strengthen our attention tothe politics and values underlying development,evaluation and of the use of evidence and indealing with the micro-macro disconnect.; Weneed to build our capacity to use newtechnologies and to draw on large data sets inour evaluations. Crucially, we need increasinglyto be able to marshal and synthesize theevidence from monitoring, from self-evaluationand from independent evaluation to achieveenhanced learning, accountability andknowledge generation.In other words, our skill-set includes but is notlimited to the monitoring and evaluation of (i)policies and strategies, and their alignment andcoherence, from local to global levels; (ii) thescaling of pilot efforts; (iii) approaches toempowerment and institution strengthening; (iv)efforts at innovation for development; (vnewdevelopment financing mechanisms fordevelopment, such as impact investing ; and (vi)sustainability and resilience. Evaluators alsoneed to be committed to, and astute in seekingand finding the truth behind rhetoric andpropaganda.Innovation in monitoring and evaluation theoryand practice: Mastery of both basic andadvanced aspects has to be complemented byresearch on, and innovation in, monitoring andevaluation on the continent. Little has beendone in this regard, or otherwise has lowvisibility (Carden and Alkin, 2012).African Thought Leaders Forum on Evaluation and Development, Bellagio, Nov 2012 29

Here, the development and evaluationarchitecture – including related and otherprofessional associations, and organizationssuch as CLEAR and other academic centres -can play a critical role. Communities of practicethat draw from a wide range of sectors andactors can promote and coordinate initiativesaimed at cultivating thought-leadership andinnovation in both evaluation theory andpractice. This is also where “ Made in Africa”evaluation and indigenous frameworks formonitoring and evaluation can bring newperspectives to the international evaluationbody of work, or can complement work on newideas for the developmental state in Africa. Butfor sufficient profile in a world still dominatedby knowledge generated in the West, whateveris done should be systematically documentedand disseminated in many different formats fordifferent purposes using tailor-made influencingstrategies.Positioning the evaluation profession in Africaand globally: The evaluation profession inAfrica is vital for development. The immediatelyuseful, integrative and strategic nature ofevaluation should attract some of the bestpeople from the continent. The community ofevaluators should be strong, capable and wellpositioned for influence at all levels -community, national, regional, Africa-wide andglobally. We should be able to communicate itsutility as individuals and as a collective, and itscontributions in an authoritative, evidencebasedor evidence-informed manner. Weshould be able to hold our own on any local,national, regional or international platform, andelicit respect and authority.This requires what is now called “thoughtleadership” in theory and practice,complemented by “practice leadership”. Theseare not elitist or exclusionary terms. Instead,they are integral to how the continent crafts itsfuture on its own terms, to increasing levels ofprosperity and social justice.REFERENCESAfrican Development Bank, 2012. Jobs, Justice and the Arab Spring: Inclusive Growth in North Africa.African Development Bank Group.African Union and NEPAD, 2011. African consensus and position on development effectiveness: Aidreforms for Africa’s development. Document prepared for the Fourth High Level Forum on AidEffectiveness, Busan, Republic of Korea.DST, 2012. Final Report of the Ministerial Review Committee on the Science, Technology andInnovation Landscape in South Africa. Department of Science and Technology of South Africa.Khan, M. H., 2005. Markets, states and democracy: patron-client networks and the case for democracyin developing countries. Democratization 12 (5): 705-725.Maxwell, S. 2009. Eliminating world poverty: building our common future. Development Policy Review,2009, 27 (6): 767-770.McKinsey Global Institute, 2010. Lions on the Move: the Progress and Potential of African Economies.McKinsey Global Institute.OECD, 2012. Perspectives on Global Development 2012: Social Cohesion in a Shifting World. OECDPublishing.Rifkin, J., 2011. The Third Industrial Revolution: How Lateral Power is Transforming Energy, theEconomy and the World. New York: Palgrave MacMillan.Routley, L., 2012. Developmental states: a review of the literature. ESID Working Paper no. 3. EffectiveStates and Inclusive Development Research Centre, University of Manchester.Swilling, 2010. Africa 2050 – Growth, resource productivity and decoupling. Paper produced for theUNEP International Panel for Sustainable Resource Management.Swilling, M. 2012. Just transitions and the next long-term development cycle: some warnings from theAfrican continent. Paper presented to the International Conference on Sustainability Transitions,Denmark, August 2012.UN Economic Commission for Africa, 2009. African Governance Report II. Oxford University Press.African Thought Leaders Forum on Evaluation and Development, Bellagio, Nov 2012 30

UN Economic Commission for Africa and the African Union, 2011. Minerals and Africa’s Development.The International Study Group’s Report of Africa’s Mineral Regimes. UNECA.UN Economic Commission for Africa, 2012. Mineral resources for Africa’s development: anchoring anew vision. Issues Paper 1. Eighth African Development Forum, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, October2012.African Thought Leaders Forum on Evaluation and Development, Bellagio, Nov 2012 31

Made in Africa Evaluation: UncoveringAfrican Roots in Evaluation Theory andPracticeBagele Chilisa,University of Botswana Research and Evaluation UnitChiku Malunga,CADECOTrigger papers have been commissioned with a view to encouraging a rich and effective debate at theforum. Representing a collation of the authors’ own wisdom while making use of evidence fromrecognised academic sources, we hope that they respond effectively to the questions at hand in ourevolving development context. They are intended to be forward looking, providing a platform that movesus beyond the elementary steps in the development/evaluation debate and encourages innovationthrough exploring crucial issues at an advanced level.IntroductionAfricans fall within the category of people whohave suffered slavery, colonisation andmarginalisation, and, in fact, they are “stillbeing colonised” and marginalised. Thiscolonisation alienated people from their ownculture – their ways of knowing – and heldthem captive to Western theory and practice.The theory and practice of evaluation today hasits origin in the “development industry” andacademia of the global North. This paper willdiscuss the rationale for African-rooted andAfrican-driven evaluation practice and theory,two conceptual models of the Africanevaluation tree and the African idealcommunity before discussing how these can beactually applied in practice through presentinga case study. The paper will conclude withreflections on implications on actual theory andpractice of evaluation in Africa and globally.Why African rooted and African drivenevaluation?Today the world’s formerly colonised – acategory that includes Africans and otherindigenous populations in North America andAustralasia – are exploring ways to decolonise,indigenise and imagine knowledge theory andpractice in every academic discipline andpractice that is informed by their world views.With regard to the debate on a “Made in AfricaEvaluation”, there are arguments that theground breaking books on indigenous research(Smith, 1999, 2012; Wilson, 2012; Chilisa,2012) and others can inform Africa-drivenevaluation theory and practice. This argument ismade on the premises that evaluationencompasses the construction of knowledgeand that the African World views and ways ofknowing can form the basis for such knowledgeconstruction. It is for this reason that it is arguedthat an African-driven evaluation theory andpractice can draw from the evolving postcolonialindigenous paradigm to articulateepistemologies and values of an African-drivenevaluation.Another view is that one can define a made-in-Africa evaluation as one that is driven byAfrican philosophical assumptions about thenature of reality, knowledge and values. Theargument to deny the existence of Africanphilosophy is now redundant. As elucidated bySogolo (1993: xii), African philosophy “is part ofour total package of liberation from the apron ofWestern intellectual colonisation.” It is anengagement of discourses that claim back lostidentities and create spaces for significantselfhoods as well as writing back and talkingback to the West in modes couched in theAfrican Thought Leaders Forum on Evaluation and Development, Bellagio, Nov 2012 32

histories, cultures, linguistic and lifeexperiences of the Africans (Eze, 1997; Sogolo,1993).From this perspective, African philosophicalassumptions about the nature of reality form thebasis for a made-in-Africa evaluation – one thatdraws from the African perception of the natureof being. On the question of what is a person,the common answer is “I am because we are”, aphrase expressed by the Zulu of South Africa asUmuntu ngumuntu nagabantu, and by theBakalanga of Botswana as Nthu nthu ne bathu.The people referred to are the living as well asthe dead and the unborn (Louw, 2001). Thedead are the ancestral spirits who form part ofthe African extended families and areconnected to the people and talk to the peoplein their daily experiences. African perceptionsof reality thus include a spiritual belief system.The philosophical assumption of an Africanvalue system ties in well with the Africanperception of reality, which emphasises respectfor others and oneself “nthu nthu ne bathu”.While ontological and axiological assumptionsare general to African philosophy, fourcategories of African philosophy are evolvingwith distinct epistemological assumptions(Kaphagawani, 2000) that can inform theconstruction of knowledge in a made-in-Africaevaluation, namely: ethno-philosophy,philosophic sagacity and nationalisticideologicalphilosophy Ethno-philosophyemphasises knowledge as the experiences ofpeople encoded in their language, folklore,stories, everyday experiences, songs, cultureand values, and the importance of team work,cooperation collectiveness, community spirit,and consensus building. Philosophic sagacityemphasises the role of sages in the constructionof knowledge. The nationalistic- ideologicalphilosophy comprises concepts such as theAfrican renaissance and Africanisation (Chilisaand Preece 2005). Africanisation and therefore“Africanisation of evaluation” from thisperspective refers to a process of placing theAfrican world values at the centre of theevaluation process.We would like to proceed with caution andhumility, and say that the struggle to Africaniseacademic disciplines – including the disciplineof evaluation – is gaining momentum and thatour efforts draw heavily from the experiencesand practices of the African sages (indigenousknowledge holders) that are imprinted in theoral literature. We also draw from other Africanscholars who have written extensively onAfrican philosophies, in order to make anAfrican-driven evaluation approach visible. Inother words, African-driven evaluationapproaches have always existed and our effortsare to name them and make them more visibleand conscious. We should not fall into theWestern deficit of theorising about ourselvesand claim that Africa-driven evaluationapproaches do not exist. Our argument is thatwe are valorising and boldly naming Africanevaluation approaches that are evident in theeveryday things Africans do to judge, and alsoto produce evidence for their judgment. Thereal problem is not that African-drivenevaluation and development practice havefailed, but rather they have not been given achance and space in academic and practicediscourses.While a number of efforts are being made to“Africanise” the theory and practice ofevaluation today, we are still facing an uphilltask in translating these efforts into widespreadpractice, especially on the continent, as theevaluation knowledge and practice gatekeepersare still mostly from the North. In terms ofpractice, the few efforts that are available aremostly mere modifications of Northern rootedand driven practices.. Adair, et al. (2001) usedthe term indigenisation to describe ‘theblending of an imported discipline with thegeneration of new concepts and approachesfrom within a culture.” To that extent, there hasbeen an Africanisation of evaluation asmeasured by cultural reference, which isdefined as the extent to which the evaluationprocess emanates from the culture in which it isconducted. Cultural reference is measured bymention of “country, its customs, norms orbehaviours not found in the West” (Adair1993:152).There is also culture-based justification andconceptual bases for evaluation as measured bythe extent to which the conceptual frameworkfor the evaluation emanates from the religion,cultural traditions, norms, language, metaphors,indigenous knowledge systems, communitystories, legends and folklore, social problems,rapid social change, or public policies of thestudies culture, as opposed to conceptualframeworks from some universalistic or“developed world literature” (Adair et al.,1993). An indigenised evaluation methodologyis also used.There are arguments that this indigenisation orAfricanisation does not go deeply enough toqualify as African rooted and African driven.African Thought Leaders Forum on Evaluation and Development, Bellagio, Nov 2012 33

Scholars who take this view argue that thechallenge for practitioners and academics onthe continent is not to identify and describefrom practice, for such a practice does not exist.Instead it is to identify and describe accordingto who we are/were as Africans, how weunderstood development and how wemonitored and evaluated it.Africa rooted and African drivenevaluation model - the African evaluationtreeAfricanisation of evaluation requires placingAfrican worldviews at the centre of theevaluation process. We propose an Africandrivenevaluation tree that has two branches:the decolonising and indigenous branch; andthe relational evaluation branch and idealcommunity stem.The decolonising and indigenisingevaluation branchFor this branch, we invoke a Batswana proverb“dilo makwati di kwatololwa mogo ba bangwe”meaning “we learn from one another,”, and anAfrican proverb, “knowledge is like a baobabtree, no one person can embrace it alone”.These proverbs serve to celebrate the adaptationof the accumulated Western theory and practiceon evaluation to serve the needs of Africans.We live in a global village. No one can existalone. The continuing adaptation of Westernapproaches to make evaluation serve theAfricans is a commendable effort that deserves avisible branch in the African-driven tree.An African decolonisation and indigenisationevaluation should have five key elements:African Thought Leaders Forum on Evaluation and Development, Bellagio, Nov 2012 34

• A critical analysis of the history ofevaluation and evaluation outcomes ofpast related projects in a given context• A critique of past and related projectsfrom the communities’ perspective• Development of community-ownedstandards for evaluation of project, andintegration with project blueprintstandards - integration of indigenousand imported evaluation standards.• A combination of communityindigenous methods and adaptedWestern methods, in order to collectevidence of merit and worth• Dissemination of evaluation outcomesapproaches that are inclusive ofcommunity indigenous disseminationapproaches.Relational evaluationA relational evaluation approach is drawn fromthe everyday greeting practices of the majorityof African communities and from the SouthernAfrican axiom nthu nthu ne banwe, meaning “Iam because of we are.” In most Africancommunities, evaluation of wellness of oneanother is an on-going process that marks aclear difference between Western and African.A typical greeting involves people asking eachother about their wellness, the wellness of theirchildren and those related to them, includingnon-living things. Among villagers, during theplanting season, the greeting might extend toasking about crops and, during the harvestseason, asking about the crop yield. Relationalevaluation valorises evaluation approaches,even one that is evident in the everydayevaluation of wellness that comes out throughthe way people greet each other.The African extends the relationship of peoplenot only to human beings but also to non-livingthings. The Southern African metaphor ontotems illustrates this connection of humanbeings to non-living things and reminds us thatevaluation of projects from the Africanperspective should include a holistic approachthat links the project to the sustainability of theenvironment. The Bakalanga of Botswana areconnected to each through the sharing oftotems. These totems are symbolicallyrepresented through non-living things, forexample, a heart or living things, for example,animals such as elephants and lions. Men andwomen are addressed using their totems as asign of respect for their identity. My totem is, forinstance, a crocodile and that of my mother is achibelo (a bird). I have an obligation to respecta crocodile and chibelo, never at anytimeparticipating in killing anyone of these twoliving things (Chilisa 2005, Chilisa 2012).People sharing the same totem have values thatthey share that are celebrated through rituals.Evaluation of development programmes inAfrica is about the contribution of projects tothe quality and wellbeing of the people. But inaddition, with the everyday practice of Africans,the wellbeing of relatives and those around,including things, is as important as one’s wellbeing. Thus Africans will usually say they are“not that well” if a relative is not well.According to Carden and Alkin (2012), “there ismuch that can be done to strengthen theevaluation practice in LMIC through definitionand articulation of work that is doneinformally.” We believe that the everyday thingsthat demonstrate how people make valuejudgment are as important in buildingframeworks for evaluation practice as whatevaluators do in the field.A relational evaluation includes the followingcritical elements.1. Critical analysis of the history ofevaluation and evaluation outcomes ofpast related projects in a given context2. Critique of past and related projectsfrom the communities perspective3. Description of community involvementin the development of project goals4. Community development of holisticstandards that incorporatesenvironment elements that connectpeople with the project and integrationwith project standards as articulated bydonors.5. Presentation of the ubuntu, whichemphasises the role of belongingness,togetherness, interdependence,relationships, collectiveness, love andharmony to build communityrelationships. For example, ageAfrican Thought Leaders Forum on Evaluation and Development, Bellagio, Nov 2012 35

egiments in Botswana provided a wayof grouping people and monitoring andevaluating their progression and qualityof life. The regiments were given agroup name and members becameresponsible for one another and forupholding the values communicated tothem during the traditional interventionthat introduced them to adult life.6. Presentation of established, formalisedcommunity and stakeholdersrelationships.7. Holistic construction of evaluationknowledge to produce evidence,through:a. Listening to metaphors on theenvironment that have arelationship to the projectb. Valuing community knowledgeand using it as a basis forfurther improvement andsustainability of projects.8. Explanation of both community-setstandards and stakeholders’ standardsto evaluate worth and merit.9. List and explanation of core valuesbased on an I/we relationshipa. Value validityb. Fairnessc. Reflexivity based on an I/werelationshipd. Community as knowers andcommunity as evaluatorse. Evaluators and funding agentsestablishing long lastingrelationships withcommunities.The Ideal African CommunityDevelopment Evaluation FrameworkThe two branches of the African tree model –decolonisation and indigenisation, andrelational – illustrate the deconstruction thatcurrent evaluation theory and practice need togo through before arriving at truly Africanrootedand African - driven theory and practice.The complementary model of the ideal Africancommunity begins to describe what such apractice would look like. An African lives inand for the community. The individual cannotexist without the community and thecommunity cannot exist without the individual.The conscious interdependence between theindividual and the community is whatcharacterizes that which is essentially African.This model is built on the concept of ubuntu(described earlier), which, in simple terms,means community, and the essence of beinghuman. The ideal African communitydevelopment/evaluation model can bedescribed by five interrelated andcomplementary ubuntu principles.• Sharing and collective ownership ofopportunities, responsibilities andchallenges – Ants united can carry a deadelephant to their cave; a rooster maybelong to one household but when itcrows, it crows for the whole community; alit candle loses nothing by lighting anothercandle.• The importance of people and relationshipsover things – It is better to be surroundedby people than by things.• Participatory decision making andleadership – Taking action based on oneperson’s views is like provoking wasps in anest; no matter how blunt, a macheteshould never be held by a mad person.• Loyalty – The river that forgets its sourcewill soon dry up.• Reconciliation as the goal for conflictmanagement and resolution – Those wholive in peace work for it.!The five principles describe the idealcommunity and they result in concrete material,social and spiritual benefits. African societiesused these as basis for their assessments ofcommunity/societal progress.African Thought Leaders Forum on Evaluation and Development, Bellagio, Nov 2012 36

How would the two models – the Africanevaluation tree and the ideal community – lookin practice? The case study below, though notconsciously built on the explicit knowledge ofthese models, but rather intuitively, gives someidea.Utooni Development Organization (UDO),Machakos, Kenya - A pioneering case inAfrican rooted and driven evaluationpracticeIn 1978, when faced with perceivedgovernment, NGOs and donor neglect, JoshuaMutikusya and a few friends started an initiativeaimed at addressing the critical shortage ofwater in the Utooni, Machakos area. Becausethey had no training in development studies orcommunity mobilisation, they had no model tobase their work on. Organically, the model thatemerged was built on “mwethya” philosophy, alocal version of ubuntu with elements ofdecolonisation, indigenisation and relationalbranches. There were no formal monitoring andevaluation systems but progress was measuredaccording to what really mattered to the people,identified as:1. How well did the people work togetherand how did each group or individual –men, women, youths, etc.– contributingto the initiative?2. Was the initiative affecting relationshipspositively or negatively?3. How well shared was the decisionmaking and leadership in the initiative,and what were their effects on thepeople and the initiative?4. How well was the initiative building onthe sense of self-esteem, solidarity andloyalty to the community?5. What conflicts were arising from withinthe community and with whichoutsiders, and how well were thesehandled in the interest of the progressof the initiative?Though running contrary to most contemporarytargets and numbers of Western-drivenevaluation processes, a recent evaluationshowed the accomplishments of the initiative.• Constructed 1,500 sand dams at anequivalent cost of Kshs 1.7 billion with atotal value of water in each sand damestimated at Kshs 10 million. Each sanddam had an average of 1,000 beneficiaries.• Dug a terrace to manage erosion wasestimated at 1.5 million meters.• Decreased the distance for getting waterfrom 10 km to 1 km, each way.• Decreased the time required for gettingwater from an average of 12 hours to 1hour.• Significantly increased the number offarmers planting trees, digging terraces,planting indigenous drought-resistant crops,practicing no till and zero grazing.• Significantly increased the variety and yieldof the food being produced.The key evaluation practice, referred to as“lighting a fire”, was based on the Africanproverb “a people who cannot light their ownfire are easy to defeat.” In practice, this meantregular meetings of all stakeholders to reviewand discuss the progress of the initiative, strivingtowards an ideal community, based on the fivekey indicators above, and inspired and drivenby their definition of development – theirdefinition of development is a good changecharacterised by children living better lives thantheir parents.Implications for Monitoring and EvaluationWhat implications could the models and thecase presented above have on the currentunderstanding and practice of evaluation? Inorder to be more relevant to Africa and indeedto the whole of humanity, its evaluation theoryand practice must be built on the Africanevaluation tree and have its beginning and endin the idea of “the ideal community” which isthe essence of being human. Evaluations mustlook beyond just numbers and things; they mustbe truly human. Recognising this, in evaluatingdevelopment initiatives, there are two keyquestions to be asked.• How well is this development initiativebuilt on the African evaluation tree andhow well does it contribute towards therealisation of the ‘ideal community?The key indicators of the idealAfrican Thought Leaders Forum on Evaluation and Development, Bellagio, Nov 2012 37

community are the five interrelated andcomplementary principles of ubuntu.• In the dialogue between Northern - andAfrican-rooted and -driven evaluationtheory and practice, how do we ensurethat both the measures of the measurer(Northern) priorities and indicators) andthe measures of the measured (Africanpriorities and indicators) recognise andput the African ideal community at thecentre? Currently, most developmentindicators are mainly constructed inWestern terms. While this has itslegitimacy, it is also very important tolisten to what is important to themeasured as well as to the measurers,because it is the people who live in thehut who know that there are bedbugsthere.ReferencesAdair, J.G. Puhan, N.B., & Vohra, N. (1993). Indigenisation of psychology: Empirical assessment ofprogress in Indian research. International Journal of Psychology,28(2), 149-169.Chilisa, B., & Preece, J. (2005) Research methods for adult educators in Africa. Cape Town, South Africa:Pearson.Chilisa, B. (2005) Educational research within postcolonial Africa: A critique of HIV/AIDS research inBotswana. International Journal of Qualitative Studies, 18(6), 659-684Chilisa B. (2012) Indigenous research methodologies, Sage, Los Angels.Diamond, J. Collapse, 2005: How Societies Choose to Fail or Survive, Allen Lane, Penguin Group:LondonKaphagawani, D.N. 2000. “What is African philosophy?’. In Philosophy from Africa, eds. P.H. Coetzeeand A.P.J. Roux, pp. 86-98, Cape Town: Oxford University Press.Louw, D.J. “Ubuntu: An African assessment of the religious order’, 2001, retrieved 27 September 2001,http://www.bu.edu/wcp/papers/Afrlouw.htm.Malunga, C. Understanding Organizational Leadership through Ubuntu, Adonis & Abbey Publishers:LondonSogolo, G. 1993. Foundations of African philosophy. Ibadan: University Press.Smith, L.T. (1999) Decolonising methodologies: Research and indigenous people, London: Zed Books.Wilson, S. (2008) Research is ceremony: Indigenous research methods. Manitoba, Canada: Fernwood.African Thought Leaders Forum on Evaluation and Development, Bellagio, Nov 2012 38

Institutionalisation Of Evaluation In Africa:The Role Of The African EvaluationAssociation (AFREA)Boureima Gado,AfrEA Regional Representative for West AfricaJennifer Mutua,AfrEA regional representative for East AfricaNermine Wally,AfrEA PresidentTrigger papers have been commissioned with a view to encouraging a rich and effective debate at the forum.Representing a collation of the authors’ own wisdom while making use of evidence from recognisedacademic sources, we hope that they respond effectively to the questions at hand in our evolvingdevelopment context. They are intended to be forward looking, providing a platform that moves us beyondthe elementary steps in the development/evaluation debate and encourages innovation through exploringcrucial issues at an advanced level.INTRODUCTIONThe profound changes in global governance ledto a multitude of forces, both internal andexternal to exert pressure over governments andorganizations to become more accountable totheir national and international partners. Recentsources of these changes, among others, are theMillennium Development Goals, theimplementation of the Paris Declaration, andrecently the increase demand from Africancitizens for tangible development results. It is inthis context that African states have becomeaware of the need to introduce monitoring andevaluation function to measure the achievementof expected results in the implementation ofpublic policy development.Today, evaluation has become an integral part ofany planning or programming in Africa, both inthe preparation phase and the implementation.BACKGROUNDThe Civil Society, the World Bank, BilateralPartners and UN Agencies may be said to havethe longest history of institutionalization ofMonitoring and Evaluation in Africa. Withingovernments generally, the monitoring functionIt emerges, then, from the African actors, bothstate and non-state, a trend where evaluation isincreasingly placed at the heart of decisionmaking for the organization and operationperformance. The main concern appears to bethe gradual development of evaluation practicein order to make it more systematic. While thefirst national development plans of the 1970s andthe 1980s took into account, more or lessmonitoring and evaluation (M & E) dimensions,they were found prominently in the variousstructural adjustment programs (SAPs) that laterevolved into the to the Poverty reductionstrategies (PRS) with the design andimplementation of improved and more consistentmonitoring and evaluation mechanisms.(in comparison with Evaluation) is moredeveloped through administrative data collectionsystems that track the implementation ofnational Economic Blue Prints/Poverty ReductionStrategy Papers (PRSPs). However, limitedattention is given to systematic data collection,storage, analysis and dissemination to informevidence-based decision-making anddevelopment implementation. National Bureausof Statistics conduct decennial censuses and adhoc surveys (including Demographic and HealthAfrican Thought Leaders Forum on Evaluation and Development, Bellagio, Nov 2012 39

Surveys (DHS). On these too, not enoughattention is paid to data analysis, dissemination ofreports of findings and further research into thefindings and recommendations of the surveys.Also even though administrative data mostlyoriginates in communities, through villages anddistricts, linkages between these levels and thenation levels including feedback to the grass rootis weak.Moreover, studies have shown that generally atnational levels throughout the Continent, theEvaluation research function including itstechnical capacities is weak. Specifically,Evaluation in government reporting systems isunder- utilized and its institutionalization isgenerally weak. This includes the awareness of itsimportance in development efficiency andeffectiveness.These may be attributed to weak nationalcapacities including the practice and culture ofEvaluation. For instance, an evaluation capacityassessment by AfrEA prepared in 2007, revised in2009 10 , and recently the case studies on the stateof evaluation prepared by CLEAR, underscoredthe gap in Monitoring and Evaluation educationand research at African universities. People arenot trained within the African context andindigenous knowledge. The few Africanuniversities offering training, they were in theform of generic modules in Evaluation as part of adegree program. The modules have not evolvedto reflect the African context; as well asindigenous knowledge on data collection;analysis and dissemination which are crucial forthe relevance and effectiveness of the training forthe continent. As a result the trainees arequalifying without necessarily adopting theappropriate skills to undertake contextuallyrelevant evaluation and be fully effectivemembers of the African evaluation community.Hence, the current state of evaluation theory andpractice is not influencing African development.There is also a gap in many countries not havingvibrant National Professional EvaluationAssociation. The current hypothetical status ofNational Associations in the continent being that:few exist and where there are mostly weak,dormant and none-existence.THE PROCESS OF EVALUATION INAFRICATechnical and Financial Partners (TFP) made atone time to another, a valuable contribution tothe promotion of evaluation in Africa on the onehand by requiring that M & E should be takeninto account in the implementation of theirsupport (projects and programs) and on the otherhand by playing an important role in theemergence of an active civil society in evaluationboth at the national level (national associationsand networks) which also include the creation ofAfrEA as a continental body.The support of the donor community (bilateraland multilateral) were made in various forms andvaried. They concerned national actors, bothstate and non-state actors to enable them to:• Appropriate tools for M & E,• Contribute to the consolidation ofachievements• And participate in the process ofinstitutionalization of the evaluation.TOWARD THE INSTITUTIONALIZATIONOF EVALUATION IN AFRICA: THE ROLEOF AFREAThe trend towards the institutionalization ofevaluation has been seen as a formalizationprocess based on lessons learned from practice,confirming the perception of Frederick VARONEand Steve Jacob, when they write that "the terminstitutionalization covers (a sociological point ofview) a formal organization or a procedural rulewhich provides stakeholders with a framework toensure predictability of their reciprocal behaviorand, therefore, the result of the collective action.Institutionalization is therefore a "routinization" ofthe action - expected if not required - to assessand can be measured in terms of its actualpractice in the politico - administrative andwider, networks of public action. " 11The evolution of evaluation in African states doesnot affect fundamentally the path describedabove. However, each country where thepolitical powers maintain most of the process10The updated Development Capacities in Evaluation inAfrica, 2009, was conducted by Francois Corneille, IssakaTraire and Nene Konate.11 Frédéric VARONE et Steve JACOB « Institutionnalisationde l’évaluation et Nouvelle Gestion ¨Publique : un état deslieux comparatif » – Revue internationale de PolitiqueComparée, Vol. 1, n° 2, 2004, page 274.African Thought Leaders Forum on Evaluation and Development, Bellagio, Nov 2012 40

initiated by their predecessors, witness a pacethat is more or less accelerated. Actors of the civilsociety involved in evaluation (including nationalassociations such as AfrEA) may also play a rolein determining the process of institutionalizationof the evaluation. For purely illustrative purposeswe can note the following:South Africa institutionalizing evaluation iscarried out from the Presidency of theRepublic. The SAMEA (member AfrEA) is avery active with the government;Benin Office of Public Policy Assessment(BPA) is attached to the Prime Minister whohas completed and submitted for adoption aNational Policy on Evaluation whose practiceis extended to the House of Commons(Lower Chamber);The Ghana M & E proposition is now put inplace and its operates in partnership with theGhana Independent Evaluators andProfessional Network; Morocco, AME (Association Marocained’Evaluation) conducted a lobbying that ledto the inclusion of evaluation in theConstitution.In the Niger ReNSE (Nigerien Network ofMonitoring and Evaluation) has played a keyrole in promoting evaluation, often incollaboration with the Government whoseministry (Ministry of Planning and Ministry ofEconomy and Finance) has been in chargeevaluation since the 1980s. A national policyevaluation (PNE) has been technicallyvalidated in 2010 and the "Law No. 2011-20of August 8, 2011 determining the generalorganization of the state administration anddetermining its tasks" puts particularemphasis on the results-based management(RBM) and monitoring and evaluation.THE ROLE OF AFREAIn view of the above, in order to contributetowards the increased and effectiveinstitutionalization of Evaluation in the Continentthrough a multi-stakeholder approach, thestrengthening of capacities (including practiceand culture) is one of AFREA’s strategic areas offocus .It is also in line with the organization coremandate of promoting National ProfessionalEvaluation Associations. The strategy involves acomprehensive continental action plan whichwill serve as a launching pad to build-up oncurrent evaluation capacity strengthening efforts.Specifically these include the following:Development of an Africa “rooted” 12 evaluationeducation, research and internship program: Incollaboration with African Universities, research& training institutes as well as think-tanks. Thisinitiative will benefit a mass of African evaluationprofessionals and scholars including governmentofficials and the civil society. The “ThoughtLeadership Forum” of Bellagio is part of theprocess of conceptualizing and providing a wayforward to this.The African Journal of Evaluation (AJE): This wasconceptualized in 2007 during the Niameyconference and is part of AFREA’s comprehensiveefforts geared towards an “Made in Africaapproach to evaluation”. The Journal aims at:strengthening the evaluation capacity in thecontinent by providing a platform for the Africancommunity to document emerging evaluationtheories and practices; providing an opportunityfor cross-fertilization of ideas and methodologiesacross disciplines; providing a vehicle to developAfrican evaluation scholarly research, as well asfield/action oriented research relevant to thecontinent’s development context, authorship aswell as promoting a culture of peer-review.Support the development and strengthening ofNational Evaluation Associations. This isAFREA’s core mandate and is aimed atsupporting the application of effective M&E innational development agendas across thecontinent. Specifically, this aims at supporting theAssociations to be able to provide professionalM&E input (through their membership) intogovernment-led national M&E system through amulti-stakeholder approach. It would e.g. involveinput into national M&E policies and theirimplementation.Supporting the participation of NationalAssociations in sector specific evaluations andthe dissemination of their findings includingthrough the media is another way ofinstitutionalizing Evaluation. Also the formationand participation of its members in nationalsectoral thematic working groups such as inEducation, Environment, Agriculture and genderamong others is expected to contribute towardsthe institutionalization of Evaluation in thecontinent.12An Africa rooted approach will take into account theAfrican context, and the indigenous knowledge on evaluationmethods, data analysis and dissemination.African Thought Leaders Forum on Evaluation and Development, Bellagio, Nov 2012 41

AFREA through other development stakeholder’ssupport is expected to play a critical role instrengthening of individual and institutionalcapacities for these Associations where they exist,reviving dormant ones and establishing new oneswhere they do not. Accordingly, AFREA’sregional representatives is to work towardaccomplishing this. Currently the EvalPartnersinitiative by UNICEF/IOCE in partnership withAFREA is one such initiative aimed atstrengthening capacities for national evaluationprofessional associations.Further, AfrEA assists national associations foreffective institutionalization of evaluation withstate institutions (government, parliament, Courtof Auditors, Economic and Social Council etc) invarious forms, and develops programs to supportemerging national association formalization(EvalMentors program providing organizationalstrengthening to nascent professionalassociations)Mentoring in evaluation. The initiative aims atproviding opportunities for young and juniorprofessionals to gain practical evaluation skillsand experience in the continent. It aims atsupporting development that is anchored inevidence, learning, and mutual accountability tobridge the gap between the supply and demandfor evaluation in the continent. Current efforts onthis by AFREA include an EvalMentors initiative,launched by AfrEA in partnership with theCanadian Evaluation Society (CES) and theQuebec Society for Evaluation of Programs(SQEP) to provide support and mentoring toemerging African national evaluationassociation, as well as emerging publishers, andprofessionals through peer to peer support.Strengthening of AFREA’s institutionalcapacities. Since 2009 formal and independentelections have been held by AFREA as part of theefforts aimed at strengthening its institutionalcapacities. A strategic plan to guide AFREAoperations has been developed and a draftconstitution is under consultative development.An institutional needs assessment and report wasconducted to guide its institutional strengthening.As a follow-up on this, plans for an institutionalcapacity strengthening project are underway withfunding support pledged by the Gates foundationConferences: Biannual conferences have beenorganized since 1999 as part of efforts ofstrengthening evaluation capacities in thecontinent through peer learning and experiencesharing as well as networking. To date AfrEA hasorgaznied 7 internationla conferences in CapteTown, Kenya, Niamey,Policy Advocacy and lobbying for Evaluation:Evaluation champions at regional and global highpolicy level (governments, AU , the African peerreview Mechanism,and the Aid Effectivenessnetwork group, G7, Climate Change fora).Additionally, through a multi-stakeholderapproach support its national associations toorganize round table discussions and policydialogue with national government technocratsand other policy makers (parliament; cabinetMembers of parliament) to champion Evaluation.This may also include the preparation andpresentation of M&E positional papers on topicalissues including the national budget and foodsecurityMedia and citizenship engagements: Throughnational associations seek collaborations with themedia to create awareness on M&E among thecitizenry including its role in developmentefficiency and effectiveness. In particular the useof social media in development engagement hasbecome a necessary tool especially whenengaging with the youth.CONCLUSIONAll these will build-up on existing efforts by otherdevelopment partners aimed at Strengtheningnational Evaluation capacities in the Continent. Itwill also raise AFREA’s visibility and contributetowards efforts of creating national M&E cultureacross the continent, including itsinstitutionalization.African Thought Leaders Forum on Evaluation and Development, Bellagio, Nov 2012 42

ON-LINE COMMENTS FROM AFRICAEVALUATORS RECEIVED IN PREPARATION FORTHE FORUMMore African Evaluators’ Voices: TheContext for Evaluation in Africa!“Is!the!problem!of!evaluation!in!Africa!purely!a!capacity!problem?!Or!there!are!other!equally!important!factors!that!come!into!play?”!!“We!can!say!we!have!low!capacities!because!our!systems!have!not!yet!significantly!embraced!evaluation!–!institutionalization!of!evaluation!in!Africa!is!still!a!problem.”!!“Appropriation!of!evaluation!policy!by!our!policy!makers,!the!actions!of!national!networks!and!associations,!is!insufficient.”!!”What!are!the!barriers!to!change!in!Africa?!There!are!few!if!any!formal!or!informal!incentives!to!build!public!decisions!on!evidence.”!!“Professional!evaluators!delivering!quality!reports!are!scarce!in!(Cameroon).”!!“Able!decision!makers!are!still!needed!to!draft!evaluation!terms!of!reference!that!are!precise!enough!to!generate!useful!and!credible!information.”!!“I!want!to!acknowledge!the!growing!rush!in!evaluation!practice!as!testified!by!the!growing!number!of!training!programs!available!locally!and!their!turnIout!of!students.”!!“National!evaluation!associations...!according!to!the!latest!EvalPartners!survey,!are!by!and!large!dormant!or!hijacked!by!a!handful!of!individuals.”!!“A!few!countries!(in!Africa)!have!set!up!evaluation!systems!within!government!structures!–!In!many!cases,!they!are!technocrats!within!Ministry!departments!and!their!contribution!to!national!policies!has!yet!to!be!strongly!felt.”!!“Most!M!&!E!reports!(in!Kenya)!are!an!accusing!analysis!of!how!money!was!spent!on!activities,!outputs!and!what!was!left!unIused;!rather!than!the!effects!these!projects!have!had!on!society.”!!“Let’s!not!lie!to!ourselves:!the!first!influence!pushing!for!(an)!evaluation!profession!was!market!based!–!donors!asked!for!it!and!they!asked!for!more!national!capacities!to!do!it!so!we!got!into!it.”!!“I!believe!the!level!of!practice!and!the!types!of!use!of!evaluation!(in!Africa)!are!largely!unknown.!Studies!that!exist!are!commissioned!by!donors!for!countries!that!they!have!interest!in,!and!reports!are!not!shared...!it’s!time!that!we!took!the!initiative!to!study!the!things!that!matter!to!us!”!!“We!should!capitalize!on!what!exists!and!find!ways!to!better!share!our!respective!experiences!and!build!ongoing!relationships!amongst!our!various!evaluation!organizations.”!!“Although!I!do!not!have!a!broader!view!of!the!whole!region,!I!agree!with!colleagues!that!the!“evaluation!practice”!in!Africa!is!still!marginal,!and!largely!driven!by!donor!needs.”!!“I!believe!that!our!evaluation!practice!in!Africa!is!still!dominated!by!project!types!of!evaluations,!which!is!the!interest!of!project!funders.”!!“I!believe!that!we!can!conclude!that!evaluators!are!not!influential!in!Africa.”!!“The!continent!is!stretched!out!between!longIestablished!evaluation!cultures!with!governmentIbacked!“places!of!safety”,!to!countries!with!failed!states!where!whistleblowers!get!assassinated.”!!“Evaluation!is!a!house!of!many!disciplines!–!there!are!multiple!‘halo!effects’!at!work.”!!“The!Paris!Declaration!highlighted!the!“micro/macro!paradox”,!where!evaluations!praise!a!project!where!there!is!no!national!impact.!In!those!conditions,!the!profession!will!not!win!intellectual!respect!or!moral!authority.”!!“If!we!are!to!have!impact!our!diagnostic!instruments!cannot!be!superficial,!our!findings!cannot!be!trivial,!our!recommendations!cannot!be!I,!irrelevant!or!weak.”!!“Evaluators!have!more!impact!than!we!know,!because!informal!networks!matter!a!lot,!and!government!officials!are!conscientious!and!seek!out!advice.”!!“Development!aid!and!evaluation!in!(South)!Africa!IS!OLDER!than!the!international!aid!movement.!The!officials!involved!are!retired/ing!now,!so!the!knowledge!can!be!saved!before!lost.”!!“Are!we!recognized!as!a!dignified!profession!who!unfailingly!see!the!truth!and!tell!the!truth!to!power?!Not!yet.”!!!African Thought Leaders Forum on Evaluation and Development, Bellagio, Nov 2012 43

More African Evaluators’ Voices: ThePotential of Africa Rooted and Africa LedEvaluation!“I!would!stress!the!importance!of!African!Evaluators!(and!all!“indigenous”!evaluators!in!developing!countries)!seeing!themselves!as!change!agents!in!addition!to!being!very!skilled!professionals.”!!!“Concerning!African!evaluators,!I!think!they!are!more!involved!in!international!evaluations!….!African!evaluators!need!to!be!change'agents...!changing!how!development!policy!decisions!are!made.”!!“Only!a!culture!in!which!project!managers!are!encouraged!to!identify!a!problem,!gather!multiIdisciplinary!evidence,!think!of!innovative!designs!to!address!the!key!policy!issues,!design!a!pilot,!and!assess!the!effectiveness!of!alternative!approaches!will!HELP!POLICYMAKERS!MAKE!GOOD!DECISIONS!AND!SAVE!MONEY!AT!THE!SAME!TIME.”!!“Evaluators!are!overbooked!and!constantly!moving!from!one!assignment!to!another,!without!taking!the!time!to!share!their!knowledge!and!transmit!their!expertise!to!younger!or!less!experienced!evaluatorsItoIbe,!which!is!the!only!way!to!develop!inIcountry!capacity.”!!“If!we!envisage!evaluation!as!a!catalyst!to!the!change!process!and!not!just!a!livelihood!niche,!then!we!need!structures,!tools!and!networks!than!can!consolidate!this!change!dimension.”!!“Building!evaluation!capacity!should!(also!be!about)!increasing!awareness!among!citizens!of!its!contribution!to!a!full!enjoyment!of!rights.”!!“We!need!a!change!of!mind!from!our!national!leaders!so!that!they!start!viewing!evaluations!as!a!way!to!do!things!better,!not!always!as!an!external!look!at!their!own!kitchen!”!!“Evaluation!is!somehow!a!tool!of!development!and!AfrEA!should!work!in!a!way!that!(promotes)!evaluation!in!Africa!as!having!its!own!specificities.”!!“The!role!of!evaluation!must!be!understood!by!all!stakeholders!in!the!development!project!but!specifically!by!government.”!!“We!need!to!ensure!that!the!evaluation!of!Africa!is!conducted!by!and!with!Africans.!Aid!money!for!Africa!must!be!spent!in!and!on!Africa.”!!“European!evaluators!underestimate!agency!effects!especially!the!habit!of!intermediaries!who!commission!evaluations!of!the!delivery!stage!in!Africa,!not!the!design!stage!in!Europe.”!!“I!can!see!two!areas!where!a!‘Made!in!Africa’!approach!can!be!the!preferred!choice!for!locals!and!for!donors!wanting!to!work!in!Africa:!(i)!by!paying!attention!to!the!risk!and!reasons!for!project!nonIdelivery;!(ii)!by!evaluating!project!design!as!well!as!project!delivery.”!!“Projects!designed!in!Europe!for!Africa!don’t!work.!Having!locals!evaluate!a!project!that!is!already!underway!using!a!dysfunctional!theory!of!change!is!too!late!to!make!a!difference.”!!“Our!great!needs!and!scarce!resources!mean!that!we!don’t!have!the!luxury!of!expensive!mistakes.!Evaluators!must!be!able!to!check!the!project!before!it!begins.!Maybe!because!the!opportunity!costs!and!risks!of!failure!are!lower!in!Europe,!my!impression!is!that!‘attentionItoIrealIproblems’!and!‘checkingItheIprojectIbeforeIitIstarts’!are!gaps!in!the!market!that!Africa!can!fill.”!!“Our!continental!diversity!is!a!great!strength!because!it!obliges!western!donors!to!take!local!factors!into!consideration,!stopping!the!pathology!of!designing!projects!for!Africa!in!Europe,!then!deploying!home!based!evaluators!who!report!with!one!eye!open!to!the!next!contract,!who!lack!cultural!/!linguistic!/!geographic!nous!takes!enabling!legislation.”!!“Evaluators!need!to!be!protected!by!legislation!in!the!event!that!they!need!to!blow!a!whistle.!This!will!increase!our!influence.”!!“Yes,!we!need!to!have!an!edge.!‘Made!in!Africa’!must!mean!‘better!than!anything!else!in!our!area!of!operation’.”!More African Evaluators’ Voices:Proposed Actions!“Seek!not!only!NorthISouth!exchanges!as!we!normally!do,!but!also!SouthISouth!ones.”!!“A!standard!methodology!could!be!adopted!and!evidence!of!“barriers!to!change”!as!well!as!“opportunities!for!change”!collected!across!AfrEA!member!countries!as!a!benchmark!for!action.”!!“Evaluation!should!be!made!more!accessible!and!understandable!to!the!common!citizen!!African!governments!will!(then)!be!forced!to!mandate!evaluations!when!their!people!ask!for!better!and!more!tangible!results!about!how!public!money!is!spent!”!!“I!hope!we!understand!that!we!have!a!role!to!play!postIBusan!and!that!we!should!take!this!process!seriously.”!!“Of!course!there!is!much!to!achieve,!but!we!should!not!undermine!the!remarkable!steps!that!are!being!taken.”!!“We!should!find!ways!to!foster!demand!at!national!levels,!of!course!from!governments,!but!also!from!the!other!public!actors!(local!governments,!municipalities,!civil!society,!etc.).!Our!networks!have!a!major!role!to!play!to!raise!awareness!and!interest.”!!“I!do!not!see!evaluators!in!Africa!involved!in!regional!and!global!policy!processes!–!we!have!to!link!with!our!African Thought Leaders Forum on Evaluation and Development, Bellagio, Nov 2012 44

egional!bodies!such!as!AU,!the!regional!commissions,!even!NEPAD.”!!“I!suggest!AfrEA!takes!advantage!of!the!case!studies!that!IOCE!is!doing!under!the!EvalPartner!initiative.!There!should!be!lots!of!interesting!references!on!the!status!of!evaluation!in!Africa.”!!“All!over!Africa!there!will!be!old!faithIbased!selfIhelp!and!aid!organizations,!who!commissioned!annual!audits!and!reflections,!so!we!have!no!reason!to!feel!insecure!or!think!that!we!are!new!kids!on!the!block,!that!development!and!evaluation!is!a!foreign!and!recent!import.!We!need!to!get!in!touch!with!our!historical!institutions.”!!“We!need!a!framework!for!evaluation!in!Africa,!one!that!guides!donors!when!commissioning!evaluations!and!protects!and!positions!evaluators!to!tell!truth!to!power!with!confidence!and!income!security.”!!“Hammer!the!‘Made!in!Africa’!slogan,!but!also!give!it!substance!”!!African Thought Leaders Forum on Evaluation and Development, Bellagio, Nov 2012 45

SUMMARY OF FORUM STATEMENTS ANDPOSITION PAPERS ABSTRACTS# Position Paper Title StatementExpandedsummary?Forum GroupMembers1 An AfricanEvaluation Tree" An African Evaluation tree metaphor that has roots in indigenousknowledge systems, philosophies, culture, history of the African peopleand their life experiences"NoBagele Chilisa,Chiku Malunga2 Bringing AboutInfluential Evaluationfor AfricanDevelopment: TheRoad Forward“The cause of development evaluation rests on the development ofgenuine development strategies reflecting the needs of stakeholders whoshould own and be engaged in visioning and implementation ofdevelopment and the respective DME evaluation discourse”Paper 2Doha Abdelhamid,Laila El Baradei,Debbie Serwadda,Nermine Wally3 Developing anethical cozy triangle- African Evaluationfor Private, Public,People DrivenDevelopment“Current evaluation understanding and practice is still limited to specialistsand consultants working largely in civil society and the publicsector. Africa is a young continent full of untapped potential especiallyamongst young people and women. African Evaluation for Private, Publicand People Driven Development therefore has the opportunity ofcontributing to developing young people and women through applicableknowledge and local revenue generation, informed by a culture ofinnovation, enterprise, strategic leadership and accountability”Paper 3Debbie Serwadda,Doha Abdelhamid,Chiku Malunga4 Evaluation fordevelopment ofAfrica: Indigenization and the EvaluationFunction in Africa inthe 21st Century“The evaluation for the development of Africa must acknowledge inheritedlegacy but confront the present, and aspire to the future. It will thusenhance the contribution of Africa to global knowledge and advancedevelopment evaluation.”NoChiku Malunga,Josiah Cobbah,Sukai Prom Jackson,Akilagpa Sawyer,Debbie Serwadda,Bagele Chilisa,Alima Mahama,Irene Karanja5 African values andPerspectives“Evaluation should incorporate African values and perspectives toinfluence development plans, give Africans responsibility for managingtheir resources, save lives and hold governments accountable.”NoJosiah Cobbah,Alaphia Wright,Alima Mahama6 Evaluation capacitydevelopment for thedevelopment ofAfrica“Respecting the principles of capacity development as an endogenousprocess, the strategy should be developed drawing from the goals forevaluation established by government. These goals go beyondresponsiveness to accountability for value for money.”Paper 6Sukai Pro-JacksonAfrican Thought Leaders Forum on Evaluation and Development, Bellagio, Nov 2012 46

7 Evaluation framesthat captureunspokencommunitydimensions andevaluation blindspots“Development practitioners are slowly and painfully realizing thatstandard evaluation frames/lenses are not adequately capturing thecomplexity and realities of the African context, and hence undermining thecredibility of practice of evaluation. Existing evaluation frames often missout critical cultural community dimensions / blind spots that ultimatelybecome ‘killer’ barriers to the realisation of the aspirations of aproject/program or policy. These cultural ‘blind spots’ /unspoken taboosremain largely undetected under the standard evaluation ‘radar’ and manytimes emerge to haunt evaluators. We are therefore advocating for anAfro-sensitive evaluation framework, which will bring greater credibility,authority and profile to African evaluation and development efforts. Thisincreased evaluation credibility will go a long way in increasing the use ofevaluation findings, and knowledge building. Change in Africa will be afunction of learning; hence learning and adapting will be a function ofcontinuous and timely and credible feedback from program monitoringand evaluations.”NoRosa Muraguri-Mwololo,Irene Karanja,Akilagpa Sawyer,Alaphia Wright,Alima Mahama,Josiah Cobbah8 Why Africa-rooteddevelopmentEvaluation?“We need Africa rooted evaluation in order to achieve more effectivetheory and practice of evaluation in Africa. Such evaluation will begrounded in African peoples worldviews and ways of knowing. It is a factthat development evaluation has been mostly Western Driven withoutmuch consideration for local contexts and realities. What we are seeking isan evaluation paradigm that is informed by African aspirations. Without adoubt, development evaluation that is Africa centred will enhance thecontribution of evaluation to African development.”NoChiku Malunga,Doha Abdelhamid,Josiah Cobbah9 Evaluation forinnovative Africanfutures“Evaluation answers the so-called three right questions:Are we doing the Right thingsAre we doing things right; andRobin Moore,Alaphia Wright,Debbie Serwadda,Josiah CobbahAre we acting on the right lessons learned?Universally, the ultimate goals of development are dignity, Peace andProsperity for all. These goals are reached though actions with integrity ofpurpose, process and perspective.The African Future will be on in which the current (and future) challengesof:Node-humanisation and abuse of human rights, inequality etc.; (ii) poverty;and (iii) unresolved conflicts are increasingly reduced, for the African toenjoy dignity, peace and prosperity.Innovation grounded in African values, understanding and perspectiveswill facilitate the building of the desirable African Futures makingappropriate use of evaluation cognizant of these values.”10 Where do we wantto go? - Evaluationfor GoodGovernance in Post-RevolutionaryContexts- Citizens informed and empowered- Civil Society organization acting as pressure groups for DME- Governments accountable for enhanced performance and greaterresponsiveness to citizens’ needsNoLaila El Baradei,Nermine Wally,Doha AbdelhamidAfrican Thought Leaders Forum on Evaluation and Development, Bellagio, Nov 2012 47

PAPER 2 - BRINGING ABOUT INFLUENTIALEVALUATION FOR AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT: THE ROADFORWARDContributors - Doha Abdelhamid, Laila El Baradei, Debbie Serwadda, Nermine WallySTATEMENT: The cause of development evaluation rests on the development of genuine developmentstrategies reflecting the needs of stakeholders who should own and be engaged in visioning andimplementation of development and the respective DME evaluation discourse.The contributors to this paper are aware of a number of considerations:• This paper is highly dependent on the discourse evolving from earlier trigger papers, same forthe contributions that are currently being generated by other position papers• The immediacy of development adjoined to development evaluation is imperativeLiterature messages drawn from Rob Moore's and Zenda Ofir's trigger paper:• The mastery of critical M&E approaches and methods• Innovation in monitoring and evaluation theory and practice• Positioning the evaluation profession and globallyWhat strategies or activities for joint action could be considered?Expand the pool of evaluation knowledge generated within Africa1. Generate, compile and classify a transparent repository of knowledge on African evaluations2. Mapping capacity building initiatives in DME within Africa3. Moving the compiled repositories and maps to the wider African public4. Gauging demand from specialist universities, think tanks and DME projects to partner forgenerating original knowledge drawing lessons learnt and best practices on the theory,perception and application of DME in Africa5. Documenting and disseminating results in fora and building national and sub-national DMEaction research plans to improve the evaluation status6. Documenting and disseminating intra-national, regional action research results7. Documenting and disseminating continental action research resultsEquitable stakeholders participation has to be secured in all phases of the above action plan.Catalyze a strong, movement towards 'thought leadership' within the evaluation profession inAfricaThe civil society should play a leading role in canvassing ideas and fostering thought leadership indevelopment evaluation by acting as a broker of evaluative knowledge among the general public,government, evaluation practitioners, parliamentarians, the media/press, private sector, political partiesand development partners.Such movements require a non for profit actor, therefore the DME civil society stand as well-suited inthis regard. A continuous policy dialogue should take place through a DME civil society leader tospearhead through planned series of fora within a liberal thinking space to improve the realizeddevelopment results nationally, regionally, continentally and internationally.This policy dialogue should ensure infilterment into national policies and the embedment ofinstitutionalized, sustainable systems in governments that would realize development for the Africanpeople.The output, henceforth, would be an Africa-owned overarching vision for development anddevelopment evaluation.African Thought Leaders Forum on Evaluation and Development, Bellagio, Nov 2012 48

Extend the influence of this meeting and its envisaged outcomesThe current forum should be understood as the initial step to the development of a vision for Africa ondevelopment evaluation.It has to be also recognized that development and development plans have to be appropriately designedto improve the conditions for sustainable development for African citizens overall beyond politicalpromises and jargon.Development rights awareness campaigns realized should attach a clear cut DME component.A road show to expose the results of the current meeting and catalyse mixed, diverse national andregional groups should be planned for and taken up forward in the course of a year. After then,generating an all-encompassing publication (in book format) that would heavily synthesize and analysethe thoughts elicited through the road show into further developed actions together with partiesresponsible to taking up actions within a maximum of a 3-year period, after which a major Africanconference is to be held to report on achieved results, challenges and further opportunities.A supervisory board is to be established at the beginning of the implementation period to monitor andguide the implementing responsible parties. Contribution and participation vision implementation willbe voluntary, though backed by heavy media campaigning.What next steps should be taken towards making this a reality?• Defining interested parties (governments, formal and informal networks• Defining their level of participation• Meeting with them and agreeing on the time line and expected results in the 2 phases (visionformulation for Africa; then vision implementation for Africa).• Disseminating results• Actioning the vision• Monitoring the actionAfrican Thought Leaders Forum on Evaluation and Development, Bellagio, Nov 2012 49

PAPER 3 - DEVELOPING AN ETHICAL COZY TRIANGLE -AFRICAN EVALUATION FOR PRIVATE, PUBLIC, PEOPLEDRIVEN DEVELOPMENTContributors - Debbie Serwadda, Doha Abdelhamid and Chiku MalunguWhat is African development? Prosperity, Human Dignity and PeaceWhy is it important? (THE STATEMENT)Current evaluation understanding and practice is still limited to specialists and consultants workinglargely in civil society and the public sector. Africa is a young continent full of untapped potentialespecially amongst young people and women. African Evaluation for Private, Public and People DrivenDevelopment therefore has the opportunity of contributing to developing young people and womenthrough applicable knowledge and local revenue generation, informed by a culture of innovation,enterprise, strategic leadership and accountability.Implications for evaluation theory and practiceWill it make a difference? YES• Current formal evaluation practice has a limited conceptualization of the scope of sustainabledevelopment.• Private, Public, and People Sector partnerships need to be strengthened• It is imperative to develop a more inclusive evaluation practice that evaluates itself and thataccommodates the already existing evaluation practices from all sectors (PPP)• There is an urgent need to raise the social consciousness of the private sector (formal andinformal) which reaches more people on the continent• The undisputed role of entrepreneurial Mindsets and practice as an engine and driver forsustainable development.• Evaluation as a means to an end promotes a culture of of ownership, responsibility, learning andaccountability• African evaluation is not the sole responsibility of specialists but a way of life of citizensHow can African Evaluation for Private, Public, and People Driven Development be madeinfluential? Who should be involved in the process?• It must utilize entrepreneurship and participation principles; indigenous knowledge, tools andpeople friendly methods.• It must be documented using people friendly methodologies and shared (using all technologiesincluding youth friendly ones) in a practical manner• It must be popularized and even documented in African languages to be read by Africansthemselves• All stakeholders must be involved from the 3 sectors• Mutually reinforcing roles across sectors must be clarified (enabler, implementers)• It must be comply with highest national and global standardsAfrican Thought Leaders Forum on Evaluation and Development, Bellagio, Nov 2012 50

PAPER 6 - EVALUATION CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT FORTHE DEVELOPMENT OF AFRICAContributors - Sukai Prom JacksonRespecting the principles of capacity development as an endogenous process, the strategy shouldbe developed drawing from the goals for evaluation established by government. These goals go beyondresponsiveness to accountability for value for money.National goals for evaluation include:• Governance and accountability to citizens and to those who provide support (expand list –bilaterals, multilaterals, south-south, diaspora),• Development of learning nations and groups for informed reflection, innovations and change,• Development of existing analytic institutions (research and evaluation centres and universities)to enhance their role as independent evaluation institutions and think tanks to direct evaluation,• Knowledge development and contribution to global knowledge.African Thought Leaders Forum on Evaluation and Development, Bellagio, Nov 2012 51

DELEGATE PROFILESPROF. DOHA ABDEL HAMID - EgyptProf. Doha Abdelhamid is an economist and policy evaluation expert with 27 years of experience inacademia and consulting. She held positions as senior policy advisor to the former minister of finance,minister of planning and economic development, and finally in the Cabinet of ministers of Egypt. She haslectured in finance and policy evaluations at the American University in Cairo, Carleton University inCanada, Edinburgh Business School, the Arab Academy for Science and Technology, and the Cape BretonUniversity. Doha has served as an IDEAS Executive Board Member for two terms and represented the MENAregion in the Media Society for Consumer Protection and Development. She is co-founder of the MENARegional Network for Development Evaluation and co-founder of the Egyptian Development EvaluationSociety (EgyDeval). She is a Global Task Force Member in the Inwent-World Bank Institute for TrainingEffectiveness Metrics; and member of the regional knowledge management network of IDRC/MERO. Dohahas been recently appointed as the MENA Representative to the Board of Trustees of the InternationalOrganization for Cooperation in Evaluation (IOCE), and also as an International Advisor to the AfricanEvaluation Association (AFREA)DR. ISAAC BEKALO - (Moderator) EthiopiaBorn in Ethiopia, Isaac has twenty-five years of practical experience in community and organizationaldevelopment, management and leadership. As President of IIRR, Isaac takes a lead role in strategyformulation, organizational diagnoses and restructuring, strategic management, business plan developmentand monitoring and evaluation.While pursuing his doctoral studies, Isaac worked as a part-time lecturer in the school of Public Health and asthe Coordinator of Graduate Research Programs in the Philippines and joined IIRR in September 1989 as theAfrica Regional Director. He was appointed its 6th President in January 2009 and built the Africa RegionalCentre and establishing a presence in four East African countries.Isaac has successfully co-created a participatory knowledge-management and documentation system knownas the Writeshop that used by numerous international organizations. He has facilitated and co-authoredseveral leading publications on the Writeshop process and has trained hundreds of senior and middle levelmangers and technical specialists in the same.PROF. BAGELE CHILISA - BotswanaDR. JOSIAH COBBAH - GhanaProf. Bagele Chilisa is a Professor at the University of Botswana where she teaches Research Methods andEvaluation. She has supervised more than 50 Masters and PhD dissertations and has served as externalexaminer for PHD thesis in the SADEC region. She is also author of a number of textbooks that are used bygraduate students internationally. Professor Chilisa has received numerous grants to carry out impactevaluation and intervention research on HIV/AIDS, gender, education, sexualityinteracting with scholars from Sub-Saharan Africa and the rest of the world. Her evaluation research onpregnancy policy was the part of a larger project initiated by the Ministries of Education with studies inBotswana, Mozambique, Kenya and Nigeria. Other studies (including HIV/AIDS, gender school experiences,and life skills education) have been carried out with scholars from the United Kingdom, Ghana, Botswana,USA (Pennsylvania, Stanford and Harvard) and have involved studies in Botswana, Kenya, Malawi,Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.Dr. Josiah A. M. Cobbah is a Principal Lecturer in Governance, Leadership and Management and currentlyHead of Administration at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA). With morethan 30 years' experience in education in both Ghana and the United States, Dr. Cobbah is an expert ingovernance, human rights, leadership, ethics and social responsibility and development management. He hasbeen a consultant for various national and international agencies. Dr. Cobbah is a lawyer and holds a PhD ingeography with a concentration in rural resources development and planning. He has published in a varietyof areas.African Thought Leaders Forum on Evaluation and Development, Bellagio, Nov 2012 52

PROF. LAILA EL BARADEI - EgyptProf. Laila El Baradei is associate dean for the School of Global Affairs and Public Policy (GAPP) and professorof public administration at the American University in Cairo. She is also a professor of public administrationat the Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University.El Baradei is a graduate of AUC with a BA degree in business administration with highest honors in 1983 andan MBA in 1988. She received her PhD in public administration from Cairo University in 1998.Her research interests and publications cover the areas of development cooperation management,decentralization, organizational change, public administration reform, governance, child labour, downsizing,and accountability. El Baradei has co-authored Egypt’s Human Development Report 2010, 2008 and 2004;Egypt’s Millennium Development Goals Second Country Report 2004, and the World Bank’s CountryEnvironmental Analysis for Egypt published in 2005. Over the years, she has has also provided consultancyservices to the World Bank, USAID, UNDP, DANIDA, Center for Development Research in Bonn, theEconomic Research Forum in Egypt, and Ford Foundation.DR. SULLEY GARIBA - GhanaDr. Sulley Gariba, is an evaluation specialist and policy analyst with nearly 30 years of experience withstrategic institutions in Africa and internationally. He has provided leadership to several community and ruraldevelopment initiatives across Ghana, which earned him the Millennium Excellence Award for RuralDevelopment in 2005. He was the Founding President of the International Development EvaluationAssociation (IDEAS), and former President of the African Evaluation Association (AfrEA), was former lecturer atthe University for Development Studies in Tamale, is currently the Executive Director of the Institute forPolicy Alternatives, a policy think-tank in Ghana. Since 2009 has been serving as the Development PolicyAdvisor to the President of Ghana, focusing on the Savannah Accelerated Development Strategy fordevelopment equity in Ghana. He has been a leading member of the National Development PlanningCommission. He has a Ph.D. and an M.A. in Political Science from Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. Hisfirst degree was from University of Ghana.IRENE KARANJA - KenyaIrene Karanja is a specialist in participatory research, community organizing and capacity building of theurban poor. In the last 10 years, Irene was been instrumental in establishing the Research and Advocacy unitof the Pamoja Trust and has transformed participatory data collection techniques into a major instrument thatallows slum dwellers to assume leadership of settlements through savings, housing cooperatives and womens’groups. Irene’s major accomplishments include facilitating the federation of slum dwellers in Kenya(Muungano wa Wanavijiji) to undertake settlement planning, settlement up-grading and tenure regularisationof informal settlements across Kenya and leveraging government departments to use participatory urbanplanning processes as the first step to settlement upgrading.As the founding Executive Director of Muungano Support Trust (MuST), she has works with Private and PublicInstitutions to resource urban poor projects in nine urban areas in Kenya. She recently served as an advisor tothe Kenyan Government for the resettlement of 10,000 poor households in Kenya.HAJIA ALIMA MAHAMA - GhanaHajia Alima Mahama is a prominent Ghanaian human rights lawyer and gender equality specialist. She, untilrecently, served as an advisor to the post conflict government of Liberia on gender and development policiesunder a UN and Government of Liberia Joint Programme on Attainment of MDG3. She previously wasGhana’s Minister of Women and Children’s Affairs, Deputy Minister of Local Government and RuralDevelopment, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry and Member of Parliament. Trained as a lawyer, and anearly champion of women’s equality in northern Ghana, she has worked as an advisor on a wide range ofdonor-funded projects in Ghana and Liberia, including for DANIDA, CIDA, IFAD and others. A member of awide range of professional and policy networks, Mahama earned a BA from the University of Ghana and herlaw degree from the Ghana Law School, as well as an MA in development studies from the Institute of SocialStudies in The Hague. She was a Pearson Fellow of University of Ottawa, Canada and a Hubert HumphreyFellow at Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA.African Thought Leaders Forum on Evaluation and Development, Bellagio, Nov 2012 53

DR. CHIKU MALUNGA - MalawiChiku Malunga is a Civil Society Organization Development Writer and Practitioner specializing in Strategyand Leadership Development and works as a Consultant throughout Africa and beyond. A highly sought afterSpeaker especially on understanding non-profit organisations, leadership and strategy from an Africanperspective, his niche is in using African indigenous wisdom in enhancing modern (organizational) life. Chikuis the author of seven African indigenous wisdom based Leadership and Strategy books: UnderstandingOrganisational Sustainability through African Proverbs, Understanding Organizational Leadership throughUbuntu, Making Strategic Plans Work: Insights from African Indigenous Wisdom; Oblivion or Utopia: TheProspects for Africa; Power and Influence: Self Development Lessons from African Proverbs and Folktales; andCultivating Personal and Organizational Effectiveness: Spiritual Insights from African Proverbs. Chiku holds adoctorate degree in Development Studies from the University of South Africa and is Director of CADECO, anorganisation that promotes African centred organisational and leadership improvement models.PROF. ROBIN MOORE - South AfricaProfessor Robin Moore is Deputy Vice Chancellor (Partnerships and Advancement) at the University of theWitwatersrand (‘Wits’) in Johannesburg. He joined Wits in 2006 as Director of Strategic Planning and, in2007, he was appointed as Deputy Vice Chancellor (Advancement & Partnerships). His work includesresponsibility for the advancement of the University’s strategic purposes in partnership with other institutionsin society. Among other things, he assists in developing the relationships between Wits and partners ingovernment, industry, civil society and other universities. He was recently project director for South Africa’sMinisterial Review Committee on the National System of Innovation, a study conducted in 2010 and 2011and published in 2012.He is a member of the Advisory Board of the journal Studies in Higher Education and sits on the Boards of theGauteng City Region Observatory (GCRO) and the Southern African Liaison Office (SALO).DR. ROSA MURAGURI-MWOLOLO - KenyaRosa has 30 years experience international development and is a champion for African Entrepreneurship.Instrumental in the development of policies to support SME development, she currently works for UN-HABITAT as part of the Advisory Group that ensures Results-Based Management (RBM) policy compliance.Rosa holds a PhD in Management Education, a Masters in Entrepreneurship, and a Bachelors degree inSociology. Starting her career with Kenya’s Ministry of Gender, promoting gender sensitive policies for SMEs,Rosa moved on to become Senior Program Officer and Gender Advisor with CIDA and NORAD. She hasconsulted for numerous governments, NGOs and UN Agencies and has trained extensively in Results BasedManagement (RBM). Until recently, she was a CGIAR trainer for the African Women Scientists in AgriculturalResearch and Development (AWARD) program. Rosa serves as a member of the Governing Council for JomoKenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) and is a member of the African Community ofPractice (AfCoP) for Managing for Results and a founder member for the Kenya Community of Practice forManaging for Development Results. She is an adjunct faculty at the Strathmore University Business School.DR. ZENDA OFIR - South AfricaSouth Africa born Dr Zenda Ofir has been a full-time evaluation specialist since leaving her position asDirector of Research at the University of Pretoria in 2000. She is a former President of the African EvaluationAssociation (AfrEA), former Vice President of the International Organisation for Cooperation in Evaluation(IOCE), and former Board member of the American Evaluation Association, the first based outside the US. Shehas been a visiting professor at the University of Hiroshima and for several years presented the AidEffectiveness module of the International Cooperation course at the United Nations University in Tokyo.Zenda has participated in assignments for more than 40 clients in 30 countries across Africa and Asia, andregularly serves as expert advisor on evaluation. She is currently one of four Core Advisors to the RockefellerFoundation’s Evaluation Office, member of the GAVI Evaluation Advisory Committee and Expert M&EAdvisor to AWARD, a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funded program cultivating African women leadersin agricultural research. She has also served as Steering Committee member of the Network of Networks onImpact Evaluation (NONIE); as member of the CGIAR Science Council Standing Panel on Impact Assessment(SPIA); as Expert Panel member for review of the IFAD Evaluation Manual; as OECD DAC/UNEG peer panelmember for review of the evaluation function of the World Food Program (WFP); and as Special Advisor onKnowledge Management to the IUCN Executive in Switzerland.African Thought Leaders Forum on Evaluation and Development, Bellagio, Nov 2012 54

MR. STEPHEN PORTER - South AfricaMr Stephen Porter is currently Acting Director of the Centre for Learning on Evaluation and Results (CLEARAnglophone Africa) at the University of the Witwatersrand. Mr Porter has a 10 year career in developing andimplementing Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) systems in Africa and is well versed in theories of change.Currently Mr Porter is working with the Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME) inSouth Africa on a range of evaluation issues. Mr Porter has designed and supported the implementation of arange of community based M&E systems that balanced donor, government and organisational requirements.Stephen has developed good practice M&E systems for USAID and DFID funded initiatives at VSO andAMREF and conducted a provincial level evaluation of the institutional barriers to the outcomes basedapproach and is currently teaching courses at Wits. Mr Porter has also assisted an FAO division on thedevelopment of simple monitoring systems and has a range of peer-reviewed publications on institutional,collaborative, and rights-based M&E approaches. He holds a Masters degree in Public Policy and is currentlyworking on his PhD.DR. SUKAI PROM-JACKSON - The GambiaDr. Sukai Prom-Jackson has over 20 years of professional experience and leadership in the management andconduct of research and evaluation, policy formulation and strategic planning, and in the facilitation oflearning as a university lecturer and trainer. She has spent 15 years with the World Bank in the fields ofpolicy research, policy-based lending and investment operations. Her work experience includes governance,public sector administration and reform, education and human development, and human resourcemanagement. She has recently been appointed by the UN General Assembly to serve as an Inspector of theJoint Inspection Unit. Since 2005, Sukai has worked as Evaluation Adviser of the independent EvaluationOffice (EO) of the UNDP. She is well-recognized in the United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG) and theinternational evaluation community and has represented the UNDP and the UNEG in various meetings toadvance development evaluation. Dr. Prom-Jackson is a Gambian and a graduate of Howard University andMiddlebury College in the USA.PROF. AKILAGPA SAWYERR - GhanaProfessor Akilagpa Sawyerr is a member of the Council of State in Ghana and Vice-President (Arts) of theGhana Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was Secretary-General of the Association of African Universities(AAU) from 2003 to 2008, and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana from 1985 to 1992. Prior to that,he taught law at the Universities of Dar es Salaam, Papua New Guinea and Ghana, and held fellowships andvisiting appointments at universities in Europe and the US. Professor Sawyerr studied law at the Universities ofDurham, London and California (Berkeley), where he obtained the degree of Doctor of the Science ofJurisprudence (JSD), and is a member of the Bar in England, Ghana and Papua New Guinea. He serves onseveral national and international bodies, including the Governing Board of the Commonwealth of Learning,the Technical Committee and Advisory Council of the Ibrahim Index of African Governance, as well as theCommittee on Freedom and Responsibility in the Conduct of Science (CFRS) of the International Council forScience (ICSU). Professor Sawyerr’s research interests cover globalization, higher education, humandevelopment, and international negotiations, areas in which he has published widely and acted as consultantto national and international bodies.DEBBIE SERWADDA - UgandaDebbie Serwadda is the founding chairperson of iCON Women & Young People’s Leadership Academy(iCON) - a “proudly Ugandan” social enterprise and civil society organization providing a unique integratedformal and non formal entrepreneurship and leadership education experience for women and young peoplewho aspire to excel as productive and innovative local and global citizens. iCON has piloted anEntrepreneurship and Transformational Leadership Fellowship with more than 600 community based womenin post-conflict Northern Uganda; 50 young men and 100 young women in post-secondary institutions inNorthern Uganda; and 100 students in selected schools in Kampala. Recognized for her authentic leadershipskills, Debbie is a core member of the African Gender and Development Evaluators Network (AGDEN).AGDEN is a Special Interest Group (SIG) under the umbrella of the African Evaluators Association (AFREA),and Africa wide network through which gender and rights evaluators seek to influence development throughparticipatory evaluation practice on the continent and the world.African Thought Leaders Forum on Evaluation and Development, Bellagio, Nov 2012 55

NERMINE WALLY - EgyptNermine Wally is currently President of the African Evaluation association (AfrEA) and a socio economicresearcher with experience in gender issues, poverty alleviation and participatory initiatives. Throughfieldwork and direct contact, she developed deep knowledge of the social issues facing non-governmentalorganizations, youth, women and rural households in Egypt and the MENA region. In her latest job as SeniorGovernance Specialist in the “New Social Contract Centre’, a project launched by the Egyptian Cabinet torespond to Egypt developmental needs, she worked closely on the governance and anti-corruption agenda ofEgypt. She also contributed to the development of the national M&E framework to assess Egypt MillenniumDevelopment Goals. Nermine has working experience in the Middle East, Africa and South East Asia, andserves in the board of the African Evaluation Association where she leads the team on Advocacy. She iscurrently based in Paris where she is pursuing graduate studies in Sciences Po Paris.PROF. ALAPHIA WRIGHT - Sierra LeoneAlaphia Wright is the UNESCO representative to Angola, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, and Swaziland; andthe Director of the UNESCO Office in Windhoek. Alaphia is a trained Evaluator and RBM consultant and hasserved on some 20 Board of Directors, Management Boards, Technical and Steering Committees; includingthe United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG). He was co-chair of the ECD Task Force of UNEG, whichdeveloped an evaluation training programme for UN staff. A strong proponent of the ‘Systems ThinkingApproach’ he has authored/co-authored 100+ publications including four books. Alaphia is the co-developerof the Dynamic Cone method for Open Pit Mine Design, and the developer of the Systems-ware model of theLogical Framework and the RBM Logical ScoreCard. From 1984 to 2003 he lectured Operations Research andMine Planning at the Universities of Zambia and Zimbabwe. He also lectured Project Management andEvaluation, and supervised many MBAs, MSc and PhD research projects in engineering and management. Hehas been a visiting professor in Zambia and External Examiner in Germany, Ghana, South Africa and Zambia.He was Dean of Engineering, University of Zimbabwe from 1999 - 2003.Kieron Crawley - (Forum Project Manager) - IrelandKieron is a Masters Graduate from the WITs School of Public and Development Management. He has helpedto establish the CLEAR Africa centre, lecturing to a range of students in the areas of Monitoring andEvaluation, Results based Management and Project Planning. Kieron’s background as a Development CountryProgramme Director within the INGO sector has provided him with experience in developing and managingmulti-sectoral poverty alleviation programmes in East and Southern Africa, the Caribbean and South Asia. Hiscountry experience spans Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, the Gambia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Namibia,South Africa, Haiti, Honduras, Peru, Nepal, and Bangladesh. Kieron’s work with CLEAR has included thefacilitating of two global meetings on behalf of the World Bank CLEAR Global Secretariat in Paris and Accra.He is currently undertaking a PhD at the University of the Witwatersrand.African Thought Leaders Forum on Evaluation and Development, Bellagio, Nov 2012 56

AGENDADay 1: The Development-EvaluationInterfaceSession 1 (morning)• Welcome and Introductions• Framing the meetingTrigger Presentation and Discussionsi. What are the most importantcontemporary development challengesfor Africa over the next ten years?ii. What are the implications forevaluation theory and practice, and forthe profession?iii. How do these relate to global trends?Session 2 (afternoon)Trigger Presentation and Discussionsiv. What is the status quo of evaluation inAfrica, and what are the forces thathave been shaping it?v. How does this situation relate to globaltrends?vi. How can evaluation in Africa be madeto be more innovative and useful inadvancing these developmentpriorities?Day 2: ‘Made in Africa’ EvaluationSession 3 (morning)Trigger Presentation and Discussionsi. What is meant by ‘Africa rooted’ and ‘Africadriven’ theory and practice?ii. What are the implications for development, forevaluation theory and practice, and for theevaluation profession? What is likely to be‘African’ about such work?iii. What can be learned from related experienceselsewhere in the world?Session 4 (afternoon)Collation of Perspectives – Breakout Groupsiv. How can an innovative body of work in thisarea be nurtured to (i) make it cutting edge and(ii) increase the likelihood that it will be used?v. What will be needed to give ‘Africa rooted’ and‘Africa driven’ evaluation theory and practicegreater credibility, respect and voice indevelopment efforts, within and outside thecontinent?Day 3: Joining Forces for Influence and ImpactSession 5 (morning)Decision-focused Discussionsi. Based on the discussions before and at this meeting,what will be needed to• continuously expand the pool of influentialevaluation knowledge generated from withinAfrica, by Africans?• attract more of the most outstanding andinfluential people to the evaluation profession inAfrica?• catalyze an influential, enduring movement of‘thought leadership’ that provides active andrespected contributions to evaluation and todevelopment thinking, policies and practices inAfrica?Session 6 (afternoon)Planning the Way Forwardii. What strategies will help put ideas generated fromthis meeting in practice?iii. What strategies will extend and enhance theinfluence of this meeting towards its desiredoutcomes?iv. What immediate steps will be needed to generatemomentum?African Thought Leaders Forum on Evaluation and Development, Bellagio, Nov 2012 57

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