Experience of being a member of Gender and Evaluation Community

[Monika Banerjee]

Dear All,

I am Monika Banerjee working as a Research Fellow at the Institute of Social Studies Trust (ISST), New Delhi. I am currently trying to compile the Annual Report of ISST for the year 2020-21.

As you know that this online platform on Gender and Evaluation is being hosted by ISST since 2013 and we at ISST are extremely happy to see the way your participation is constantly strengthening this platform year after year.

This year for the annual report, we thought of including some reflections on the experiences of being part of this large family. It will also give us an understanding of areas where gains are visible and those where more work is required. Therefore, I request you to kindly help us in posting some of your reflections in terms of your experiences of being a member of this gender and eval online community.

We would like to know what has been your experience till date of being a member of this online community and in what way has it helped your work and career.

Hoping to hear from you all soon.

warm regards,

Monika

[Jean-Marie]

I learnt from others and improved my experience in design of gender responsive evaluations.
As result ,I often do my best to ensure all our activities integrate gender lens and are equity focused.
PS: sorry for my English .

[deepali bhattacharya]

I find this community vibrant and open to learning and discuss new challenges. I look forward to reading more about good practices.

[Puneet Gupta]

Hi Monika,

This has been a wonderful platform in bringing the evaluation community together and I am really glad to have found it. The evaluation sector is evolving very rapidly and hence, the experiences shared by fellow evaluators are very valuable in keeping abreast of the latest happenings.

I recently found about a training course on Public Health through this platform and participated in it. The training was quite valuable for someone like me who is looking to work in the Public Health domain but has limited experience and formal education to do so.

I hope to see this community growing in future. Keep up the amazing work you guys are doing.

Regards,

Puneet Gupta

[Dewan Abu Ehsan]

[Dewan Abu Ehsan]

This is one of the platform that help me in getting updates on different issues with special focus to gender. As a development professional I am benefited while using this opportunity. Thanks to Ms Monika and Rituu B Nonda,
Best wishes,
Ehsan

[Dr. SRIDHAR SEETHARAMAN]

An important forum to share ideas on gendered evaluation. However, too many meetings being held results in one attending one and not others.

[Amanda Crump]

I appreciate being a part of this online community. I read a lot of things that are posted and am happy to have places to post things that I need help with. Everyone who responds is very helpful. 

Also, a couple of years ago, a group of us met during the American Evaluation Association meeting. It was so nice to meet people in person who I had talked with on this platform. 

This community is really unique and positively impacts my learning. In addition, I enjoy knowing that there are others doing the same work I do. And Rituu is the best - always keeping us going. I appreciate having a moderator who maintains contact with us. 

Keep smilin',
Amanda

[Rosa Morceli]

Dear Monika
I am Brazilian. I live in a geographical region in the Midwest of my country, where although there are some universities, none of them find men and women willing to dedicate research to evaluate public policies and gender equity. Therefore, since when I met the platform and signed up, I have had access to the reading of research results or proposals for research published here, which has helped me a lot in reflecting on the practice as a professional and militant of social movements for women's rights. I am grateful for all the potential that technologies carry from people like me, living in regions rich in grain production and meat for export, yet with a high concentration of income and at the same time people so poor and without access to public policies. The region where I live concentrates many cases of fatal violence against women. In the Brazilian ranking, Mato Grosso, is in 5th. Position of higher number of women murdered by comrades. And we do not know what to do to minimize this. We have to study with you.
I'm not sure that this was the answer you expected when you proposed that I share my opinion here.
I am available to answer any question and once again, thank you for the opportunity to learn.

[Carol Miller]

I appreciate the updates on events and new publications. I have also used the search function to find my way to threads on themes that are relevant to specific issues as they arise for me. Great initiative and keep it up!

[Rituu B Nanda]

Experience of being a member of Gender and Evaluation Community

• Posted by Edgar Turuka 

Hello Monika,

"Sharing is caring, caring is loving"

"Knowledge is power"

From this network I got lots of stuffs and people to learn from. I learned about the power of sharing and the power of knowledge. I gained knowledge on Gender and evaluation, general evaluation, and also working with different people from far and within, without knowing them physically or face to face.

On top of all that, I also learned about the power of technology on linking people from all over the world and of different background almost cost-less.

I can't thank you and people at ISST for this opportunity and beyond. For members of Gender and Evaluation Community, big up and Jah bless you for your time and all the contributions.

Keep it up the good work and spirit.

Best,

Edgar

[Hooshmand Alizadeh]

This is nearly one month since my registration in Gender and Evaluation. I like to follow the works of other and I hope I can get some insights for my project which deals with women and public space in different urban cultural contexts. 

All you the best,

Hooshmand Alizadeh

[Ivan G. Somlai]

Dear Monika,

In brief--and could expand if desired in separate email:

I had worked 3 years in the improvement and delivery of social services and governance in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan. Working with women was difficult in the more culturally conservative areas. As Manager of 50 local staff, I insisted that we do no work in any community wherein we were not welcomed not only by the women, but also by the decision-makers and influencers. This then necessitated trust building in various ways. For me, this also meant approaching mullahs to explain why we were available, how we work, what are the limits of what we can do and who or what kind of resource person from our project would be likely to interface with the women. It was an unusual move, but successful in the end with mullahs, in at least a couple of communities wherein the religious leaders even suggested to women that attendance in particular programmes would be beneficial. A corollary to this was that I was invited several times to meet with these mullahs and the continuing dialogue aloowed us to learn more of each other and strengthen mutual trust.