APEA Conference - Arriving and Session 1, 5 December 2023

In early December 2023, we (Serge Eric and Fiona, Co-Chairs of EvalIndigenous) attended the 4th APEA Conference in Manila. The theme of the conference was ‘Future of Evaluation: Leveraging Partnerships for Equitable Development in Asia Pacific’. We arrived with our newly minted EvalIndigenous banner, which we placed in a prominent position near the registration area. The photo opportunity was too great, and we persuaded a number of people to have their picture taken with us and our banner.

The first day of the conference, 4 December, was given over to workshops that unfortunately we missed due to our travel arrangements.
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Session 1
Day 2 then began with a welcome from Asela Kalugampitiya, President of APEA, followed by opening remarks. Asela spoke about the growth of APEA, with the conference being an opportunity to celebrate achievements that included the strengthening of evaluation in Asia and the Pacific. In her remarks, Natalia Nikitenko (former Member of the Parliament of Kyrgyz Republic and Member of the Global Parliamentarians Forum for Evaluation) emphasized the importance of evidence-based decision-making for accountability, good decision-making, and results. Emmanuel Jimenez (Director General, Independent Evaluation Department of Asian Development Bank) spoke about evaluations being for the generators, users and beneficiaries of the services and programs we evaluate. This required the better ecosystem for evaluation that APEA was taking a lead in building. Romulo Emmanuel Miral Jr (Director General at Congressional Policy and Budget Research Department, House of Representatives, Philippines) described the importance of SDG-6 and the need for a comprehensive strategy for eliminating poverty.

Fiona Cram, PhD, Co-Chair, EvalIndigenous

e. [email protected] 
Aotearoa - New Zealand