Join us in Amman April 28-30 2014 for the EvalMENA 3rd general assembly... Scholarships available

[Asela Kalugampitiya]

The Middle East and North Africa Evaluators Network (EvalMENA) is pleased to invite you to its third general assembly taking place in Amman – Jordan on April 28-30, 2014, which will be held in conjunction with the closing workshop of the project “Mainstreaming Evaluation Theory and Practice in the MENA Region”, funded by the International Development and Research Center (IDRC) and executed by the Environment and Sustainable Development Unit at the American University of Beirut.

In Amman, EvalMENA will be celebrating its third anniversary, reflecting on the potential contributions of the evaluation profession and the evaluators’ associations/networks to the rich geo-political developments which shaped (and are still shaping) the region’s future. An overview of the achievements of the past three years is attached to this message

To that purpose, we are aiming at cross-fertilizing the debates between EvalMENA members with participants and experiences from the “Global South” in general by offering up to 8 scholarships for authors of papers or presentations that can be featured in the five discussion streams of the conference. These papers and presentations, together with the outcomes of the discussions during the conference will be part of a special publication celebrating the end of the activities of the project “Mainstreaming Evaluation Theory and Practice in the MENA region”.

The conference runs over two and half days, with half a day dedicated to a meeting of the EvalMENA delegates on April 30^th 2013. It will be preceded on April 27^th by a full day of professional development workshops which will be also open to local evaluators from Jordan. As mentioned earlier, the conference consists of five streams:

1.      The role of the evaluation in democratic transition: which is obviously a central theme for the region and where we are looking forward to hear experiences from MENA but also from comparable regional settings around the world that can guide the work of EvalMENA in the future.

2.      Towards the emergence of an “indigenous” M&E culture in MENA: which will be looking at the “drivers” but also the “spoilers” that are influencing the perception that evaluation is “exogenous” and mainly donor-driven in MENA. International experiences from developing countries are welcomed to cross-fertilize the debate. 

3.      Delivering Evaluation Effectively: The MENA Challenges This strand will be conducted in an appreciative format, looking mainly at what works rather than claiming to resolve all the problems around evaluation delivery in MENA within just half a day. Our preferred themes to be highlighted during the debates are methodological plurality and data systems.

4.      Enhancing the use of evaluation in MENA: this stream is directly inspired from EvalMENA’s participation in the 3^rd conference on National Evaluation Capacities which was held in Brazil in October 2013 and which had a tri-fold CREDO: Independence, Credibility and Use. We will be looking on how “use” is understood, both from a process and from an outcome perspective and how to shape EvalMENA’s advocacy efforts in that regard.

5.      Towards “2015 Evaluation Year”: this stream will be aligned with EvalMENA’s active involvement in the EvalPartners initiative and is meant to encourage national initiatives and collaboration with planned and ongoing projects aiming at favoring the emergence of an enabling environment in MENA. We very strongly welcome representatives of initiatives and projects to share their experiences and explore opportunities for synergies and cooperation. We will also solemnly close this stream by declaring 2015 the international year of evaluation in the MENA region, similar to other EvalPartner members.

It is to be noted that the conference is designed along a participatory engagement model which alternates plenary sessions and facilitated debate in smaller groups, in a way to develop a collaborative agenda for the work of EvalMENA for the July 2014 – December 2015 period.

Candidates interested in taking part in the conference and sharing experiences/case studies are kindly invited to submit an expression of interest by Monday March 17^th 2014. Notifications of acceptance will take place by Saturday March 22^nd the latest.

The expression of interest should be submitted electronically to [e-mail] and should include:

·         An abstract of the presentation (600 words maximum)

·         What conference thread is being addressed and the relevance of the presentation to the discussion thread and the local MENA context (300 words maximum)

·         A brief bio of the presenter (150 words maximum)

Kindly note that EvalMENA will only be able to fund the participation of the authors of accepted papers. Others who are willing to join are welcome provided that they cater for their own accommodation and travel. Although Arabic is the official language of MENA, all working sessions will be taking place in English, except the EvalMENA business meeting of April 30^th which will take place in Arabic

 With kind regards

 Ziad Moussa