Monthly Corner

Laura Hughston - Blog

Arnoux Mouafo Nopi & Dimitri Tsona Zapzi - Article 

Prof. Wangari Mwai and Prof. Catherine Ndungo - BOOK

  • Understanding Gender and Identity Through The Gender Dictionary

    Publisher: Bleeding Ink Scribes

RAI SENGUPTA - gender-transformative evaluation tools

This synthesis draws on evidence from 17 humanitarian evaluations across diverse crisis settings. It identifies key feminist evaluation innovations across four domains - design, methods, analysis, and ethics - illustrating how feminist principles can be embedded throughout the evaluation process. It also surfaces broader shifts required at policy, institutional, and practice levels to realise the transformative potential of feminist approaches in humanitarian contexts.

The toolkit translates these insights into applied guidance for evaluators and organisations. It provides step-by-step support across the full evaluation cycle, including planning, design, methods, analysis, ethics, and dissemination. Drawing on global feminist evaluation practice, humanitarian guidance, and gender evaluation standards, it includes adaptable tools, participatory and arts-based methods, guiding questions, and templates for field application.

Ritu Dewan & Swat Raju - Article

  • Economy and Inequality

    In Promises & Reality 2026 Citizen’s Review of Year 2 of the NDA-III Government. Coordinated by Wada Na Todo Abhiyan, June 20, 2026. pp 94-100.

UTTHAN - Research Report

Traversing the path with women farmers in their fields and in our reflections/writings, a stark observation was the sheer lack of localized and regional vocabulary and terminology to adequately capture and communicate the understanding of climate change and mitigation strategies, informed by the unique experiences and needs of small and marginal women farmers. This is what propelled our research - to examine how women farmers perceive, express, experience, and respond to climate variability across

Our Research Report centres the lived experiences, generational knowledge, and resilience strategies of small and marginal women farmers from the coastal (Bhavnagar) and hilly (Dahod & Panchmahal) regions i.e two contrasting agro-climatic zones of Gujarat. Through their voices, the study reveals exactly how climate change intersects with gender, land rights, labour burdens, and food security.

Events

Vacancies

INCLUDOVATE -  Call for Researchers, Pacific Focus

About the job

At Includovate, we are expanding our Pacific Research & Evaluation Talent Pool and inviting researchers, evaluators, consultants, and development practitioners to join a growing network of professionals committed to creating meaningful social impact.

As a feminist research incubator and certified social enterprise, Includovate works with partners including UNICEF, UNFPA, the ILO, governments, and development organisations across 23+ countries. Our work spans gender equality, social inclusion, health, disability, youth, climate, WASH, market systems, and other development priorities.

We are particularly keen to connect with experts from:
📍 Papua New Guinea
📍 Solomon Islands
📍 Vanuatu
📍 Timor-Leste
📍 Fiji
📍 Samoa
📍 Tonga
📍 Indonesia
📍 Australia
and across the wider Pacific region.

We welcome expertise in:
✓ Research, Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning
✓ Gender Equality & Social Inclusion
✓ Health & SRHR
✓ Disability Inclusion
✓ Youth Development
✓ Climate & Environment
✓ WASH
✓ Market Systems Development
✓ Governance & Community Development

Whether your expertise lies in data collection, research, evaluation, technical advisory, facilitation, or team leadership, we would love to hear from you.
By joining our Talent Pool, you become part of a trusted network of professionals who may be considered for future research, evaluation, advisory, and consulting opportunities across the Pacific region and beyond.

🔗 Register here: https://lnkd.in/eyF66S7H

Let’s bring Evaluation & equity lens in VNRs

(I had the opportunity to attend a session Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) during recently held #EvalColombo2018. Florence Etta facilitated the panel comprising of Oscar A. Garcia, Soma De Silva, and Stefano D’Errico)

I did not know much about the VNRs. After the session I decided to read about the VNRs. Here is what I have read including what I learned from the panelists. Thanks a lot to all the four in the panel and those who responded during Q&A from whom I learned!

What are VNRs? VNRs serve as a basis for international review of progress of SDGs. As stipulated in paragraph 84 of the 2030 Agenda, regular reviews by the HLPF are to be voluntary, state-led, undertaken by both developed and developing countries, and involve multiple stakeholders. https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/vnrs/ Stefano said that –VNRs can help track the country’s theory of change. Read his blog https://www.iied.org/evaluations-reviews-assessments-are-key-embedd... Briefing papers on VNRs IIED and EVALSDGs are publishing a series of briefings about evaluation designed to help promote effective conduct and use of evaluation in SDGs implementation, follow-up and review.  They are a must read!

Few good practices are there The paper  at http://pubs.iied.org/17446IIED/analyses 43 ‘Voluntary National Reviews’ (VNRs) of progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Sporadic good practice is emerging, such as: linked National Evaluation Policy and action planning (Nepal); recognition of the SDGs’ complexity when considering evaluation (Czech Republic); learning through evaluation (Ethiopia and Kenya); and drawing on findings from past evaluations (Belize).

What are the challenges?

  • The above report finds that monitoring is strong but evaluation systems and processes often remain missing or misunderstood. Ms Soma noted that VNRs are focused currently on describing processes and monitoring targets and indicators, data collection challenges...the evaluation aspect is missing
  • The above report notes that only two countries reported use of qualitative data. VNRs should complement the focus on quantitative indicators with more qualitative methodologies. This is an
  • opportunity to include different data sources and tools for analysing and reporting progress
  • The answer to understand progresses on equity and equality, cannot come only from numbers and survey data. Oscar stressed on getting gender and equity lens in VNRs. We need to pay attention to vulnerable populations and environments so that no one is left behind

What is the way forward?

  • Soma- Parliamentarians and policy makers can be the one to drive this process forward, if they participate and embed evaluation in national decision making, chances are high that countries can achieve SDGs.
  • Ian Goldman- capacities on evaluation in different countries have to be build
  • Evaluation is largely missing in VNRs but can be a tool for VNRs to understand how and why of the issues. VNRs should shift from monitoring to evaluation perspective. Evaluation asks why did it happen and can help get inter-connected dimensions of SDGs – economic, social, political etc. Soma said that evaluation starts at the beginning. She said that we have identified some of the issues but some remain. Ingredients of the cake are missing she added on a lighter note.
  • We need to include qualitative aspect in VNRs. Numbers are important but tell only half the story.
  • Ziad Moussa emphasised that we also need to study what is not working in EvalSDGs. Parliamentarians can ensure that this process is impartial and the real picture can help us improve and address what is not working. For this we need to consult a broad range of stakeholders.
  • Oscar- putting the concept of sustainability in central of development agenda is key. 17 SDGs look overwhelming and not all are priority of all nations-five key elements: People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace and Partnership of SDGs are ways of identifying if our national plans are on track.
  • Gender and equity lens are extremely important in VNRs and my colleagues Svetlana Negroustoueva and Alexis Salvador Loye in EvalGender+ are contributing to a paper. Keep an eye out for it !

How will I apply this learning? Communities particularly youth have a role to play
A large part of my work is with communities where I am trying to build ownership, action and self assessment by communities on how they respond to an issue.

In future, I will regularly read the VNRs of India and see how I can link with my work in communities. I have read the report from India http://niti.gov.in/content/voluntary-national-review-report I also think communities have a large role to play in SDGs. I am working with a community on Tuberculosis. In the village there was a health worker whose role was to link the villagers on DOTs treatment. I worked on community taking responsibility of its health and assess their response to health particularly TB. Community realised that the health worker being of higher caste does not visit homes of those from lower castes. People belonging to lower caste are poorer and are more likely to have TB. The community approached the local government and got a person appointed as health worker from a caste who would visit homes of all castes. Youth particularly adolescent girls have played a key role in community response to TB.

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Comment by Rituu B Nanda on September 25, 2018 at 9:43

Please find enclosed for your reference a link to the presentation I gave during the session.

 https://www.ifad.org/documents/38714182/40745050/VNRs_speech.pdf/9f...

Oscar A. Garcia, Director, Independent Office of Evaluation

International Fund for Agricultural Development

Via Paolo di Dono, 44

00142 Rome, Italy

Comment by Rituu B Nanda on September 21, 2018 at 20:27

Concise, precise lessons on VNRs from Marco Segone,  Director of Evaluation at ; former UNEG Chair; founder/former Chair 

Three key lesson learned from 111countries’ national reviews on . 1. Evaluation should inform them; 2. Ensure inclusiveness ; 3. Be oriented towards supporting national implementation

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