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…

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.

The AfrEA International Conference 2024 held in Kigali, Rwanda, showcased a vibrant exchange of ideas and insights aimed at advancing evaluation practices across Africa. With a focus on decolonizing evaluation and embracing culturally responsive methodologies, the conference brought together a diverse range of stakeholders committed to evidence-based decision-making for development interventions on the continent.

Key themes such as "Evaluation Entrepreneurship in Africa" and "Decolonizing Evaluation" highlighted the importance of transformative change and underscored the pivotal role evaluations play in shaping impactful policies and programs for sustainable development.

The conference provided invaluable networking opportunities, fostering connections with professionals from various sectors and regions. These interactions laid the groundwork for potential collaborations and knowledge exchanges that hold promise for future endeavors.

Gender diversity and inclusiveness were commendable aspects of the conference, with women's participation matching or even surpassing that of men—a reflection of the event's inclusive ethos.
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In conclusion, the AfrEA International Conference 2024 was an enlightening and enriching experience. The insights gained and connections forged will inform and inspire efforts to foster robust evaluation practices and drive positive change, not only in Africa but also globally.

The final day of the APEA Conference was spent at the Philippines' House of Representatives. The objectives of this day were to:

• Raise awareness on the institutionalization of monitoring and evaluation for the agenda 2030, and
• Promote dialogue between parliamentarians, government, evaluation practitioners, and civil society to encourage their joint use of evaluations for evidence-based decision making.

Many prestigious speakers spoke, including a keynote address from Hon. Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Philippines.
     The Manila Declaration was launched and we were invited to sign it. You can see video clips of the speeches from the day, and also sign the Declaration here. 

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.

In the second session of the Conference, Henrique Pissaia de Souza (New Development Bank) and Marco Segone (United Nations Population Fund) gave keynote addresses. Takeaways included:

• The importance of developing countries helping developing countries, where all are shareholders and not donors or receivers of funding.
• Having Parliamentarians as the Directors of the New Development Bank means an iterative, step-by-step approach can be taken to supplying help, so that developing countries learn-by-doing.
• The world is experiencing a multi-directional, interconnected economic crisis and a rebalancing of power. Progress on the SDGs is off-track, so we need to change tack, step-up and accelerate progress, with evaluation included as a strategic investment.
• Evaluation is being codified in policies and investments are being made in evaluation capacity development.
• Intergenerational partnerships are pivotal to the creation of national evaluation ecosystems.
• Evaluations need to be co-led, co-designed and delivered with Indigenous evaluators.

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.