The session will be preceeded by an opening address by Anona Armstrong, Fellow and founding member of the AES; and it will be facilitated and comments consolidated by one of our emerging evaluators Timoci O’Connor, Centre for Program Evaluation, The University of Melbourne.
Evaluation is often seen as a key tool in improving the quality and effectiveness of development cooperation. Governments and agencies often invest in quality program development that addresses issues associated with education, health, agriculture, climate change vulnerability and more. Some evaluation theorists consider evaluation as an agent of change, and suggest that it plays an important role in holding world leaders accountable and providing opportunities for ongoing learning and capacity building. However, this ideal if often overlooked by development agencies and the communities they serve.
Unfortunately many programs are not evaluated for the purpose of their actual impact. Recurring challenges to effective evaluation in international aid and among local indigenous communities include unclear objectives, funding and personnel constraints, an emphasis on accountability for funds, methodological challenges, compressed timelines, country or community ownership, among other factors. Why bother with extensive evaluation, particularly when evaluation approaches and perspectives are often a poor fit for many indigenous and development contexts? The potential of evaluation to bridge boundaries and integrate values between evaluators, commissioners, countries and/or the communities we ultimately serve is yet to be resolved.
When considering the future of evaluation, can we regard it as an agent of change for indigenous and international communities? Do current evaluation designs in these contexts assist communities to better understand their lives? How feasible is it to go beyond the current boundaries of traditional evaluation conventions to ensure contextually appropriate evaluation? How can we demonstrate the value of evaluation for our participating communities? And are we just telling communities something they already know?
During this plenary session the keynote speakers will initiate a dialogue to address these questions including what evaluators can do differently to place evaluation at the top of the agenda for community. Ian Anderson and Elizabeth McKinley will draw on their respective Pacific and Indigenous backgrounds and evaluation experience to make comment. This session will be facilitated and comments consolidated by one of our emerging evaluators Timoci O’Connor.
The session will be preceeded by an opening address by Professor Anona Armstrong, Fellow and founding member of the AES.
