Blog on the Participation of Dr. Awuor PONGE at the 11th AfrEA International Conference 2024, Kigali, RWANDA for EvalIndigenous Global Network 18 – 22 March 2024, Kigali, Rwanda

The 11th African Evaluation Association (AfrEA) International Conference opened its doors on Monday, 18 March 2024 in the beautiful City of Kigali, in Rwanda, the land of a thousand hills. The EvalIndigenous Global Network was ably represented by the Co-Chairs, Dr. Fiona Cram and Eric Serge Yakeu-Djiam. The others who represented their various regions were: Jhank Narayan Shrestha, the President of the Nepal Evaluation Society (NES) and the Vice-President of the Asia Pacific Evaluation Association (APEA), Arnoux Mouafo Nopi, the Vice President of the Cameroun Development Evaluation Association (CaDEA), and Corine Rosanne Njomo also from Cameroun; Solomon Gitau Waiyego, an Indigenous YEE from Kenya, Dr. Florence Etta, the President of AGDEN and the two AfrEA Co-Convenors for EvalIndigenous namely: John Tembo Njovu and Dr. Awuor Ponge. It is good to note that EvalIndigenous was able to provide support to participants to attend the Conference, including some YEEs who took part in the Ford Foundation funded study. It was a pleasure receiving representation of EvalIndigenous from Latin America represented by Celeste Ghiano of ReLAC and her Team.
 
On Wednesday, 20 March 2024, the main Conference opened its doors and brought together over 650 registered participants far exceeding our expectation of a maximum 500 participants. So far, in the History of AfrEA, this is touted as the most well-attended conference. The welcome plenary was hosted jointly by AfrEA and the Rwanda Monitoring and Evaluation Organisation (RMEO). The key speakers included: the AfrEA President, Rosetti Nabbumba Nayenga; the RMEO President, Eugene Nyirigira Gatari; and a representative of the Rwanda Minister for Finance. The Special Address was delivered by Dr. Omotade Akin-Aina, the Chief, Impact and Research Officer at The Mastercard Foundation, which was the Platinum Sponsor for the Conference. The session was chaired by AfrEA President, Madam Rosetti Nabbumba Nayenga; while the Master-of-the-Ceremony was the ever-smiling President of the Uganda Evaluation Association (UEA), Matthew Lubuulwa.
 
On this fourth day of the conference, I made a presentation under Strand 7 under the Sub-theme:“Indigenous Evaluation and Ethics: Recalibrating the Made in Africa Evaluation in the Context of the Decolonization Debate”. The session was chaired by Veteran Indigenous Evaluator from Zambia, who is also the Africa Co-Chair of the EvalIndigenous Global Network, John Tembo Njovu. 
 
My presentation was on: “Navigating the Intersection of Indigenous Evaluation and Ethics in Africa.” It highlighted the similarities between the African Evaluation Principles (AEP) developed between 2019 and 2021 and the Indigenous African Ethical Protocol for Evaluations, which I developed for the EvalIndigenous Global Network in 2021. The key similarities revolved around the issues of cultural sensitivity and contextual relevance; community engagement and participation; decolonisation and empowerment. I highlighted the ethical considerations and the stress on the importance of ethical conduct in evaluations, acknowledging the value of local knowledge and indigenous wisdom; emphasising the importance of effective communication that respects local languages, modes of expression, and communication channels; and lastly on the idea that evaluations should contribute to the long-term sustainability and development of African communities. In terms of differences, the main areas of concern were on focus and scope; cultural emphasis; indigenous knowledge and participation; decolonisation and empowerment; spiritual and sacred aspects; community protocols and consent; local languages and communication and universal applicability of the principles vis-à-vis the ethical protocol.
 
The other presenters during this session were EvalIndigenous Co-Chair, Eric Serge Yakeu-Djiam: “The Local is Indigenous: EvalIndigenous advocacy for Indigenous evaluation”; Ronald Kimambo:“Reimagining Beneficiary Metrics: Perspectives from Global South Practitioners in Community Development”; and Kevin Obura: “Community ethics review: Reflections from a study on early childhood development and women’s agency.”
 
Thank you, Africa… Thank you AfrEA… We will keep the promise…