The world of Monitoring & Evaluation seems to be the last bastion within the sector of development cooperation where the ideas of ‘Shift the Power’ and Decolonisation have not yet taken root. How can we measure and evaluate results that really matter? And who’s voices count in that process? This prompted Vice Versa and Giving for Change/Wilde Ganzen to organise a world cafe on this topic, that will take place on Friday afternoon, 1st of November, in the Koorenhuis in The Hague.
The call to shift the power balance within the sector of development cooperation has intensified over the past five years. The urgency for systemic change was reflected on Twitter for example, with trending hashtags such as #ShiftThePower, #DecoloniseDevelopment and #AidToo.
Southern organisations no longer wanted to be just recipients of aid, but demanded more ownership and participation in their own development agenda. This requires more equality in cooperation and decision-making processes. A similar discussion started within the academic world. Nowadays Decolonising Knowledge is an important topic on the agenda of universities and knowledge institutes.
From governments to civil society organisations; willingness for change seems present. However, it is increasingly recognised that the current monitoring and evaluation practices are a major obstacle in realising this desired systemic change. As long as reporting has to be done strictly according to a Western vision, Dutch development organisations argue that it is nearly impossible to 'let go' and transfer responsibilities to their Southern partners. At the same time it's difficult for grassroots organisations to meet with the strict accountability requirements of donors.
The world of PMEL seems to be one of the last strongholds within the sector where the ideas of 'Shift the Power' and 'decolonisation' have not yet taken root.
In an opinion piece in Vice Versa's Power of Voices special, a number of PMEL advisors working in the sector argue that the current reporting regime is overshooting its purpose: by no means all the information that civil society organisations collect is useful to the Dutch Parliament, donors and society. Reporting is often so time-consuming that organisations lack time and capacity to learn from outcomes, and to communicate about the results and experiences that really matter. It also gives an impression of graspability and measurability of interventions, that is often not part of the unpredictable work of influencing developmental processes.
Moreover, the accountability relationship is often one-sided: the ministry or donor asks, the organisations deliver. As a result, they rarely have a conversation together about the focus and usefulness of the collected data. The organisations overload the ministry or donors with information that meets the contract requirements, but it is too often unclear to them whether the information they provide is sufficiently useful for the ministry, for accountability to the Parliament and for creating broad support for development cooperation in Dutch society.
In short, it is too often about measuring what does not matter.
World cafe on 1 November
To dive deeper into this topic, and to look for new and inspiring PMEL practices, Giving for Change and Vice Versa invited experts from the Netherland and abroad to join this World Café in The Hague on Friday afternoon 1 November under the name:
Measuring what matters
Decolonising Monitoring & Evaluation
How can we change the current situation towards Measuring what matters and also focus on what is really important in our PMEL and accountability reports? What can we learn from other movements in the world of Monitoring & Evaluation that are more in line with the debate on Shift the Power, decolonisation of knowledge and trust-based funding? We will discuss these important matters with a number of guests and with the audience in the room.
Our guests are:
- Peter van der Knaap (IOB, the inspectorate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
- Lori Cajegas (Giving for Change, MEL/COP Partos)
- Clara Bosco (Better by Codesign, ex-Civicus)
- Tarini Shipurkar (Praxis Institute for Participatory Practices India)
The World Café will be moderated by Ama van Dantzig and the spoken language will be English.
Practical information
Date: Friday 1 November
Time: 14.30-16.30 (drinks afterwards)
Walk-in: from 14.00 pm
Location: Het Koorenhuis, Prinsegracht 27, The Hague
Cost: 12.50 (regular ticket) or 7.50 (for Vice Versa subscribers or employees of organisations with an organisation membership on Vice Versa)