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Session Title: Evaluation Capacity Building Best Practices in International Donor Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Programs
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Panel Session 904 to be held in Wekiwa 4 on Saturday, Nov 14, 3:30 PM to 5:00 PM
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Sponsored by the International and Cross-cultural Evaluation TIG
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| Chair(s): |
| Adele Liskov, United States Agency for International Development, aliskov@usaid.gov
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| Abstract:
International donors have many years of experience individually and collectively in support of worldwide development and humanitarian assistance programs. Despite the professionalization of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the U.S. and in developing countries, abundant recognition as well as rhetoric about unmet capacity needs at the organizational and technical levels continues to be raised. This is partially due to the expansion of NGO players during the 1990's and especially after 2000 when the NGO sector rapidly grew in response to globalization, political and technological advances and opportunities. A body of knowledge accumulated during this period of donor-sustained support to maturing NGO partners in and across development sectors and in humanitarian assistance programs. Donor investment in NGO strengthening, of which evaluation has been a critical element, has yielded results-focused knowledge and best practices in child survival, microenterprise, and civil society, including the innovation of integrating organizational capacity building into technical program implementation. Case studies regarding the role of evaluation will be presented.
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The Importance of Evaluation in Development Programming: United States Agency for International Development's (USAID) Experience
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| Tom Kennedy, United States Agency for International Development, tkennedy@usaid.gov
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Tom Kennedy, Senior Microfinance Advisor for USAID, will discuss how the Agency is institutionalizing monitoring and evaluation and how the agency's approach in this area has evolved. Mr. Kennedy will also focus on the issue of monitoring and evaluation as a key organizational development tool and how it has been used to strengthen the capacity and effectiveness of USAID's microenterprise development partners and their programs. Mr. Kennedy will address initiatives the agency is undertaking in areas such as the Private Sector Development Impact Assessment Initiative and the generation of new knowledge and learning in evaluation and assessments of interventions designed to reduce poverty and reduce conflict or fragility.
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Monitoring and Evaluation to Improve Non-governmental Organization (NGO) Capacity Building
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| Kenneth Sklaw, United States Agency for International Development, ksklaw@usaid.gov
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Ken Sklaw, Organizational Capacity Advisor in USAID's Implementation Support Division of Office of HIV/AIDS,will discuss the role of evaluation in the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Over the past five years, PEPFAR has invested in numerous programs designed to build capacity of NGOs in order to increase participation in local responses to the epidemic. Of these, the New Partners' Initiative (NPI) is among the largest and most visible. This $200 million initiative was designed to: Increase PEPFAR's ability to provide services through new PEPFAR partners and increase their capacity to provide services; and build community ownership by developing the technical and organizational capacity of local partners. To understand the program's success on each of these goals, monitoring and evaluation activities are key. Collecting data on service delivery is critical to understand NGO partners' success in reaching their ultimate targets. Understanding the importance of organizational capacity and of building organizational capacity in NPI and having the tools to measure evaluation and organizational capacity are also critical. Under NPI, capacity in both areas of monitoring and evaluation have been achieved and we have found that those most capable of monitoring their capacity building activities are the ones that are most successful in implementation.
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Learnings From Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Capacity Building Training With the South Asian Action Against Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation of Children Non-governmental Organization (NGO) Network
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| Adele Liskov, United States Agency for International Development, aliskov@usaid.gov
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| Molly Hageboeck, Management Systems International, mhageboeck@msi.inc.com
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| Joan Goodin, Management Systems International, jgoodin@msi.inc.com
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Adele Liskov, Chief of the Private and Voluntary Cooperation Division at USAID and Technical Officer of the Capable Partners NGO Strengthening Program, will present learnings from an evaluation training initiative for ATSEC network members to strengthen understanding and commitment to higher quality monitoring and evaluation in the five-country network. This work was undertaken with the objective of institutionalizing evaluation within each chapter's organizations. Discussion will focus on the effect of the training one and a half years later with organizations carrying out anti-trafficking programs related to awareness raising among leadership groups, rescue and repatriation, and shelter care for trafficking victims.
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