Bellagio-Report-Vs-Apr-14

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