This session pulls together a diversity of accomplished panelists with experience supporting country-driven evaluations to explore the significance of country-led evaluations in shaping policies and programs that are contextually relevant, equitable and inclusive, and sustainable. Participants will gain insights into how such evaluations can empower local stakeholders, including…
Moderator(s)
Dr. Jane Davidson is an internationally recognized evaluation specialist, best known for developing evaluation rubrics as a methodology for drawing conclusions about quality and value. She has also made significant contributions in the areas of causal inference for qualitative and mixed methods, and in synthesis methodologies for evaluation. Jane is former Associate Director of the internationally recognized Evaluation Center at Western Michigan University, where she launched and directed the world’s first fully Interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Evaluation. She was the 2019 recipient of the American Evaluation Association’s prestigious Paul F. Lazarsfeld Evaluation Theory Award.
Presenter(s)
Mike is a Senior Sustainability Specialist with the CIF Evaluation and Learning (E&L) Initiative. He has worked at the intersection of sustainable development, learning and change for over 25 years. Mike is currently leading the CIF’s work on the Transformational Change Learning Partnership (TCLP) and contributes to work on just transitions and strategic program evaluations. In his previous roles in national environmental NGOs, co-lead of regional programs, and international consultancies, Mike has developed, conducted, and evaluated global and local programs on sustainable development. He holds a Masters in International Environmental Science from Lund University, and a Masters of Business Administration from Henley Business School.
Evaluation-Expert and Political Scientist, PhD at London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE); Evaluation expert with more than 20 years experience in design and implementation of evaluations in the field of development cooperation; Sven Harten has lived and worked for 15 years in countries of the Global South, where he was mainly active as an evaluator and project manager, with M&E missions in more than 50 countries; Full-time employment as an employee at the World Bank, the European Commission, among others, as well as an independent consultant.
Taku Chirau is a Deputy Director at Centre for Learning on Evaluation & Results Anglophone Africa AA/ Wits University in South Africa. He has conducted several National Evaluation Capacity Development (NECD) activities in English speaking East and Southern Africa particularly with national governments. His contributions are evidenced in countries of Kenya, Eswatini, Uganda, Zambia, Lesotho, Namibia, Botswana, Tanzania, Liberia, and Zimbabwe to mention a few. The work includes: capacity strengthening and or development through pieces of training, working with Voluntary Organisations for Professional Evaluations (VOPEs), conducting M&E Systems Analysis, developing evaluation guidelines, evaluation plans/agenda’s, developing monitoring and evaluation plans and policies among others. Taku is a seasoned evaluator and a sessional lecturer at the University of Witwatersrand (Wits) and supervises masters students. He is a scholar and has written peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters in accredited journals. He is a former Board Member of South African Monitoring and Evaluation Association (SAMEA).