Measuring the effect of Evaluation Capacity Building Initiatives in Africa: A review (original) (raw)
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Background: Strengthening the capacities of countries and organisations to perform monitoring and evaluation (ME) functions is gaining momentum in the Global South. However, there is limited literature on the effectiveness and impact of these capacity strengthening initiatives in Africa. Across the continent, there has been a global push to strengthen ME capacity both within the state and non-state sector. The rationale for the push and investments is based on the premise that ME capacity is critical for assisting public officials, non-state sector development managers, non-governmental organisations, and donors to improve the design and implementation of their projects, improve progress, increase impact, and enhance learning. Despite considerable investments to build ME capacity in the African context, literature shows that the measurement of these initiatives is non-existent.Objectives: To explore ME capacity strengthening initiatives and how their effectiveness is being measured....
Zambia’s Experience in Building Capacity for Evaluation
Zambia joined the rest of the world in celebrating the International Year of Evaluation on 3rd November 2015. At the same event, the Zambia Monitoring and Evaluation Association was launched. The theme of the event was ‘Appreciating the need for evaluation’. The evaluation issues discussed at the event are common to all developing nations, especially in Africa where we are trying to develop national evaluation capacities. Therefore, this is an effort to share some of the experiences of Zambia in developing evaluations and thoughts on the future of evaluations in Zambia that were touched on during the event. The evaluation community of other countries may find them useful. The author intends to review the developments in Zambia related to capacity building in evaluations. To be shared are the following: i. Zambia’s experience in developing a national-led governance evaluation system; ii. developing a national evidence based policy and decision making system by the Ministry of Finance; iii. the supply and demand of evaluations in Zambia; iv. developing the profession capacity; and v. the role of the state, civil society including the national evaluation association and cooperating partners in enhancing the value of evaluations in making a better society.
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This article is an overview of what the Centre for Learning on Evaluation and Results in Anglophone Africa (CLEAR-AA) is currently learning in its work implementing monitoring and evaluation (M&E) capacity strengthening programmes in our partner countries. This article is based on the reflections drawn from the authors’ experiences and the work of CLEAR-AA in strengthening M&E systems across the continent. It serves as a contribution to larger ongoing strategic conversations about how to promote evidence-informed decision-making for better development outcomes. The article begins with a discussion on systems broadly and M&E systems in particular, with a specific focus on some of the historical roots of the current ways in which M&E is defined and implemented in African systems of governance. We continue to discuss the various elements that come into play in establishing and institutionalising M&E systems, in particular the ‘M&E Market’ and the demand for evidence, where we also chal...
Partnership for Capacity Building in Africa (PACT) - mid-term evaluation
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This report is an independent mid-term evaluation of the Partnership for Capacity Building in Africa (PACT) as implemented by the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF). In each of three sections (policy direction and strategy; managing the internal environment; and appreciating the external environment) the report addresses the relevance, effectiveness, operational efficiency, institutional development impact, and sustainability of ACBF's responsibilities with respect to implementing the original mandate; assesses the effectiveness of ACBF's internal monitoring and evaluation of those efforts; and provides recommendations for improvement. The report concludes that ACBF has clearly enhanced the priority for capacity building in Africa and has contributed to the establishment and effectiveness of professional policy analysis within several African countries. At the same time, ACBF/PACT's scope and mandate require further refinement to maximize positive impact on Afri...
A stakeholder view of the development of national evaluation systems in Africa
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