gLOCAL Evaluation Week 2024

Hosted by Global Evaluation Initiative (GEI), gLOCAL Evaluation Week is a unique knowledge-sharing event, connecting a global community of people across sectors and regions. Over the course of a week, members of iDE’s Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, and Learning (MERL) team shared insights and learnings during seven different events with participants joining from all over the world. Originally launched in 2019, this year’s gLOCAL topics centered around the theme of “Evaluation and Transformational Change: Balancing Ambition and Realism.”

Presenters included iDE staff from around the world, representing our programs in Cambodia, Honduras, Mozambique, and Nepal sharing insights on participatory evaluation methods and how research methods can be leveraged to improve practices across sectors in the field. 

• Using Participatory Evaluation Methods To Improve Project Assessments. Presenting from iDE Nepal, Soma Kumari Rana, Asia Region Gender Equity and Social Inclusion (GESI) Officer, and Rakesh Kothari, PhD, Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, and Learning (MERL) Lead, shared how prioritizing community involvement through participatory evaluation method impacts project success. 

• Multidisciplinary Evaluations to Influence the Sector. From iDE Cambodia, Rana Abdel Sattar, WASH Program Manager, presented a case study on conducting field research combining health and social sciences and explored key challenges and learning of how to develop evaluations that can inform, improve, and influence WASH sector best practices.

• Driving Impact through Resilience Measurement. Sharing learnings from Feed the Future (FtF) Resilient Coastal Communities (RCC) project in Mozambique, iDE’s Caximo Caximo, MERL Director, FtF RCC Project, and Victoria Seekman, Senior Associate, Resilience & Net Zero, provided insights on on how to design “Pause & Reflect” workshops for varied audiences to make evidence-based decisions along with tools and methods for how to facilitate active learning.

• Leveraging Participatory Evaluation Methods to Strengthen Relationships. In Honduras, iDE’s Most Significant Change (MSC) method was used to guide development in programmatic strategy and through the process it was found to transform the team as well. In this event, Jennifer Roglà, PhD, Global Director of MERL, Sobeida Lara, Country Director iDE Honduras, and Olvin Vasquez, Nutrition Project Coordinator, present how to leverage participatory evaluation to improve gender relations within teams and strengthen relationships with external partners. (Presentation in Spanish)

• Powerful Stories of Lived Experiences. Sharing case studies from iDE Ghana, Abdullai Abdul-Shatar, Global MERL Coordinator discusses four participatory methods applied in MERL: After-Action Reviews (AAR), Most Significant Change, Outcome Harvesting, and Locally-Led Storytelling. Shatar shares how using these participatory techniques can help to gather learnings, identify sustainable practices and generate new opportunities.

• Refining the Market System Resilience Index (MSRI) Tool. The Market Systems Resilience Index (MSRI) is a tool developed by iDE to assess market resilience helping us better understand and adapt our market creation approach to local contexts. iDE’s Director of Inclusive MERL, Henok Begshaw, presented on the extensive process of reviewing existing literature and conceptual framework to refine and enhance the robustness and validity of the MSRI tool. (No recording)

• Designing Management Information Systems. Using a case study from iDE Zambia, Abdullai Abdul-Shatar, Global MERL Coordinator presented how the critical role of Management Information Systems (MIS) in contemporary data monitoring and evaluation practices, especially for externally-funded NGOs, outlining a systematic approach to MIS design. (No recording)

Watch the presentation recordings to learn more about iDE’s MERL strategies and practices in programs around the world.

Inclusive Strategy Report

Given the lack of globally-available gender disaggregated data, iDE conducted a participatory data collection activity in 2023 that asks the question: “How do the people and households with whom we work define prosperity and what are their goals for the future?” iDE's purpose in conducting the research initiative was to underpin its forward-looking organizational strategy with an understanding of their client's perspectives.