aes24 International Evaluation Conference

Authors: Amanda Mottershead (Tetra Tech International Development), Qudratullah Jahid (Oxford Policy Management Australia, AU),Eroni Wavu (Pacific Community, FJ)

The sustainability of the evaluation sector requires emerging evaluators to be supported in pursuing high-quality practice. What this support needs to be and how it should be developed is much less certain. What topics should we focus on? How should we deliver it? Who should we deliver it to? How can the broader evaluation community support emerging evaluators?

Global experiences in emerging evaluator support contain a treasure trove of lessons which can fill this knowledge gap and inform effective support here in Australia. Experiences show that fostering a strong evaluation community, that includes emerging evaluators, can nurture, ignite and shape future evaluation practices. A variety of approaches are being adopted across the region, and the globe, to foster this sense of community, that range from formal approaches to capacity building to more informal approaches that focus on experience sharing.

In this session, we bring together current and former emerging evaluator leaders from across the Asia Pacific region to answer some of these questions and understand what approaches could work best for the Australian context. This will include presentations and discussion on in-demand topics, how to formulate support, how to target emerging evaluators and the best means of delivery. The session will be highly interactive, engaging the audience in a question-and-answer forum on this important topic. All panel members have been engaged with emerging evaluator networks in their countries or regions and bring diverse experiences to facilitate cross learning. The session will provide practical ways forward for the broader evaluation community to grow and support the future of evaluation.