AfrEA Anniversary 2025 , Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
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.”
Parliamentary Capacity Building Workshop 29-31 May 2025 Cape Town
Parliamentary Capacity Building Workshop, 29-31 May 2025, Cape Town
Twende Mbele in collaboration with DPME, South Africa, organised a 3-day capacity building workshop to bolster and augment existing M&E capacities among Members of Parliament (MPs) and parliamentary researcher departments of Twende Mbele partner countries. This workshop aims to foster champions and cultivate an appreciation of the value of M&E evidence in informing public-sector planning, policymaking, and budgeting. The forum is part of Twende’s 2024-2026 approved work plan aimed at enhancing and advancing parliamentary oversight leveraging M&E. The interactive event was co-facilitated in English and French.
PURPOSE OF THE WORKSHOP
The purpose of the 3-day capacity building workshop was to build and augment existing M&E capacities among Members of Parliament (MPs) and Parliament Researchers of Twende Mbele member countries: Benin, Ghana, Kenya, Niger, South Africa and Uganda. This capacity building workshop aimed to foster champions and cultivate an appreciation of the value of M&E information in informing public sector planning, policymaking, budgeting and implementation processes. The workshop continued the Twende Mbele’s mission of improving oversight through M&E. The workshop was co-facilitated in English and French, and was interactive, bridging the gap between M&E theory and its practical application in the oversight functions of parliament.
The aim of the capacity building and peer-learning by Parliamentarians workshop was to:
- strengthen the demand for and use of evaluations among parliamentarians and parliamentary support staff.
- Enhance the capacities of parliamentarians and parliamentary support staff in M&E evidence production and use;
- Link evaluation practices to the oversight roles of parliamentarians;
- Integrate evaluation into planning and budget processes of parliament.
The three-day training covered the following thematic areas.
- The importance of M&E and building a culture of using evidence in oversight and accountability
- Evidence-based policy-making cycle and Medium-Term Development Plan
- Integrating evidence in planning, budgeting, monitoring and evaluation processes
- The importance of theory of change in measuring outputs, outcomes and impact, assumptions and risks in implementation of policy plans, strategies and programme
- The role of research and sources of empirical evidence in M&E processes
- How to use credible, reliable sources of data in problem diagnosis and decision-making
- Developing actionable recommendations and improvement plans
- Collaboration between parliamentary committees and key stakeholders
The training was a success and indeed assisted members of parliament to gain the required skills. Thus, the overwhelming majority (92.3%) of respondents to the post-training survey rated the workshop as very pertinent to them/their work. Further, most respondents found the training content to be timely and informative (76.9%), while almost everyone (92.3%) highlighted the need for a follow-up training. This is indicative of their perceived relevance of the training, curiosity to deepen their knowledge and or skill in evidence-use for parliamentary oversight, cry for additional support to fully grasp issues / techniques discussed and / or brought to their attention for the first time. It also speaks to the trust and confidence in the trainers’ individual and collective expertise and delivery styles.
Public Sector National Monitoring & Evaluation Policy Review Workshop in Uganda
Public Sector National Monitoring & Evaluation Policy Review Workshop
On the 28 April to 2nd May 2025, Twende Mbele was invited to the Public Sector National Monitoring & Evaluation Policy Review Workshop in Kampala, Uganda. This workshop was hosted by the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), Unicef Uganda Office and CLEAR-AA. This workshop included group work, presentations and, question and answer session to interrogate ideas for improving the National Monitoring and Evaluation Policy (NMEP).
Some of the key highlights emerging from the workshop are:
– Policy should be clear deliberate on the interoperability data sharing protocols for the M&E systems.
– Policy should emphasise the integration of various sectors and sub-programmes into the National M&E system.
– Policy should emphasise the adoption of information systems that are compatible to A.I integration, especially for reporting, analysis, and interview levels.
– Policy should emphasise the need to capacitate Technical staff in basic use of ICTs
– Policy should propose rewards and sanctions for the non-use of the evaluation findings.
– Institutionalise evaluations for projects and programs across all levels of government.
– Encouraging Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) and Local Government (LGs) to establish improvement and management plans in response to evaluations.
– Institutionalising learning feedback loops, where findings are formally discussed and actioned.
– Making evaluation findings a prerequisite for program continuation and/or expansion.
– Establishing formal communication strategies at the national and subnational level for communicating findings.
– Enacting the M&E Act.
– There is now a shift from Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) towards Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) across all levels of government.
– Main sources of funding includes 1)the Government of Uganda, 2)Donors Such as: 3ie, World Bank, UNDP, EU, UNICEF,CSOs, 3)Projects.
– The current proportion (5%) allocated for government M&E is not adequate. It was proposed the the proportions should be increased to 10-15%.
– Untimely disbursements of funds. It was proposed that M&E operationalisation should be ring-fenced funding so that the allocations are not easily “cut” or “diverted” to other priority areas.
Some of the key quotes emerging from the workshop includes:
1) “Do we need an M&E Act when we already have an M&E Policy. At what point can we say we need both?”
2) “How can the revised National Evaluation Policy better integrate LEARNING in a deliberate and intentional manner?”
3) “How do we align this policy to our own Regional frameworks (EAC Vision 2050) and AU Agenda 2063?”
4) “Should you undertake a regulatory impact assessment, which assesses how much resources allocated by governments into M&E before updating your National Monitoring and Evaluation Policy?”
New Twende Mbele Programme Manager
Twende Mbele appoints Dr Thina Nzo as Programme Manager
Twende Mbele is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Thina Nzo as the new Programme Manager, effective 1 January 2025. Launched in 2016, Twende Mbele is a Pan-African partnership between the governments of Benin, Ghana, Kenya, Niger, South Africa and Uganda, whose collective aim is jointly learning and sharing good practices regarding the use of monitoring and evaluative (M&E) evidence to strengthen the performance of government development plans, policies, programmes and projects.
Dr Nzo brings a wealth of experience and dynamism to Twende Mbele. With over 16 years of professional expertise, her career spans leadership roles in non-profits, academic institutions, and international organisations, where she has led multiple policy and research projects. Dr Nzo possesses extensive experience and skills working in various portfolios, including serving as a senior researcher, consultant, and programme/project manager. She has coordinated stakeholder engagements and lead policy advocacy reforms as a policy evaluation specialist.
Dr Nzo holds a PhD in African Studies from the University of Edinburgh and a Master’s in Local Policy and Politics from the University of Birmingham. Her passion lies in working with policymakers and development practitioners to leverage applied research and evaluation to influence and shape socio-economic development across the African continent effectively. Most recently, Dr. Nzo served as a Local Government Program Manager at the Public Affairs Research Institute (PARI), University of the Witwatersrand. She is also a former Head of Public Policy for the Northern Cape African National Congress.
Twende Mbele is confident that Dr. Nzo’s strategic vision and commitment to fostering peer learning and innovative M&E practices will propel the programme to greater heights.
For inquiries, contact:
Parfait Kasongo, Communications Coordinator: [email protected]
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The 15th European Evaluation Bennial Conference 2024
The 15th European Evaluation Bennial Conference 2024 – Rimni, Italy
On the 23 – 27 September 2024, Twende Mbele attended the 15th European Evaluation Bennial Conference 2024. The theme of the conference was “Better Together: collaborative thought and action for better evaluation”, building upon the valuable feedback received following Copenhagen 2022 and from other previous events, the EES 2024 provided a new and even stronger opportunity to share, learn, and come together as a community.
The 2024 conference themes are reflective of a different approach to learning and sharing anchored on collaboration; the modalities combine old and trusted approaches with innovative ones. The programme was reflective of the facility and designed to ensure that the physical space is used in the best possible way to facilitate sharing and collaboration. The conference aimed to focus the European M&E agenda on younger and less often heard voices on the evaluation spectrum. The conference also invited EES TWGs and evaluation communities of practice to work with the EES in shaping sessions and strands and showcase new approaches and innovative collaborations in their fields of evaluation. Achieving these objectives the EES relied on the goodwill of European M&E community to embrace both collaboration and inclusion in the pursuit of a richer, more dynamic and impactful evaluation sector.
Twende Mbele hosted a panel discussion titled,“Moving Forward Together: The Peer-to-Peer Learning Collaboration Approach by Twende Mbele as Developmental Internationalism?”, to highlight experiences of Twende Mbele member nations in adopting peer-learning collaborations approach to co-build evaluative cultures across the public institutions in a bid to positively influence national development priorities and identify mechanisms that can improve such collaborations to advance the continental and international development goals.
The key research question the Twende Mbele panel was trying to answer was: how can Twende Mbele countries continue to collaboratively share, learn and innovate M&E practices and systems that contribute to these governments’ mutual facilitation of positive socio-economic change and political instability in the dynamic sub-Saharan Africa region?
The slide presentation can be found below:
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