“Making evaluations more meaningful for local stakeholders”: a talk by Peter Kiwumulo

Peter Kiwumulo, Lecturer in Development Studies at Uganda Christian University (UCU) and Founding Chairman of the Uganda Association for Socio-Economic Progress (USEP), gave a talk yesterday at UMI as part of the Kampala Evaluation Talk series. The talk focused on problems in current evaluation practice vis-à-vis the local organisations and beneficiaries involved, and proposed ways of ensuring that evaluation be more inclusive and accessible to these parties. The talk was based on the experiences of Mr. Kiwumulo’s NGO, USEP, with the purpose of guiding other organisations facing similar issues and of generating a dialogue around this topic in Uganda. Mr Kiwumulo criticised the current practice of evaluations being conducted by external parties – according to standardised frameworks and over a short time-frames – explaining that often in these circumstances the front-line stakeholders are left with limited control and receive limited feedback after the evaluation has been completed. Mr Kiwumulo explained that understanding the context and listening to local knowledge are of paramount importance. Drawing on lessons from Professor Robert Chambers of IDS in the UK and others, he argued that the evaluation process should be participatory and non-standardised (more flexible, creative and innovative), and went on to present some ideal methods and the benefits of employing these. The key message was for all evaluators and commissioners of evaluations to take these points into consideration when designing and conducting evaluations. Mr Kimuwulo also acknowledged the challenges faced by evaluators with regards to these more inclusive practices, most notably the need for skills development in these areas amongst local organisations. The talk was well received and generated a long discussion, raising key issues such as the importance of always determining ‘who’ is going to use the evaluation being conducted, and how to make participatory evaluation as robust as the standardised systems. The closing sentiment of the session was that these alternative methods are not a panacea, but what is important is a change in mindset and an effort to employ as many inclusive practices as possible. You can download the presentation here. Peter Kiwumulo has been a member of the Civil Society Movement in Uganda for over 25 years. He has an MSc and Postgraduate degree in Development Management from the Open University (UK) and a Bachelor of Social Work and Social Administration from Makerere University. The Kampala Evaluation Talks (KETs) are organised by GIZ in cooperation with the Uganda Evaluation Association (UEA). *The next KETs will be held on Thursday 2nd October and Friday 17^th October*