Johannesburg, 7 October 2024 – The South African Monitoring and Evaluation Association (SAMEA) is well-connected to the international evaluation landscape and draws on and feeds into the global evaluation architecture. The contributions of SAMEA have been immense in terms of thought leadership, with a very large quantity of trainings made in Africa, new methodologies and new thinking, and the promotion of M&E capacities nurturing the next generation of evaluators”, underscored Dr Indran A. Naidoo, Director of the Independent Office of Evaluation of IFAD (IOE), in his keynote address during the 9th Biennial SAMEA Conference, on 7 October 2024.


 

The 9th Biennial SAMEA Conference took place from the 7th to the 11th of October 2024, in Johannesburg. Co-hosted by the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation of the Republish of South Africa, the event brought together Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) practitioners, government officials, donors and policymakers, who came together to learn from leading experts and peers, sharing insights on new developments within the M&E field.  

Under the theme ‘Vuca-Vuka! Catalysing Change Through Monitoring and Evaluation’, the conference highlighted the necessity of proactively responding to the world’s volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous nature. To this end, the event inspired and capacitated participants to adopt adaptive, collaborative and innovative approaches to their M&E practice that will help steer South Africa towards equitable and sustainable development. This effort included co-creation sessions that underlined the critical importance of M&E in driving successful outcomes for policies, programmes, and projects that effectively address the diverse development challenges South Africa and the continent face.

Dr Naidoo was among the keynote speakers of the conference and delivered a presentation on the first day of the event. In his address, the IOE Director touched upon SAMEA’s evolution and global footprint, the current status of M&E in the global socio-political landscape, and the work carried by IOE over the past three years.

SAMEA’s evolution has been very successful. In 2003, the establishment of the South African Evaluation Network, SAENet, by Dr Zenda Ofir, paved the way for SAMEA. One year later, Dr Ofir and the late Professor Stan Sangweni of the Public Service Commission of South Africa co-hosted the 3rd African Evaluation Association (AfrEA) Conference in Cape Town. This watershed event featured a powerful keynote address by the late Dr Sulley Gariba, former Chairperson of the International Development Evaluation Association, and spurred the advancement of evaluation on the continent. On the margins of these meetings, the seeds were sown for the establishment of SAMEA in 2005. Two decades later we have this successful 9th event. Credit needs to be given to the vision and support of both Dr Zenda Ofir and Prof. Sangweni”, explained Dr Naidoo.

Prof. Sangweni came from a selfless generation that dedicated their lives to the emancipation of the people of South Africa. He was instrumental in the fundamental redefinition and restructuring of the traditional role of the South African Public Service Commission (PSC). He contributed his immense intellectual skill and wisdom in all areas he occupied, shaping the PSC into a knowledge-based organization, and ensuring that its work and influence extended outside the borders of the country. 

Looking at M&E in the global socio-political landscape, Dr Naidoo noted that remnants of classic thinking remain to this day, with simplistic assumptions and conduct of evaluation in linear terms, which are ahistorical and do not recognize the full scale of the complexity of local realities. Equally concerning is the fact that, despite a broad body of M&E evidence, governance failures remain. The reasons for this can be found in the fact that results do not feed into policy and action, and that there are difficulties to integrate M&E findings into governance.

Research and evidence do not lead to change on their own. Evaluators need to re-think how they hand over the baton to decision makers, and follow-up to understand if decisions are effective and acting in the interest of the people that governments profess to serve”, the IOE Director stated.  

A lot of evidence that is called upon by politicians, policymakers, decision makers and influencers is without substance. Often the word is used to deliver a stamp of unassailability to what is announced to be true”, further explained Dr Naidoo, directly quoting the most recent book published by Rob D. van den Berg, titled ‘Evidence for Hope. The emerging sustainability revolution’.

The SAMEA biennial conference serves as a primary platform for fostering the growth of a vibrant M&E community in South Africa and increasing the use of M&E as valuable tools for achieving equitable and sustainable development.

For further information, please contact Dr Alexander Voccia, Senior Evaluation Communication & KM Specialist [here].

 

RESOURCES

  • To access the presentation by Dr Naidoo, please click here.
  • For more information about the conference, please click here.

 

IOE 20th ANNIVERSARY

  • To access the brochure ‘More than a journey | 20 years of independence, please click here.
  • To access the latest edition of Independent Magazine, please click here.
  • To learn why independent evaluation makes IFAD a more credible institution, please click here.

 

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