CLEAR–AA Strengthens Equitable Evaluation Practice Across Africa

In the last quarter of 2025, the Centre for Learning on Evaluation and Results for Anglophone Africa (CLEAR–AA), an implementing partner of the Global Evaluation Initiative (GEI), strengthened equitable evaluation practice through a series of capacity-development engagements across Africa. The activities supported 43 government officials and evaluation practitioners across two engagements to translate equity principles into practical approaches that strengthen evidence‑informed decision‑making in diverse contexts.

In Tanzania, 23 participants from the subnational level of government took part in a targeted training delivered in November in partnership with the Prime Minister’s Office – Performance Monitoring and Evaluation Division (PMO–PMED). The training focused on strengthening evaluation systems that are technically robust while remaining responsive to context, power dynamics, and inclusion—key elements of GEI’s integrated systems approach to monitoring and evaluation (M&E) strengthening.

Through facilitated discussions and applied learning, participants explored how equitable evaluation can be embedded in routine M&E practice. The training emphasized how evaluation can help promote fairness, amplify diverse voices, and strengthen evidence-based decision-making in local government contexts.

Also in November, CLEAR–AA contributed to the African School of Evaluation held in Ghana and organized by the African Evaluation Association (AfrEA). The team delivered a session titled Evaluation in Service of Equity: Approaches and Methods for Equitable Evaluation to 20 emerging evaluators and practitioners from across Africa, including participants from Somalia, Tanzania, Ghana, Tunisia, Morocco, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ethiopia, and South Sudan.

Following the session, Dr. Sakariya Abdihaashi Mohamed, an emerging evaluator from the Global Youth Innovation Council, highlighted the value of the session for strengthening practical approaches to equity across the evaluation lifecycle.

Building on these engagements, CLEAR–AA has submitted a manuscript to African Online Scientific Information Systems (AOSIS) for publication. Volume 3 of the Equitable Evaluation series, titled Commissioning and Conducting Equitable Evaluation: Approaches and Methods, is expected to be released in 2026. The volume shares practice-based insights from the Global South and reflects GEI’s commitment to country-led, context-specific approaches to strengthening M&E systems.

“Facilitating this equitable evaluation training reminded me that evaluation is never neutral," said Tebogo Fish, Research and Learning Programme Manager at CLEAR–AA. “When practitioners are given the tools to center lived experience, question power, and use data in service of fairness, evaluation becomes a catalyst for more just and inclusive decisions, not just better reports.”

Together, these engagements are helping embed equitable evaluation principles into routine monitoring and evaluation practice, supporting more inclusive, evidence‑informed decision‑making across African institutions. Through continued collaboration with government partners, regional platforms, and evaluation networks, CLEAR–AA is contributing to longer-term efforts to strengthen evaluation systems that are both technically robust and responsive to context, power, and inclusion.