Author: rick davies

Event: Does UK development aid work?

Date: 17 July 2008
Venue: Wellcome Trust, London

ALL YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT THE THE EVALUATION OF BRITISH AID – BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK…

3.30pm to 6.00pm (Registration from 3.00 pm) Book now – places limited!

Does British aid to poor countries work? Is the Department for International Development accountable for results? Is it a learning organization? These evaluation issues will be explored during a special event of the UKES London Network to be held on 17 July 2008.

Given tight budgetary constraints and the rapid expansion of United Kingdom funding for global poverty reduction, aid effectiveness has become an issue of salient political importance. The Independent Advisory Committee for Development Impact (IADCI) was established in November 2007 by the Secretary of State for International Development.
Continue reading “Event: Does UK development aid work?”

Online training: M&E Fundamentals

M&E Fundamentals is a two-hour self-instructional Web course that covers the basics of program monitoring and evaluation (M&E) in the context of population, health and nutrition programs. It also defines common terms and discusses why M&E is essential for program management.

This course is designed for individuals as a self-guided resource, but it is also useful for learning or reviewing basic factual information before or during a traditional in-person training event.

To take this free course:
Go to http://www.cpc.unc.edu/measure/training/mentor and select “Interactive mini-course on M&E Fundamentals”

For more information about MEASURE Evaluation training materials and workshops, please visit www.cpc.unc.edu/measure/training.

See also on the MandE NEWS website

Conference: What Works in Development? Thinking Big and Thinking Small

Date: Thursday, May 29, 2008 to Friday, May 30, 2008
Venue: The Brookings Institution, 1775 Massachusetts Ave., NW Washington, DC

Event Summary: Bill Easterly and Jessica Cohen of Brookings recently convened a conference with leading development experts to explore one of the most vexing issues of global development: what do we really know about what works and what doesn’t when fighting global poverty? The conference focused on the ongoing debate over which paths to development really maximize results: a big-picture approach focusing on the role of institutions, macroeconomic policies, growth strategies and other country-level factors; or a more grassroots approach focusing on particular microeconomic interventions such as conditional cash transfers, bed nets, teaching materials and other micro-level improvements in service delivery on the ground. The conference objective was to shed light on both schools of thought, with the goal of achieving a consensus on how to best leverage limited resources and time in the race to lift the lives of the world’s poorest.

Evaluation related papers, amongst others:

The New Development Economics: We Shall Experiment, But How Shall We Learn?
Author: Dani Rodrik (Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government)
Discussants: Sendhil Mullainathan (Harvard University) & Martin Ravallion (World Bank)

Pricing and Access: Lessons from Randomized Evaluations in Education and Health
Author: Michael Kremer (Harvard University and the Brookings Institution)
Discussants: David Weil (Brown University) & Paul Romer (Stanford University)

Conference: EVALUATING THE COMPLEX

Date: 29 – 30 May 2008
Venue: Oslo, Norway

Norad’s Evaluation Department and Oslo University College is planning to hold a two-days conference entitled Evaluating the Complex. The purpose of this conference is to promote interest in and discussions about the role of evaluations in Norway. The main target group is people working professionally with evaluation on different levels; as evaluators, researchers, administrators and users. The conference will take place in Oslo, 29-30 May 2008 at Oslo University College in Pilestredet 35.

CONCEPT PAPER
Conference presentations here

Workshop: Standards & Practices in Evaluating Development

Date: August 3-8, 2008
Venue: University of Bamako, Mali

Organizer: Association pour la Promotion de l’Evaluation au Mali (APEM) – Bamako – Mali

Mamadou Keita – President (mkeita@delta- c.org)

Workshop Coordinator: Ahmed Ag Aboubacrine, DME Coordinator, CARE International in Sierra Leone,

ahmed1996@yahoo. fr

This event is part of the 5th Mali Symposium on Applied Sciences, to be held at the University of Bamako from August 3-8, 2008.

Abstract

Monitoring and evaluation of development intervention and policies’ implementation has become an absolute necessity after the setting of international norms of evaluation practices by donors as well as private sector, governments and local constituencies.

Evaluation has not become only a cross-cutting academic area (studied and subject of scientific researches) but also a basic requirement in almost all sectors: health, education, finance, infrastructure, social, agriculture, livestock, water and sanitation, urban planning, habitat, HIV/AIDS, transport, gender, corruption, governance.

Besides the standards set by independent organizations such as African Evaluation Association (www.afrea.org) and also IDEAS (http://www. ideas-int. org/ ); there are other specific evaluation mechanisms:

* African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM)

* Governance Index of Mo Ibrahim foundation

* Poverty Reduction Strategies (PRS) National Evaluation Mechanisms supported by World Bank, African Development Bank, UNDP and other UN agencies.

Each of the above mentioned organizations has its norms and standards in monitoring and evaluation which are most of them very similar.

This mini-symposium objective is to promote monitoring and evaluation practices in Mali in order to ensure the effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability and impact of development interventions undertaken by the state, local constituencies, donors, NGOs and private sector.

The specific objectives are three:

* Sharing of existing evaluation standards (state-of-art)

* Exchanging on current practices of evaluation in Mali

* Finding out the strategies for generalization / institutionalization of evaluation practice by state actors

Submission of papers

Papers should be submitted in an A4 format and should not exceed four pages. All papers related to the standards and practices of evaluation in any area could be accepted.

For more details, visit our website:

http://www.msas. maliwatch. org/msas2008/ msas2008_ 018.html

MandE NEWS email List

If you want to talk with others about monitoring and evaluation then join the M&E NEWS email list. (< click this link). It has more than 2200+ members worldwide, and is growing in size every day. You can access monthly summaries of the 2007 and 2008  postings here.

A list of M&E email lists

Please Note:

  • If you want to add a new M&E email list, please use the Comment facility at the bottom of this page.
  • If you want to join any of these email lists, clock on the link for that list (Don’t use the Comment facility)

General purpose lists

  • MandENEWS
    2600+ Members, Archives: Membership required. The MandE NEWS mailing list is part of the MandE NEWS website at www.mande.co.uk . Visitors to the website are invited to use the mailing list to exchange information with each other about monitoring and evaluation issues, especially as they relate to international development aid. The Editor of MandE NEWS will also use the mailing list to inform list members about significant updates to the MandE NEWS website. The MandE NEWS mailing list is managed by the Editor, Rick Davies (contact email …(more)
  • Eval-Net [link not working] 858 members as of 2006 (please help update this number) Knowledge sharing and learning continue to be a top corporate priority for UNDP. The purpose of the Evaluation Network is to strengthen UNDP’s evaluation knowledge base by disseminating good practices and lessons learned on monitoring and evaluation to a broad constituency and to foster results-based performance at both country and corporate levels. It will also help build UNDP staff capacity in measuring and assessing results. This network specifically aims to: Share and exchange experiences and knowledge and lessons distilled from evaluative work relating to programmes and projects; Mainstream results orientation within the work of UNDP’s six practice areas; Provide a forum for UNDP staff to share and deepen their knowledge of monitoring and evaluation practices and methodologies. This network is open to all UNDP staff members interested in and working on measuring and assessing results and who want to contribute and build their capacity in this area. (posted 16/12/06)
  • XCeval
    880+ Members, Archives: Membership required XCeval is a listserv for persons interested in issues associated with international and cross-cultural evaluation. Initially set up for the International and Cross-Cultural Topical Interest Group of the American Evaluation Association. Many of the postings (average 34/month) are announcements of short-term consultancies or full-time positions in international M&E-related jobs. Also exchanges of ideas of current interest to persons involved in the evaluation of international development. (updated 15/12/06)
  • American Evaluation Association Electronic Lists
    • EVALTALK Listserv 3100+ members An open, unmoderated list for general discussion of evaluation and associated issues sponsored by the American Evaluation Association. To subscribe, send mail to LISTSERV@BAMA.UA.EDU with the command (paste it!): SUBSCRIBE EVALTALK
    • EVALINFO Sponsored by American Evaluation Association (AEA) as the official electronic network for distribution of information to organization members and interested parties. Anyone can subscribe and receive mailings but non-AEA members cannot post to the list. To subscribe, send an e-mail to LISTSERVE@UA1VM.UA.EDU with the message: SUBSCRIBE EVALINFO <Firstname> <Lastname>

Email lists focusing on specific evaluation themes, issues, or methods

  • AIMEnet Listserv 1000+ members, Archives, Membership required In 2004, MEASURE Evaluation teamed with the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, USAID, CDC, UNAIDS, the World Health Organization, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the World Bank Group, and UNICEF to create the HIV/AIDS Monitoring and Evaluation Network (AIMEnet) listserv. AIMEnet was initially created so we could stay in touch with participants from several Expanded HIV/AIDS Response M&E workshops. Today, the AIMEnet listserv has been broadened to include anyone interested in sharing technical experiences, tools and information in monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of HIV/AIDS programs around the world.
  • “Most Significant Changes” technique. 1100+ members. Archives, Membership required. This is moderated by Rick Davies and Jessica Dart (Melbourne). This egroup was formed to promote discussion about the use of an innovative method of monitoring, called the “Most Significant Changes” approach. This is a non-indicator based approach to monitoring, making use of a diversity of narrative accounts of change which are subject to an iterated, open and accountable selection process. It has already been applied in developed and less developed economies, in partipatory rural development projects, agricultural extension projects, educational settings and mainstream human services delivery. Through discussion we hope to promote the wider use of the method, and further innovation and development in the method itself. Most Significant Changes monitoring is different from common monitoring practice in at least four respects: (a) The focus is on the unexpected, (b) Information about those events is documented using text rather than numbers, (c) Analysis of that information is through the use of explicit value judgements, (d) Aggregation of information and analysis takes place through a structured social process. This egroup will act both as a repository of information about people’s experiences with the MSC method to date, and as a nursery for ideas of how to take the method further- into new environments, where there are new opportunities and constraints.
  • Outcome Mapping Learning Community 700+ members globally, as of 2008. Public. Outcome Mapping is an innovative approach to project and programme planning, monitoring and evaluation with a strong focus on participatory learning. The major innovation is the emphasis on the behaviour change of key actors with whom the programme has an influence, rather than focussing on changes in state that may or may not be attributed to the programme. The community was set up to support users of the methodology and those interested in the concepts behind it. Come and discuss the theory, get advice on applying OM in your case and meet others interested in this approach to P,M&E. See the community brochure for more information or contact Simon Hearn.

  • Systems in Evaluation Discussion List
    290+ members, Archives. EVAL-SYS@LISTS.EVALUATION.WMICH.EDU

  • Theory-Based_Evaluation
    390+ Members, Archives: Public Welcome to Theory-Based Evaluation dicsussion list! In the context where evaluation is challenged by attribution, complex systems and the need for evidences based policies, theory-based evaluation is seen as an effective response to these challenges. The purpose of this list, is to provide a forum where practitioners and scholars can exchange and share ideas, lessons and methods associated with theory-based evaluation. Hence, this discussion list is dedicated to the evaluation of Institutional …(more)
  • Pelican Initiative: Platform for Evidence-based Learning & Communications for Social Change 700+ Members, Archives. Membership required. This platform seeks to bring together development practitioners from different disciplines, specialists and policy makers to explore this question, share experiences, and to push the agenda further on three themes: * Evidence and learning for policy change; * Learning in organisations and among partners; * Society-wide learning among a multitude of stakeholders.
  • LEAP IMPACT 160+ members, Archives. Membership required Leap Impact aims to improve the institutional performance of monitoring and evaluation practice related to information services, information products and information projects. It is a community of practice open to all individuals/organisations interested in the evaluation of information. LEAP IMPACT is a joint initiative of CTA, IICD, Bellanet, and KIT. It is facilitated by Sarah Cummings (KIT ILS), Neil Pakenham-Walsh (HIF-net-at-WHO) and Shaddy Shadrach (Oneworld South Asia).
  • NetworkEvaluation
    280+ Members, Archives: Membership required.The Network Evaluation mailing is an extension of the Networks section of Monitoring and Evaluation NEWS at www.mande.co.uk The focus of the Network Evaluation mailing list is on the exchange of information about: Methodologies for, and experiences of, the evaluation of networks. Including Networks of individuals, groups and organisations, Both face to face and electronically mediated networks The use of social network analysis in international development aid projects In planning, …(more)
  • PARTICIPATORY MONITORING AND LEARNING
    60+ Members, Archives: Membership required.This group on Participatory Monitoring and Learning (PM&L) has been created to facilitate interaction amongst a group of researchers, practitioners and others interested in the topic of participatory approaches to monitoring, evaluation and learning.
  • ODAfrica
    50+ Members, Archives: Public. Support group for OD Practitioners working for and in Africa. Initiative of OD Practitioners from Tanzania, Uganda, Ghana, South Africa, Angola, Zimbabwe and Zambia who attended a two-year OD Practitioners Formation Programme in 2004/2005.
  • Evaluation Feedback 30+ members, Archives. Membership required. This was moderated by Catherine Cameron, author of Evaluation feedback for effective learning and accountability,
  • EGAD List: Program evaluation, statistics and methodology list 170+ members. To send a message to all the people currently subscribed to the list, just send mail to EGAD@LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU. This is called “sending mail to the list”, because you send mail to a single address and LISTSERV makes copies for all the people who have subscribed. This address (egad@listserv.arizona.edu) is also called the “list address”. You must never try to send any command to that address, as it would be distributed to all the people who have subscribed. All commands must be sent to the “LISTSERV address”, listserv@listserv.arizona.edu.
  • Arlist: Action research mailing list.Arlist-L is a medium-volume, multidisciplinary electronic mailing list. It is a moderated forum for the discussion of the theory and practice of action research and related methods. Bibliography of over 50 references on meta-evaluation. References include discussions of technical competence of individual evaluations, critical analyses of evaluations of the impact of evaluations on the less powerful groups, managerial meta-evaluations on the perceived credibility and utility of the evaluation. To subscribe, send an e-mail (no subject) to request@psy.uq.oz.au with the message: SUBSCRIBE ARLIST <Firstname> <Lastname> Or, To subscribe to arlist-L point your browser at http://lists.scu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/arlist-l

  • EDIAIS Forum (Enterprise Development Impact Assessment Information Service) 160+ members Joining the list: email info@enterprise-impact.org.uk You will then receive an e-mail asking you to confirm your subscription. Once you are a member: You will receive all messages sent to the list. To send a message to the list mail it to: ENT-IMP@enterprise-impact.org.uk – use either Reply to respond to the last contributor only or Reply All and your message will automatically be mailed to all list members.

Country specific M&E email lists

  • PREVAL – The Programme for Strengthening the Regional Capacity for Monitoring and Evaluation of IFAD’s Rural Poverty-Alleviation Projects in Latin America and the Caribbean owner-preval@mail.rimisp.org 1,400+ members
  • AfrEA
    180+ Members, Archives: Public Information and networking tool of the African Evaluation Association (AfrEA) In conjunction with the national associations and committed donors, AfrEA has helped develop the concept of an African evaluation community. This listserv aims to build on this concept, to broaden this community, by further promoting the sharing of information, resources and opportunities. The AfrEA Community listserv serves as a moderated forum for a wide range of stakeholders, from evaluators who are actively …(more)
    • LateNote: This is a new list recently started at Yahoo! Groups to replace the old list at Topica. Moving the members from the old to the new list is a slow process. However, the old list is still active and has 460 subscribers. (message from Lise Kriel, 30/06/6)
  • indo-monev 440+ Members, Archives: Membership required. This is a mailing list to build a network of Indonesian. People anywhere in the world who are interested, dedicated, and professionalised to the work on monitoring and evaluation and other related development issues as well as development aid works, particularly in Indonesia. This network aims to more exchanging of information, more knowledge building and more awareness on the development monitoring and evaluation issue. Please join.
  • IAEVAL:  340+ members, Archives: Membership required The purpose of this listserv is to enhance communication among members of the US-based International NGO (INGO) community about program design, monitoring, evaluation and effectiveness. The target participants of IAEVAL are those of us who are directly or indirectly responsible for INGO M&E. We hope that this will serve to enhance the communication, shared learning and collaboration among us as persons responsible for evaluation in the US-based INGO community.
  • Relac: 480+ Miembros, Archivos: Se requiere suscripción Este es el grupo de discución de la red de evaluacion de America Latina y el Caribe.
  • REMAPP 150+ members, Archives: Membership required. REMAPP is a [UK-based] group of networking professionals concerned with planning, appraisal, monitoring, evaluation, research and policy issues in aid agencies.
  • MandENigeria
    90+ Members, Archives: Moderators only This listserve is for interested individuals and institutions to share knowledge, opportunities, experience and other resources in M & E. It is also an opportunity to access proffessional consultants in Monitoring and Evaluation in Nigeria and Africa. It is an informal medium to support capacity building, strengthening and dessemination of Monitoring and evaluation information in Nigeria under a Network of Monitoring and Evaluation.Evaluators are advised and encouraged to join and participate …(more)
  • IndiaEvalGroup
    30+ Members, Archives: Membership required. This discussion group consists of evaluators from India or evaluators working on Indian projects. The potential benefits of forming and participating with such a group are: 1. Fellowship with others working in a similar area 3. Encouraging sharing of learning across content and context areas
  • MONEV_NGO
    20+ Members, Archives: Membership required. Establish in Jakarta, Indonesia by 2004. It was started from a group of activists that concern about Monitoring and Evaluation skills that need to be developed by NGOs in Indonesia in general. This is an open forum, so please participate in sharing and discussing lessons learnt and experiences in Monitoring and Evaluation.
  • MandE Ghana 30+ Members, Archives: Membership required This email list has been established for people who have an interest in monitoring and evaluation as applied in Ghana. It is open to people living in Ghana and those elsewhere who have a connection with Ghana. Its aim is to: (a) encourage mutual learning between members, through exchange of questions and answers; (b) make opportunities quickly available to members, concerning M&E related training events, conferences, workshops and employment vacancies; (c) enable members to make contacts with other members with related M&E interests.
  • MandEPilipinas 9 Members, Archives: Membership required. This discussion group is meant for Monitoring and Evaluation professionals in the Philippines. It is a venue to network, exchange ideas and discuss new developments about the field with M&E practitioners in the country to promote mutual learning and intellectual growth.
  • EgDEvalNet < 5 Members, Archives: Membership required This discussion-group was established to discuss the evaluation of development activities in Egypt. This includes: Improving development evaluation activities Exchange of experience between evaluation practitioners Providing feedback for improving development planning Discuss the establishment of an Egyptian Development & Evaluation Association Define standards and guidelines for evaluation practice applicable for the Egyptian environment Develop development evaluation criteria and tools …(more)

How to set up an email list

  • Use Yahoo Groups, as used by many of the email lists shown above.
    • Go to http://groups.yahoo.com/
    • Sign up to get a Yahoo ID (you need to give yourself a username and password, once only).
    • Look for Create Your Own Group
      • Click on Start a Group Now, then follow the instructions
  • Or, use Dgroups
    • Go to http://www.dgroups.org/
      • Dgroups currently supports 1818 groups, containing 60690 members.
    • See if you can work out how to join, and set up a group. It is not easy

Conference: Policy and programme evaluation in Europe: Cultures and prospects

Date: July 3 and 4, 2008
Venue: European Parliament – Strasbourg (France)

Last news ! Reduction of registration fee until the 1st June

Registration on line for the symposium: http://www.sfe.asso.fr/fr/strasbourg2008/registration-form.html

Click here for the programme: http://www.sfe.asso.fr/fr/strasbourg2008/programme.html

Pre-sessions: Meetings to improve connections between evaluators

National School of Administration – Strasbourg (France), July 2, 2008

The pre-session programme is available :Click here: http://www.sfe.asso.fr/docs/site/pdf/strasbourg/programme_pre-sessions.pdf
Registration :Click here: http://www.sfe.asso.fr/docs/site/pdf/strasbourg/sfe_pre-session_bulletin_inscription.pdf

The written texts of speakers will be available on our web site in the next few days.

Best regards,
French Evaluation Society

65 Avenue des Gobelins
75013 PARIS
France
00 33 (0) 1 45 41 58 40
Contact : sfe.strasbourg2008@orange.fr
Web : www.sfe.asso.fr

Evaluation Essentials: Methods For Conducting Sound Research

Beth Osborne Daponte
ISBN: 978-0-7879-8439-7. Paperback.192 pages. July 2008, Jossey-Bass
Also available via Amazon

“The book introduces students and practitioners to all necessary concepts and tools used to evaluate programs and policies. It focuses on issues that arise when evaluating programs, using those offered by non-profit and governmental organizations serving different sectors (social services, health, education, social work) as case studies. The author gives the reader a solid background in the core concepts, theories, and methods of program evaluation. Readers will learn to form evaluation questions, describe programs using program theory and program logic models, understand causation as it relates to evaluation, and perform quasi-experimental design, grant writing, outcome measures, survey design, and sampling”

See Table of Contents.

M&E training to be provided by Development Alternatives, India

Date: June 05-07, 2008
Venue:

Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning System (MEAL)

Introduction

The principle of Monitor what You want to Manage has implications at two critical levels: one, that each monitoring system should be customized to the needs of the project; and second, the monitoring system should be robust and have the flexibility to adapt to changing capacities of the project over a period of time. Monitoring Evaluation and Learning System (MEAL) seeks to retain the basic principles of project management yet allow the project to identify, develop and evolve their own monitoring and review systems.

Continue reading “M&E training to be provided by Development Alternatives, India”

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