APEA Conference. Session 4: Engaging communities: Evaluation to ensure no one is left behind in development, 5 December 2023

1/19/2024

This panel, moderated by Oyuntsetseg Chuluundorj (Monitoring and Evaluation Advisor, UN Population Fund Asia and Pacific Office), consisted of Fiona (see my presentation below), Rituu Nanda (Participatory Evaluation Advisor), Elene Cloete (Director of Research and Advocacy, Outreach International), Svetlana Negroustoueva (Led, Evaluation at Independent Advisory and Evaluation Service, CGIAR), Melissa Burgess (Director of Research and Evaluation, Save the Children International), and Henk Van Beers (Global Child Participation Lead, Save the Children International). It was an honour to sit among these wonderful people who are so committed to inclusive evaluation practice. Here are some of the messages the panel shared (with a disclaimer that these are largely in my own words):

It's important that we support communities to reclaim agency so that any transformation is community-led. This includes data sovereignty, where communities own and use their own data.
It's the right of children to be involved in research and evaluation, and to lead their own participation. Child-led means children controlling the process and adults being facilitators only. The Save the Children website sets out nine basic requirements for meaningful and ethical children's participation.
One of our jobs as evaluators is to spark curiosity about how research and evaluation can support people, including children, to achieve their aspirations. This includes using and sharing methods that help people document whether initiatives have supported the improvements they want to see.
So, we need to consider the strengths and goodness in people, and also prepare for uncertainty as we will no longer be 'in charge'.
Careful thought may need to be given to ensuring safe spaces for people to fully participate in research and evaluation. It may not be safe, for example, for people to be seen coming and going from a place/building.
Communities of practice can enrich learning and build social capital, with the energy of those leading these communities being important to sustaining them and ensuring their vitality.
Social network analysis is one method we can use to evaluate whether communities of practice and platforms designed to connect organisations and communities are working.