First Kampala Evaluation Talk of 2015 TOMORROW! 22nd February, 11am – 1pm

HOW CAN TRANS-BOUNDARY/REGIONAL EVALUATIONS BE RELEVANT TO ALL PARTICIPATING COUNTRIES
Being responsive to different contexts, policies, politics, local aspirations and communities’ ways of doing things

Global and regional programmes are becoming increasingly important in Development as It is recognised that greater benefits, efficiency and effectiveness can be achieved through a regional approach to channelling development assistance, as opposed to a localised, national approach.

Setting up and managing multi-country programmes, with a regional management centre, are complex and time-consuming, and the varying nature of the Political, Policy, Financial and Regulatory landscapes of the different countries involved poses many challenges.

Approaches to evaluating regional programmes need to take into account these variances and complexity, and recognise the need for multiple, context-specific solutions. The presentation will thus aim to stimulate increased “regional” thinking in evaluation design amongst the Evaluation Community of Practice (CoP) in Uganda.  Access the Abstract here.

Speaker: John Kockas Ogwang

Venue: QED Group Kampala Office (Bugolobi)

Time: 11am – 1pm

John Kockas Ogwang is an Independent M&E Consultant, Trainer and Writer, working in the sectors of Water, Environment, Agriculture & Rural Livelihoods, and Infrastructure (Energy, Roads, and Irrigation), and under the thematic areas of Socio-Economic Cooperation and Policy issues, Gender, Vulnerability, and Conflict situations. He has over 20 years of experience in evaluation, working at various levels in Designing and Implementing, Results-Based M&E systems, and evaluating projects at the international level, the regional level in Africa, and the national level in Uganda. Mr. Ogwang holds an MSc in Project Planning and Management from the Institute of Science and Technology at the University of Manchester in the UK, and a BSc in Agriculture from Makerere University in Uganda.

DIRECTIONS to the venue: The QED Group is located at: The Learning Contract, Plot 1, Plantation Road, Bugolobi.
Plantation road leads off Luthuli Drive and the office is recognisable by a large USAID sign on the building. Parking is limited.

Click on the map of Bugolobi below to see the location of the venue, marked by a yellow star:

*Download the event flyer here*

Evaluation Week 2015: CALL FOR PAPERS

The ECD Project is proud to introduce the third Uganda Evaluation Week conference, which is scheduled for the 10th – 13th March, 2015.

The Government of Uganda, represented by the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) and the Uganda Parliamentary Forum on Evaluation, in partnership with the Uganda Evaluation Association (UEA) and with support from the ECD Project, is organising the Uganda Evaluation Week for 2015. The central theme of the conference will be: “Quality Evaluations for Accountable Service Delivery”.

The Uganda Evaluation Week is an international platform where Policymakers, Government technocrats, Civil Society, Academia, Development Cooperation Partners, Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) practitioners, and the private sector, meet to share their evaluation experiences.

The organising committee is inviting contributors from the list above to submit papers that will guide the deliberations of the week. *Download the Concept Note and Call for Papers here*:

1. Concept Note Evaluation Week 2015
2. Call for Papers Evaluation Week 2015

Important Dates

• Abstract Submission: 31st January 2015
• Notification of Acceptance: 15th February 2015
• Final Paper Submission: 25th February 2015

Abstracts and final papers should be sent to Mr. Timothy Lubanga at tlubanga@hotmail.com and copied to Rossetti Nabbumba at rnabbumba@gmail.com and Marina Mayer Tasch at mayertasch@yahoo.de

For more information please consult Dr Albert Byamugisha (abyamugisha@gmail.com) or Timothy Lubanga (tlubanga@hotmail.com).

Important Links

• OPM: http://www.opm.go.ug
• UEA: http://www.ugandaevaluationassociation.org
• ECD Project: https://ecduganda.worpress.com

The Space for National Evaluators: Insights and Lessons from Hope Kabuchu

Last week, Hope Kabuchu gave the latest presentation in the Kampala Evaluation Talk series, The Space for National Evaluators in the Global Evaluation: Challenges, Lessons and Opportunities for National Evaluators, in which she shared her experiences as an evaluator, both in Uganda and internationally, offering guidance to fellow and budding national evaluators alike.

The audience was taken through the current donor climate and global trends in evaluations, with an emphasis on how these apply to the evaluator in Uganda. Ms. Kabuchu went on to explore the challenges for national evaluators and provided lessons learned from her own experiences. Such as, for example, a comparison of the role of internationals with that of national evaluators, and advice on how to navigate potentially complex relationships between the two. The talk closed with an outline of the opportunities open to national evaluators and commissioners, and guidance on how best to approach these.

Three key lessons emerged from Ms. Kabuchu’s presentation that can assist national evaluators in improving their practice and becoming more competitive both nationally and internationally:

• Keep up-to-date and adapt to the continuous changes in the global evaluation and donor arenas.
• “Know your donor”, i.e. the unique requirements with regards to tenders, evaluation practice, and so on.
• Build an international network to increase job opportunities in Uganda and overseas.

The talk was very well-received, especially Ms. Kabuchu’s use of anecdotes and personal experiences, and her presentation was followed by a lively discussion amongst the practitioners, lecturers and students present.

Hope Kabuchu is a Senior Consultant in Social Development with a specialisation in evaluation, and contributes actively to the work of the ECD Project.

Does the Parliament of Uganda have a role to play in evaluation?

Evaluations are designed to provide evidence-based information that is credible, reliable and useful; enabling the timely incorporation of findings, recommendations and lessons into the decision-making processes of the implementing agencies. In the context of government, evaluations strengthen accountability regarding government policies and programmes and, therefore, fall within parliament’s oversight role.

The mandate and functions of the Parliament of Uganda are derived from the 1995 Constitution and subsequent constitutional amendments (2005), the Laws of Uganda like the Appropriations Act, Budget Act, Supplementary Act, and Parliament’s Rules of Procedure (2012). The provisions in the Constitution strengthen Parliament’s law making and oversight/accountability functions [1]. Article 79 of the Constitution mandates Parliament to make laws on any matter “for the peace, order, development and good governance of Uganda”.

“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*

Sharing Practical Experiences, Challenges, Success Stories and More – A Talk by Santo Obina

On 4th June 2014, Santo Obina gave a presentation at Ministry of Finance under the title “Methodological Approach, Challenges and Experiences”. The session was organized as a Kampala Evaluation Talk by GIZ in cooperation with the Uganda Evaluation Association.

Mr Obina presented the methodology of a baseline study he conducted as one of four team members for a proposed EU funded project to support survivors of torture in Uganda and Kenya.

The study provided the baseline data for the output & outcome indicators included in the project document. It was also expected to identify the longer term impacts and changes in the lives of beneficiaries. Mr Obina explained the aspects in the project design which made this study challenging, like the geographical spread of the project and the various socio-economic factors and poverty which affect the survivors of torture. He highlighted the political sensitivity of the subject and the psychological, emotional and health issues that had to be considered when working with the respondents.

He mentioned managing the client’s expectations as a particular challenge. This challenge was echoed by some participants who find it difficult striking the balance between the study scope (Time, Geographical, Finances) and the often unrealistic expectations of the clients. Dealing with clients’ attempts to influence the outcomes of the study was mentioned as a problem.

The project approach to targeting 1000 individuals across a large geographic area was extensively discussed. The sampling approach of the study which was based on a stratified random sample was questioned as it seemed inadequate to understanding the complex social and political context of torture and the challenges which its survivors face when rebuilding their live.

The Talk was well attended and the discussion was lively and went far beyond the set time.

You can download Mr Obina’s presentation here

Santo Obina is a private sector consultant and a very active member of the Uganda Evaluation Association. He has contributed to the drafting of the Uganda Evaluation Standards. Many thanks Santos for this very interesting talk!

Share this:

Methodological processes and considerations for Gender Based Violence Evaluations

On Friday, 13th June, Dr. Mary Ssonko and Stephen Kyakulumbye shared their experiences and insights into the evaluation of GBV  in Uganda. They discussed issues of evaluation design, evaluation questions, and the lessons learned for more effective GBV programmes.

• How do we zero down to a representative Sample? When do Men come in?
• What evaluation design is appropriate?
• How do we (evaluators) treat the Sensitivity/ethical issues during GBV studies?
• Terms of reference – participatory evaluation? Who are the stakeholders in the feedback system?
• Evaluation material-validation?

Worldwide studies suggest that at least 1 in 5 women experiences a violent relationship at some point in their lives and that this can be in any form ranging from physical, emotional, psychological or sexual. Also the Uganda Demographic Health Survey (UDHS 2011) revealed that 16% of women in the reproductive age experience physical violence during pregnancy from their intimate partner and in most cases these violent acts are not reported due to fear of being abused the more and also lack of social protection from the relatives in the extended family. Gender Based Violence has become a major concern for most of the key actors in development in Uganda, and part of the core programmes for NGOs such as ActionAid International Uganda, Oxfam GB, Plan Uganda, Concern World Wide, UWONET, FIDA, Centre for Domestic Violence prevention among others.

Please find the presentation for download here.

 

Upcoming Kampala Evaluation Talk

The National Planning Authority (NPA) will share the MID-TERM REVIEW OF

THE NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN

 

9th May – 2pm to 3.30pm – at Uganda Management Institute

The National Development Plan (NDP) covering the period 2010-2015 is the first of six 5-year NDPs to guide and operationalise the Uganda Vision 2040. Each NDP will detail the country’s medium term strategic direction, development priorities and implementation strategies for a 5-year planning horizon. The thrust of the first NDP is to accelerate socio-economic transformation to result in sustained growth, equity and employment. The mid-term review (MTR) of the NDP is a legal requirement under the country’s 30-year Vision Framework. The objectives of the first MTR were to assess the progress made in the first half of the NDP implementation; Identify challenges and propose recommendations to improve the current NDP implementation over the remaining period; Identify issues to inform the development of the next NDP 2015-2020.

Please DOWNLOAD THE INVITATION HERE, including information on date, time and place.

If you would like to present at a forthcoming Kampala Evaluation Talk, please let us know.

Appreciation to Karin Weber and Delta partnership

Thank you Karin Weber for presenting Delta Partnership’s Evaluation of the five year Westminster Consortium programme ‘Strengthening Human Resource Development in Southern Parliaments’ yesterday in the frame of the 2nd Kampala Evaluation Talk.

For those of you who could not attend, find a copy of the Presentation here.

Thank you also to those who joined us yesterday. It was a success and we hope to see all of you and many more on 2nd May for the next Kampala Evaluation Talk presented by Chimpanzee Santuary and Wildlife Conservation Trust (CSWCT) – mark your calenders! (Time and Venue TBC)

Evaluations in the water sector

Tomorrow, on 8th April 2014, the project is organising a water sector planning workshop with selected stakeholders.

Participants will agree on priority issues for evaluation in the water sector by identifying those critical issues in policy and/or programme implementation that affect the performance of the water sector and are of concern for both civil society and government actors.