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Evaluating Capacity Development in International Programs: Status, Challenges, and Future Prospects
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| Presenter(s):
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| Douglas Horton, Independent consultant, d.horton@mac.com
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| Abstract:
Capacity development is a common goal of international development programs. There are frequent calls to evaluate capacity development, in order to gauge the results (returns to investment) and learn lessons that can be used to improve future programs. However, few capacity development interventions have been systematically evaluated to date. Based on a review of publications and materials available on the Internet and on the author's own development work, this paper assesses the current state of knowledge and practice in this field. While there has been rapid growth in the number of guidelines and methods for evaluating capacity development, few capacity development interventions appear to have been systematically evaluated to date. The paper explores why this is true and what might be done to remedy the situation. In addition to daunting conceptual and methodological challenges, perhaps the most important barriers to evaluating capacity development are of a political nature.
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Achieving Evidence-based Policy Through Evaluation Capacity Development in Central America
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| Presenter(s):
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| Stefanie Krapp, German International Cooperation, stefanie.krapp@giz.de
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| Abstract:
Since the 90s Costa Rica has successfully anchored institutional mechanisms of monitoring and evaluation (M&E). Other countries in Central America demonstrate interest in strengthening their M&E capacities as evidenced through the implementation of variations of M&E systems, but they are very limited in their methodological and institutional development and sectoral coverage. By means of the new program „Evaluation Capacity Development (ECD)' the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) will support the Costarican efforts in strengthening the institutional evaluation capacities. This will help establish a culture capable of reporting evaluation impact within their Results Based Management System. Other Central American countries will be included in the common learning process by concerted regional ECD initiatives.
The presentation will begin with an overview of the state of M&E in Central America. It will then introduce the general concept of the ECD program and show how the ECD will be integrated in Central America. Finally, the presentation will highlight how the ECD measures will directly and indirectly contribute to achieving evidence-based policy in the region.
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Women's Global Connection: Making Values Explicit in Capacity Building and Evaluation Efforts for Sustainable Development
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| Presenter(s):
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| Dorothy Ettling, University of the Incarnate Word, ettling@uiwtx.edu„
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| Ada Gonzalez, University of the Incarnate Word, aagonza1@student.uiwtx.edu
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| Abstract:
As Women's Global Connection forms partnerships with women's groups in Africa and South America focused on economic and educational development, it constantly reflects on the socio-political, economic, and cultural diversity of the stakeholder's values, interests, and skills. It is important to preserve the position of the stakeholders within the planning, implementation and evaluation components of projects. Using a women's empowerment model (Ettling, Caffer and Buck, 2010) as a theoretical framework and Community-Based Participatory Research (Minkler, M. & Wallerstein, 2008) as a research approach, the researchers and women's groups organically identify local issues and the socio-cultural contexts of the women's work while co-creating the curriculum of capacity-building efforts, and the level of commitment to and use of evaluation data. This paper explores how an evaluation model, based on negotiated terms and values, is implemented when the ultimate goal is poverty elimination.
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Evaluative thinking: The Missing Link in Evaluation Capacity Building in the South
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| Presenter(s):
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| Sonal Zaveri, Community of Evaluators for South Asia, sonalzaveri@gmail.com
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| Abstract:
Not addressing evaluative thinking of beneficiaries and implementers in theory or practice indicates a significant gap in South evaluation capacity building, missing the opportunities for dialogue with beneficiaries (1) to reflect deeply about what worked, what did not and why. Using Asian case studies, the paper describes how a lack of evaluative thinking made the practice of utilization focused evaluation(2) difficult, how challenges were overcome and how increased opportunities for evaluative thinking (in addition to methods) led to increased use of findings, sometimes in unintended ways. The paper suggests that theorists, evaluators and commissioners of evaluation mostly based in the North, need to promote and value South evaluative especially with constrained resources to build 'real' capacities and experience meaningful change.
Ramirez, R (2008) A mediation on meaningful participation The Journal of Community Informatics, Vol 4, No 3
Smith, M. F (1999). Participatory evaluation: Not working or not tested?American Journal of Evaluation, 20(2),295
Patton, M (2008)Utilization Focused Evaluation, SAGE
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The Evaluator in Evaluation Capacity Building: Three Scenarios from Three Regions in the International Context
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| Presenter(s):
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| Hubert Paulmer, Harry Cummings and Associates Inc, hubertpaulmer@gmail.com
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| Abstract:
The paper highlights the key role evaluators can play in Evaluation Capacity Building (ECB) and presents recent experience from integrating ECB into evaluations. The paper looks at the ECB concept and the different methods. It shares the approaches and processes used by the evaluator in ECB at various levels, in three different projects of three different organizations in South Asia, Africa and Eurasia. The three projects were from different sectors (education, health, and water and sanitation). The paper presents the 'ECB experience' of how it was designed and carried out in each of the three cases, in addition to the information on stakeholders who benefited and how. The paper also looks at the external and internal environment that was required to make ECB possible in these three cases. The paper also highlights how ECB organically implies a collaborative / participatory approach to evaluation.
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