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The emergence of government evaluation systems in Africa: The case of Benin, Uganda and South Africa
Emergence Of NES 2018 This article documents the experience of these three countries and summarises the progress made in deepening and widening their national evaluation systems and some of the cross-cutting lessons emerging at an early stage of the Twende Mbele partnership. Report NameThe emergence of government…
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http://www.aejonline.org Open Access
African Evaluation Journal
ISSN: (Online) 2306-5133, (Print) 2310-4988
Page 1 of 11 Original Research
Read online:
Scan this QR
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mobile device
to read online.
Authors:
Ian Goldman 1
Albert Byamugisha2
Abdoulaye Gounou3
Laila R. Smith4
Stanley Ntakumba 1
Timothy Lubanga2
Damase Sossou5
Karen Rot-Munstermann6
Affiliations:
1
Department of Planning,
Monitoring and Evaluation,
South Africa
2Office of the Prime Minister,
Uganda
3Bureau of Public Policies
Evaluation and Government
Action Analysis, Presidency,
Benin
4CLEAR Anglophone Africa,
South Africa
5Public Policies Evaluation,
Presidency, Benin
6Independent Development
Evaluation, African
Development Bank, Côte
d’Ivoire
Corresponding author:
Ian Goldman,
ian@dpme.gov.za
Dates:
Received: 18 July 2017
Accepted: 23 Oct. 2017
Published: 29 Mar. 2018
How to cite this article:
Goldman, I., Byamugisha, A.,
Gounou, A., Smith, L.R.,
Ntakumba, S., Lubanga, T.,
Sossou, D. & Rot-
Munstermann, K., 2018, ‘The
emergence of government
evaluation systems in Africa:
The case of Benin, Uganda and
South Africa’, African Evaluation
Journal 6(1), a253. https://doi.
org/10.4102/aej.v6i1.253
Introduction
Monitoring and evaluation has been seen as an important way to improve the performance of
the public sector. Evaluation in particular has been seen as a route to strengthening effectiveness,
efficiency and impact, as well as accountability of government policies and programmes
(Department of Performance [later Planning], Monitoring and Evaluation [DPME] 2011a). We
define a national evaluation system (NES) as a national system which guides how evaluations
are selected, implemented and used. NESs have developed in advanced economies since the
1980s, in Latin America since the 1990s and in Africa from 2007 (Benin), and Uganda and South
Africa in 2011.
In March 2012 South Africa’s DPME organised a workshop with the Centre for Learning on
Evaluation and Results for Anglophone Africa (CLEAR AA) that included seven countries to
explore their national monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems (CLEAR/DPME 2012). As a
result, Benin, Uganda and South Africa realised they were on common trajectories in developing
a NES, and an informal partnership and dialogue emerged where examples of policies, guidelines,
etc., were exchanged, and partners attended each other’s events such as evaluation weeks,
trainings, etc. Meanwhile, CLEAR AA was establishing itself in the region to strengthen M&E
practice, and the African Development Bank (AfDB) was working with Ethiopia and Tanzania to
build evaluation systems.
The Department for International Development (DFID) agreed to support these countries through
a peer learning programme, Twende Mbele, to promote the use of M&E as a tool for improving
government performance and accountability in Africa. The initial Twende Mbele partners include
Benin, Uganda, South Africa, CLEAR AA and Independent Development Evaluation at the AfDB.
This partnership formally started in January 2016 and involves collaboration, capacity
Background: Evaluation is not widespread in Africa, particularly evaluations instigated by
governments rather than donors. However since 2007 an important policy experiment is
emerging in South Africa, Benin and Uganda, which have all implemented national evaluation
systems. These three countries, along with the Centre for Learning on Evaluation and Results
(CLEAR) Anglophone Africa and the African Development Bank, are partners in a pioneering
African partnership called Twende Mbele, funded by the United Kingdom’s Department for
International Development (DFID) and Hewlett Foundation, aiming to jointly strengthen
monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems and work with other countries to develop M&E
capacity and share experiences.
Objectives: This article documents the experience of these three countries and summarises the
progress made in deepening and widening their national evaluation systems and some of the
cross-cutting lessons emerging at an early stage of the Twende Mbele partnership.
Method: The article draws from reports from each of the countries, as well as work undertaken
for the evaluation of the South African national evaluation system.
Results and conclusions: Initial lessons include the importance of a central unit to drive the
evaluation system, developing a national evaluation policy, prioritising evaluations through
an evaluation agenda or plan and taking evaluation to subnational levels. The countries are
exploring the role of non-state actors, and there are increasing moves to involve Parliament.
Key challenges include difficulty of getting a learning approach in government, capacity issues
and ensuring follow-up. These lessons are being used to support other countries seeking to
establish national evaluation systems, such as Ghana, Kenya and Niger.
The emergence of government evaluation systems in
Africa: The case of Benin, Uganda and South Africa
Read online:
Scan this QR
code with your
smart phone or
mobile device
to read online. Copyright: © 2018. The Authors. Licensee: AOSIS. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License.
African Evaluation Journal
ISSN: (Online) 2306-5133, (Print) 2310-4988
Page 1 of 11 Original Research
Read online:
Scan this QR
code with your
smart phone or
mobile device
to read online.
Authors:
Ian Goldman 1
Albert Byamugisha2
Abdoulaye Gounou3
Laila R. Smith4
Stanley Ntakumba 1
Timothy Lubanga2
Damase Sossou5
Karen Rot-Munstermann6
Affiliations:
1
Department of Planning,
Monitoring and Evaluation,
South Africa
2Office of the Prime Minister,
Uganda
3Bureau of Public Policies
Evaluation and Government
Action Analysis, Presidency,
Benin
4CLEAR Anglophone Africa,
South Africa
5Public Policies Evaluation,
Presidency, Benin
6Independent Development
Evaluation, African
Development Bank, Côte
d’Ivoire
Corresponding author:
Ian Goldman,
ian@dpme.gov.za
Dates:
Received: 18 July 2017
Accepted: 23 Oct. 2017
Published: 29 Mar. 2018
How to cite this article:
Goldman, I., Byamugisha, A.,
Gounou, A., Smith, L.R.,
Ntakumba, S., Lubanga, T.,
Sossou, D. & Rot-
Munstermann, K., 2018, ‘The
emergence of government
evaluation systems in Africa:
The case of Benin, Uganda and
South Africa’, African Evaluation
Journal 6(1), a253. https://doi.
org/10.4102/aej.v6i1.253
Introduction
Monitoring and evaluation has been seen as an important way to improve the performance of
the public sector. Evaluation in particular has been seen as a route to strengthening effectiveness,
efficiency and impact, as well as accountability of government policies and programmes
(Department of Performance [later Planning], Monitoring and Evaluation [DPME] 2011a). We
define a national evaluation system (NES) as a national system which guides how evaluations
are selected, implemented and used. NESs have developed in advanced economies since the
1980s, in Latin America since the 1990s and in Africa from 2007 (Benin), and Uganda and South
Africa in 2011.
In March 2012 South Africa’s DPME organised a workshop with the Centre for Learning on
Evaluation and Results for Anglophone Africa (CLEAR AA) that included seven countries to
explore their national monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems (CLEAR/DPME 2012). As a
result, Benin, Uganda and South Africa realised they were on common trajectories in developing
a NES, and an informal partnership and dialogue emerged where examples of policies, guidelines,
etc., were exchanged, and partners attended each other’s events such as evaluation weeks,
trainings, etc. Meanwhile, CLEAR AA was establishing itself in the region to strengthen M&E
practice, and the African Development Bank (AfDB) was working with Ethiopia and Tanzania to
build evaluation systems.
The Department for International Development (DFID) agreed to support these countries through
a peer learning programme, Twende Mbele, to promote the use of M&E as a tool for improving
government performance and accountability in Africa. The initial Twende Mbele partners include
Benin, Uganda, South Africa, CLEAR AA and Independent Development Evaluation at the AfDB.
This partnership formally started in January 2016 and involves collaboration, capacity
Background: Evaluation is not widespread in Africa, particularly evaluations instigated by
governments rather than donors. However since 2007 an important policy experiment is
emerging in South Africa, Benin and Uganda, which have all implemented national evaluation
systems. These three countries, along with the Centre for Learning on Evaluation and Results
(CLEAR) Anglophone Africa and the African Development Bank, are partners in a pioneering
African partnership called Twende Mbele, funded by the United Kingdom’s Department for
International Development (DFID) and Hewlett Foundation, aiming to jointly strengthen
monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems and work with other countries to develop M&E
capacity and share experiences.
Objectives: This article documents the experience of these three countries and summarises the
progress made in deepening and widening their national evaluation systems and some of the
cross-cutting lessons emerging at an early stage of the Twende Mbele partnership.
Method: The article draws from reports from each of the countries, as well as work undertaken
for the evaluation of the South African national evaluation system.
Results and conclusions: Initial lessons include the importance of a central unit to drive the
evaluation system, developing a national evaluation policy, prioritising evaluations through
an evaluation agenda or plan and taking evaluation to subnational levels. The countries are
exploring the role of non-state actors, and there are increasing moves to involve Parliament.
Key challenges include difficulty of getting a learning approach in government, capacity issues
and ensuring follow-up. These lessons are being used to support other countries seeking to
establish national evaluation systems, such as Ghana, Kenya and Niger.
The emergence of government evaluation systems in
Africa: The case of Benin, Uganda and South Africa
Read online:
Scan this QR
code with your
smart phone or
mobile device
to read online. Copyright: © 2018. The Authors. Licensee: AOSIS. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License.
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