Learning from each other: South-South conversations on mainstreaming Gender Transformative Evaluation
Roundtable | Online
About the Event
The Sustainable Development Goals outline nine critical targets to advance gender equality in all spheres of life as central to global development and societal wellbeing. While the countries have achieved some progress towards these goals of gender equality and women’s empowerment, women and girls continue to suffer marginalisation, discrimination and violence in every part of the world. This mismatch between political intention and societal adoption reflects the huge challenge of not just mindset change but also of a commitment of adequate resources and a fundamental shift required. As evaluators and researchers, the discussants believe that the process of undertaking gender-responsive evaluations helps to bring about the necessary transformation in mindsets and the structures that then facilitate broader societal change toward greater gender equity and realisation of power.
In this roundtable, discussants from India, South Africa and multilateral agencies will engage in a South-South conversation to explore how gender-responsive or gender-transformative evaluation can be mainstreamed into evaluation systems, and the challenges and lessons learned therein. During the discussion, Jahnvi Andharia from the Institute for Social Sciences Trust (ISST) will share on the institute’s self-paced course on gender-transformative evaluation and how it is shifting conversations on gender in India. Similarly, Anuradha Rajan, from the South Asia Women Foundation India, will speak about their efforts to learn and work with their partners to embed principles of feminist MEL into their work. From South Africa, Kgaugelo Moshia-Molebatsi, from the Department of Planning Monitoring and Evaluation, and Dineo Mmako from the Department of Women, Youth and People with Disabilities, will discuss the South African government’s efforts to ensure mainstreaming of gender in government interventions, contrasted by the challenges of gender-transformative evaluation uptake by evaluation commissioners and practitioners. Bhushan Shrestha from the UN Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) will share efforts being made to strengthen gender and inclusivity through the implementation and evaluation of South-South cooperation initiatives.
The session intends to be very conversational and the audience are encouraged to share their experiences and challenges in bringing gender-transformative evaluation into practice.
In this roundtable, discussants from India, South Africa and multilateral agencies will engage in a South-South conversation to explore how gender-responsive or gender-transformative evaluation can be mainstreamed into evaluation systems, and the challenges and lessons learned therein. During the discussion, Jahnvi Andharia from the Institute for Social Sciences Trust (ISST) will share on the institute’s self-paced course on gender-transformative evaluation and how it is shifting conversations on gender in India. Similarly, Anuradha Rajan, from the South Asia Women Foundation India, will speak about their efforts to learn and work with their partners to embed principles of feminist MEL into their work. From South Africa, Kgaugelo Moshia-Molebatsi, from the Department of Planning Monitoring and Evaluation, and Dineo Mmako from the Department of Women, Youth and People with Disabilities, will discuss the South African government’s efforts to ensure mainstreaming of gender in government interventions, contrasted by the challenges of gender-transformative evaluation uptake by evaluation commissioners and practitioners. Bhushan Shrestha from the UN Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) will share efforts being made to strengthen gender and inclusivity through the implementation and evaluation of South-South cooperation initiatives.
The session intends to be very conversational and the audience are encouraged to share their experiences and challenges in bringing gender-transformative evaluation into practice.
Speakers
| Name | Title | Biography |
|---|---|---|
| Dr. Jahnvi Andharia | Director and Research Fellow at the Institute of Social Studies Trust | As Director and Research Fellow at the ISST, Dr. Andharia focuses on the intersections of vulnerability and marginalisation of rural women, collective empowerment strategies, grassroots leadership, and systems building. She leads Research, Capacity Building, Community Outreach and Evaluation. |
| Kgaugelo Moshia-Molebatsi | Senior Evaluation Specialist in the South African National Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME) | Mrs. Moshia-Molebatsi is an expert in research and evaluation in Reproductive Health, Youth and Gender. She has played a key role in supporting the implementation of the National Evaluation System. Prior to joining government, she worked for the South African Medical Research Council. |
| Anuradha Rajan | Executive Director of South Asia Women Foundation India (SAWF IN) | Dr. Rajan has extensive experience in programme development and feminist monitoring and evaluation. She has been part of feminist mobilization and has led regional evaluations of programmes addressing gender based violence and transformative gender audits. |
| Dineo Mmako | Chief Director: Monitoring and Evaluation in the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities (DWYPD) | Ms Mmako has more than a decade experience in data management and analysis, monitoring and evaluation; as well as coordination and facilitation of government programmes and interventions. She is currently the Commissioner for the Commission of Employment Equity representing government. |
| Bhushan Shrestha | Results-Based Management Specialist at the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) | Bhushan leads the PMEL functions for the UN Office for South-South Cooperation. Bhushan has extensive experience in UN agencies and NGOs, focused on results-based planning, evaluation, reporting, and programme oversight. His career has placed him Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Pacific. |
Moderators
| Name | Title | Biography |
|---|---|---|
| Jennifer Norins | Chairperson of SAMEA | Jennifer Norins is a monitoring and evaluation officer at MIET Africa, with over 15 years experience in programme monitoring and evaluation for education and youth development programmes. Since 2014, Ms Norins has coordinated the monitoring and evaluation of youth programmes in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region focused on improving access of young people to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) services and supports, gender equality and youth activation on issues of climate change. Ms Norins was a key author on evaluation criteria co-authored by South Africa Depart of Planning Monitoring and Evaluation and South African Monitoring and Evaluation Association (SAMEA) that look at climate and ecosystems health and transformative equity. She currently serves as the SAMEA Chairperson, focusing on strengthening the VOPE's contribution to expanding the M&E sector in South Africa. |