aes24 International Evaluation Conference

Authors: Katrina Barnes (Clear Horizon), Irene Guijt (Oxfam Great Britain, GB), Chipo Peggah (Oxfam Great Britain, ZW)

Traditional measures of success for international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) have been based on western (and often colonial), theories of change, use of predefined metrics and ways of knowing - rarely fitting local realities and interests. Projectised pre-determined understandings of change, limit honest reflection on larger transformative change, and inhibit meaningful learning and adaptation.

INGOs globally are being challenged to decolonise their knowledge and evaluation processes. Over the past 18 months, Oxfam Great Britain has undergone a journey to redesign how we understand impact, to rebalance and reframe accountability and strengthen learning. This new approach focuses on collective storytelling, sensemaking and regular reflection on practice. We are taking a theory-led approach to make meaning out of signals that systems are shifting across a portfolio of work. Drawing on a bricolage of various evaluation methodologies (Outcome Harvesting-lite, meta-evaluation and synthesis, evaluative rubrics, and impact evaluations) we are slowly building a picture up over time across the organisation, to tell a story of systemic change. We have seen how meaningful and honest evidence and learning processes, have enabled a stronger culture of learning.

Although we are far from the end of this journey, we have learnt some critical lessons and face ongoing challenges. We are not the only ones, many foundations, funders, and philanthropic organisations are going through similar processes as organisations increasingly try to understand their contribution to systems change. These conversations are therefore imperative to the field of evaluation, as organisations navigate new ways to 'evaluate' their own work.

At this presentation, we will start the discussion by sharing Oxfam Great Britain's journey with key challenges faced and lessons learnt. After this, we will invite a Q&A conversation to harvest insights from others also seeking to reimagine organisational learning that is grounded in decolonising knowledge processes and seeking to understand systems change.