Canada Evaluation Society Conference, Fredericton, May 2024

Amplifying Indigenous Voices: Advancing Equity and Inclusion in Evaluation Practices

Bhuban Bajracharya, Dulmina Chamathkara, Prabin Chitrakar, Eroni Wavu, Ana Erika Lareza, Randika De Mel, and Madhuka Liyanagamage present at the CES conference. Three in-person and four video presentations were delivered by the team from the Asia Pacific Evaluation Association.
Abstract ​For evaluation to be part of a pathway to wellbeing for Indigenous people, it is essential that evaluators recognize and are responsive to Indigenous cultural contexts. Recognizing the importance of promoting culturally responsive evaluations in Asia Pacific - one of the most culturally diverse regions in the world, Asia Pacific Evaluation Association (APEA) and EvalIndigenous worked collaboratively to document and amplify indigenous evaluation practices and curate the experiences and voices of Indigenous knowledge holders and evaluators in the region. This session includes presentations on grant projects supported by EvalIndigenous and the toolkit for Indigenous Evaluation developed by Asia Pacific Evaluation Association. To capture the key learnings from these activities, a toolkit on Indigenous evaluations specifically for the Asia Pacific region was developed to serve as a practical guide that consolidates the existing knowledge and experiences of selected Indigenous communities and evaluators working with Indigenous communities in Asia Pacific and an advocacy tool that seeks to promote culturally responsive evaluations in the region. The main aim of this session is to amplify Indigenous evaluation project practices by bringing together Indigenous knowledge holders and Indigenous evaluators and global national evaluation systems and policies to increasingly recognize and support Indigenous.
Short clips from the in-person presentations are included below. The video clips are on our Reports page, along with the written reports from the seeding grant projects being described.