AfrEA 25 Years Anniversary, 16-18 June 2025, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
On the 16 – 18 June 2025, non-government organisations, governments and international organisations joined African Evaluation Association (AfrEA) to celebrate 25 years of their existence. The celebration of 25 years of the existence of the AfrEA is a significant milestone for the evaluation community in Africa. These expected results aligned with AfrEA’s vision and mission to serve as a leading source of evaluation knowledge and to promote Africa-led evaluation practices that contribute to the continent’s development agenda. It was also an opportunity to build a stronger future together.
The anniversary events objectives were:
Reflect on AfrEA’s History and its Key Milestones
This was crucial as it provided an opportunity to acknowledge past achievements, learn from challenges, and chart a strategic course for the future of evaluation in Africa, ensuring that the organization’s growth and impact are recognized and leveraged for continued advancement of the field.
Acknowledge and Celebrate the Contributions of AfrEA members
This was vital as it fostered a sense of community and appreciation, motivates continued engagement, and highlights the collective eff orts that have shaped the evaluation landscape in Africa, reinforcing the value of collaboration in achieving shared goals.
Building Partnerships for the attainment of African Union’s Agenda 2063
Strengthening support for evidence-based policies aligned with the African Union’s Agenda 2063, and building a partnership with the AU would enhance the relevance and impact of evaluation practices in Africa, aligning them with continental development goals and fostering a more integrated approach to monitoring and assessing progress towards the “Africa We Want” vision.
Facilitate High-Level Discussions with the African Union
Facilitating high-level discussions with the African Union during the event in Addis would be crucial for strengthening the alignment between evaluation practices and Agenda 2063, potentially leading to enhanced collaboration in monitoring and assessing progress towards Africa’s development goals and fostering a more integrated approach to evidence-based policymaking across the continent.
Secure AU Endorsement of a Resolution on Advancing Evaluation in Africa
This would be instrumental in elevating the importance of evaluation within the continent, providing a strong political mandate that supports the integration of robust evaluation practices into policy-making processes, and enhancing collaboration with development partners to achieve sustainable development outcomes aligned with African priorities.
Strengthening Old Bonds and Securing New Partnerships
The focus on strengthening old bonds and securing new partnerships in building a stronger future together is crucial as it would foster a more robust and interconnected evaluation ecosystem in Africa, leveraging existing relationships while forging new alliances to enhance knowledge sharing, resource mobilisation, and collaborative eff orts towards building a stronger, more resilient future for evaluation practices across the continent.
At the anniversary, Twende Mbele country partners took part in two panel discussions. Below are some of the pointer that emerged from these panels:
1) Strengthening Evaluation Capacity in English Speaking Africa: Pathways to Better Governance and Development Outcomes.
Dr Thina Nzo said that, “Evaluations should not just be a national government priority, but it should also be institutionalized at a local level where government policies have the most impact.”
Thokozile Molaiwa said that, “The DPME is collaborating with a wide range of partners in the private sector, departments, and higher education institutions to improve evaluation literacy and technical know-how.”
Timothy Lubanga said that, “Uganda has commissioned 46 evaluations, but government can’t commission evaluations alone as there are too many programs & policies that need evaluating. Decentralized evaluation is the way forward, with more non-government actors commissioning them.”
2) Commitment of African States to policy evaluation, use of evidence and strengthening of national evaluation systems.
Timothy Lubanga said that, “Uganda is currently reviewing its National Evaluation Policy (NEP). This policy will take into account issues related to ICT, AI and gender equality.”
Abdulaye Gounou said that, “Benin has made significant progress in strengthening its national evaluation system, notably with the recent adoption by Parliament of a law on monitoring and evaluation.”
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