Tag: New books

Challenges of Program Evaluation Practice in Africa

Call for Abstracts: Challenges of Program Evaluation Practice in Africa
The purpose of this announcement is to propose the production of a collective book on the challenges of program evaluation in Africa, regardless of the type of sector addressed (health, education, agriculture, etc.). This book is intended to be a critical and reflective analysis of how evaluations are conducted in Africa and what the challenges are of such practice. Through this process, the editors (Valéry Riddle, Seni Kouanda and Jean-François Kobiané) wish to enable francophone publications to take their place in program evaluation literature. Reporting on evaluation practices in Africa and improving methodology by sharing experience — that are both tasks that could be accomplished by chapters of this collective book — is essential.
Authors interested in this subject and wishing to participate in this project are invited to submit a 250-word abstract by February 28, 2010 to the following addresses: valery.ridde@umontreal.ca (valery.ridde@umontreal.ca) ; skouanda@irss.bf (skouanda@irss.bf) ; jfkobiane@issp.bf (jfkobiane@issp.bf) . This step is the first of six stages in the production process ending in December 2010.

Evaluation of Conflict Sensibility, Conflict Prevention and Peace Building Programmes

Date: 5-8 October 2009
Venue: Belgium

This annual course is an intermediate- to advanced level course based on the newest guidelines established by the OECD-DAC. It provides methodologies for carrying out assessments of conflict sensibility, conflict situations and, subsequently, evaluating the performance of peace-building and conflict prevention activities in a seminar format with focus on methods and challenges. The course is intended for those with experience in evaluations, and an interest in, and general experience of, conflict situations.

Based on Channel Research’s experience of running training programmes on evaluation, the participants in previous years have come from aid agencies (headquarters and field personnel), donor governments, consultancies and academia. This 4 days (5 nights) course is facilitated by Emery Brusset, Director of Channel Research, Tony Vaux, an expert on conflicts and Koenraad Denayer, expert in conflict sensibility and will take place at Orshof (www.orshof.be) near Brussels.

Please find attached the course outline and application form or on the link: http://www.channelresearch.com/peace-building/evaluation-of-peace-building. For any further information, please contact Maria Bak on bak@channelresearch.com.

You can find more information about Channel Research and our trainings on: www.channelresearch.com

IFAD “Evaluation Manual: Methodology and Processes.

produced by the Office of Evaluation, April 2009

“The evaluation methodology in use at the IFAD Office of Evaluation is captured in the new OE Evaluation manual, which is based on the principles set out in IFAD’s evaluation policy, approved by IFAD’s Executive Board in April 2003.

The main purpose of the manual is to ensure consistency, rigour and transparency across independent evaluations, and enhance OE’s effectiveness and quality of work.
Continue reading “IFAD “Evaluation Manual: Methodology and Processes.”

Training in Most Significant Change Technique (MSC) in Oxford, UK

Date: 28-29th July 2009
Venue: Oxford, UK

MSC is a powerful tool for monitoring, evaluation and organisational learning. MSC goes beyond merely capturing and documenting participants’ stories of impact, to offering a means of engaging in effective dialogue about what you are achieving. Each story represents the storyteller’s interpretation of impact, which is then reviewed and discussed. The process offers an opportunity for a diverse range of stakeholders to enter into a dialogue about program intention, impact and ultimately future direction. MSC has much to offer your existing M&E framework being especially good at capturing that traditionally hard to capture information about what difference did you make in the hearts and minds of those your were targeting for benefit – but it has much to offer beyond merely reporting on outcomes! This two day training workshop provides an introduction to MSC which includes designing your own MSC process. Participants will be provided with experiential learning opportunities and examples of real applications of the technique. We will also share our experiences of adapting MSC for use in evaluation studies.

Where: Oxford, England (venue to be determined)

When: Tuesday 28th & Wednesday 29th of July Cost: £550

* To secure your enrolment download and return your registration form today: [url]http://www.clearhorizon.com.au/training-mentoring/training/training-courses/most-significant-change-uk/ [/url]

* Concession rates and multiple participant discounts available contact tracey@clearhorizon.com.au for more information

Training in Evaluation of Humanitarian Action

Date: 21st-24th June 2009
Venue: Belgium

Channel Research and the Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance (ALNAP) are inviting participants for Training in Evaluation of Humanitarian Action, Belgium, 21st-24th June 2009 (actual training dates 22nd-24th June 2009).

This course is an introductory-to-intermediate level course and has the overall aim of assisting participants in the design of monitoring systems, and to be able to commission, manage, carry out and use small scale evaluations in humanitarian action. This 3-day training course will use the OECD-DAC evaluation criteria but also introduces new evaluation material specifically on joint evaluations and innovative learning processes as part of an evaluation process.

Continue reading “Training in Evaluation of Humanitarian Action”

Country-led monitoring and evaluation systems. Better evidence, better policies, better development results

Dear colleagues,

We are pleased to inform you that the book “Country-led monitoring and evaluation systems. Better evidence, better policies, better development results” is now available for free download at http://www.unicef.org/ceecis/resources_10597.html

The book was produced by UNICEF in partnership with the World Bank, UN Economic Commission for Europe, IDEAS (International Development Evaluation Association), IOCE (International organization for Cooperation in Evaluation), DevInfo and MICS.

This publication tries to bring together the vision, lessons learned and good practices from twenty-one stakeholders on how country-led monitoring and evaluation systems can enhance evidence-based policy making.
Continue reading “Country-led monitoring and evaluation systems. Better evidence, better policies, better development results”

Who Answers to Women? GENDER & ACCOUNTABILITY

Progress of the World’s Women 2008/2009. Full Report. Published by United Nations Development Fund for Women.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Progress of the World’s Women 2008/2009: Who Answers to Women? Gender and Accountability shows that realising women’s rights and achieving the Millennium Development Goals depends on strengthening accountability for commitments to women and gender equal-ity. The examples highlighted throughout the Report suggest that for women’s rights to translate into substantive improvements in their lives, and for gender equality to be realized in practice, women must be able to fully participate in public decision-making at all levels and hold those responsible to account when their rights are infringed or their needs ignored. Published at the halfway point to the 2015 dead-line for achieving the MDGs, Progress presents clear evidence that women’s empowerment and gender equality are drivers for reducing poverty, building food security, reducing maternal mortality, and enhancing the effectiveness of aid.

The chapters in this volume examine how women’s efforts to ex-pose gender-based injustice and demand redress have changed the ways in which we think about accountability. Acknowledging that different groups of women encounter distinct challenges in gaining access to their rights, Progress 2008/2009 highlights a wide range of examples, including those that show how the most excluded women are identifying accountability gaps and calling for redress.

Improving accountability to women begins with increasing the numbers of women in decision-making, but it cannot stop there. It requires stronger mandates, clearer performance indicators, better incentives and sustained advocacy efforts – in short, good governance. Progress 2008/2009 shows that good governance needs women and women need good governance if commitments to gender equality are to be met nationally and globally

The Logic Model Guidebook: Better Strategies for Great Results

Authors Lisa Wyatt Knowlton (Ed.D.) and Cynthia C. Phillips (Ph.D.) Published October 2008. Available on Amazon.  Recommended by Jim Rugh

Excerpt: “We approach logic models as important thinking and inquiry tools, and logic modeling as a process that contributes to clarity about a sequence of interactive relationships. Logic models display relationships of many kinds: between resources and activities, activities and outcomes, outcomes and impact. This display provides an opportunity to review critically the logic of these relationships and their content. Are the underlying assumptions, choices, and relationships sensible, plausible, feasible, measurable? Logic models assist strategy and contribute to performance management through discovery of the most effective means to a specific results… The modeling process includes a cycle of display, review, analysis, critique and revision to improve the model. These actions steps, tackled with colleagues or stakeholders, can contribute significantly to more informed displays and, ultimately, more successful programs and projects.
Continue reading “The Logic Model Guidebook: Better Strategies for Great Results”

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.

Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation in Development Organisations: Sharing training and facilitation experiences

Book by J. De Coninck, K. Chaturvedi, B. Haagsma, H. Griffioen, M. van der Glas

Paperback: 220 pages Publisher: SAGE India (31 May 2008) Language English ISBN-10: 8178298570 ISBN-13: 978-8178298573. Also available on Amazon

Effective planning, monitoring and evaluation (PME) is essential for organisational survival and for sustainable development, but remains a challenge for many development organisations, in spite of countless PME workshops, manuals and interventions of experts. This book presents a rich variety of real-life experiences of 20 PME trainers and facilitators from Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe and offers suggestions to support PME processes, with a focus on civil society organisations. The authors seek to embrace a ‘total organisation approach’ to PME, one that looks at an organisation in its entirety, including its financial dimension, its environment, its collaborators and competitors, in a context informed by local and national cultures.

It looks at the implications of the specificities of organisations for their PME practice and systems, in relation to the role they play in society, as agents for transformation or providers of basic services, whether they are young small pioneers or big old and established organisations, assessing the quality of their leadership and learning processes, and finally, the sector they work in. The central message is the need to customise PME support to these specificities. It includes a section on the facilitators approach and attitudes.

The book is meant for use by PME facilitators and practitioners, whether they are working in NGOs, in other development organisations, or as desk officers in donor agencies. It does not pretend to prescribe solutions and pathways, but as a source of inspiration. A section on further reading guides the reader to sources of further reading, the facilitators have found useful.

Authors’ weblinks:

John de Coninck: www.crossculturalfoundation.or.ug

Ben Haagsma: IC Consult: www.icconsult.nl

Khilesh Chaturvedi: www.askindia.org

CDRN: www.cdrn.or.ug (this is the organisation that rendered much support in an initial phase)

ICCO: www.icco.nl

Cordaid: www.cordaid.nl

As to the other two authors: Mariecke is still employee of ICCO, though working in Nicaragua; Hans Griffioen is retired, no website, former colleague of IC Consult.

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