AIAE participates in Workshop on Monitoring and Evaluation

From March 8-10, 2010, AIAE participated in the First Think Tank Initiative Learning Event/Workshop tagged “Strengthening Organizational Learning and Performance of Policy Research Institutions through Monitoring and Evaluation”. The workshop was organized by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) at the Nairobi Serena Hotel, Nairobi, Kenya, for all the 24 grantee institutions in East and West Africa. AIAE was represented by Prof. Eric Eboh (Executive Director) and Mr. Oliver C. Ujah (Deputy Research Coordinator).

The learning event proper was preceded with a welcome cocktail for all participants hosted by the Think Tank Initiative (TTI). This cocktail programme started by 17.00 hours on the 7th of March, 2010, and was aimed at familiarization of the participants (48), facilitators and the resource persons with one another.

The learning event which spanned three days comprised of seven sessions, group work/discussions and group lunches and dinner. Day 1 (March 08, 2010) featured welcome and introductory remarks by Constance Freeman (Regional Director, Eastern and South Africa, IDRC); Session 1 – presentation of the Think Tank Initiative and M&E (including TTI progress update and the overview of TTI M&E strategy) by Marie-Claude Martin and Peter Taylor; Session 2 – overview of the learning event’s objective, introduction of the evaluation and learning process, personal question reflection exercise (in pairs), recapping of the e-forum (M&E successes/challenges and workshop expectations), introduction to CIPO (context, input, process, output) approach, and process for identifying additional learning needs and modes of support). This session was facilitated by Veronique McKinnon and Peter Taylor; Session 3 – presentation by Sanjeev Sridharan on “localizing understanding of useful evidence: why attention to pathways of influence may our research” – covering the concept of localized evidence and pathways of influence, notions of evaluative thinking and an evaluation culture, examples of good organizational practice informed by evaluative thinking, and experiences from partner organizations regarding their approach to M&E; Session 4 – “evaluative thinking and research quality” presented/facilitated by Stephen Yeo and Ernest Aryeetey covering M&E and research quality: experiences, approaches and methods, and M&E and research quality in Think Tank Initiative partner organization. This session also witnessed a peer presentation by AIAE which was done by Prof. Eric Eboh; group discussions; and Day 1 debriefing.

Day 2 comprised the following activities – overview of the day’s objectives and activities; burning question reflection exercise (in pairs); Session 5 – “evaluative thinking and research-policy linkages” facilitated by Enrique Mendizabal covering how to locate evaluative thinking within research and organizational strategies for policy influence, group discussions (leadership and management capabilities to support navigation of complex policy systems, and M&E methods and tools to support policy influence by research organizations), and peer presentation by Kenyan Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPRRA); Session 6 – “evaluative thinking and implications for organizational learning and development” covering “promoting an evaluative culture: organizational leadership, practices, and approaches”, “operationalizing M&E: methods and tools” and “developing institutional goals and strategies for M&E”, facilitated by Peter Taylor and TTI facilitation team, and featuring peer presentations by Institute for Policy Analysis and Research (IPAR), Rwanda and Senegal; Day 2 debriefing; and group dinner at a restaurant called “Carnivore”.

The final day (Day 3) started with an overview of the morning’s objectives and activities facilitated by Wieteke Beernink and Peter Taylor; personal question reflection exercise (in pairs and individually); Session 7 – evaluation exercise in groups (evaluating the learning event and identifying future learning needs related to M&E), ways forward in groups (discussion of areas and themes for further learning events and/or TTI support, ways forward in plenary and workshop debriefing; lunch and departure of participants.