SAMEA, WSG & Clear AA Officially Launch the International Year of Evaluation in South Africa
The Minister in the Presidency, the Honourable Jeff Radebe and the Chairperson of the South African Monitoring and Evaluation Association (SAMEA), who is also the Director General of the Public Service Commission (PSC), Richard Levin will officially launch the International Year of Evaluation in South Africa on Thursday, 19 March 2015 at WITS in Johannesburg. The launch comes at the time when South African is mourning the tragic passing of Minister of Public Service and Administration, Collins Chabane on Sunday 15 March 2015. His contribution in public administration will be missed.
SAMEA together with the Wits School of Governance (WSG) and the Center for Learning on Evaluation and Results for Anglophone Africa (CLEAR AA) are co-hosting the launch.
The year 2015 was officially declared the International Year of Evaluation during the third International Conference on National Evaluation Capacities in São Paulo, Brazil, 29 Sep-2 Oct 2013.The International Year of Evaluation seeks to highlight the central role of evaluation in development, whilst concomitantly advocating and promoting evidence-based policy making at international, regional, national and local levels. “We abundantly support the decision taken in Sao Paulo to declare 2015 as the International Year of Evaluation. We are thrilled as this decision seeks to advocate for and promote evaluation and evidence based policy-making in South Africa, regionally and internationally”, declares WSG Head of School, Professor Thomas Mogale.
The International Year of Evaluation is a global movement that seeks to craft, enhance and sustain an enabling environment for evaluation at different levels. The aim is to strengthen the demand for and use of evaluation to inform public policies that are equity-focused and gender-responsive. CLEAR AA director, Dr Laila Smith adds, “We believe that evaluation, alongside planning and monitoring, have a critical role to play in building a developmental state that is capable of transforming society by arresting growing inequality, deepening democracy and supporting the liveable cities across Africa. It is now widely acknowledged that national development policies and programmes should be informed by evidence generated by credible national monitoring and evaluation systems, while ensuring policy coherence at regional and global level.”
Stanley Ntakumba, Deputy Chairperson of SAMEA concludes, “South Africa will collaborate with the international evaluation community through the African Evaluation Association and other similar platforms, including through national, regional and international related academic and professional associations to champion the importance of evaluation practice.”
Members of the media are invited to the launch of the 2015 International Year of Evaluation to be held as follows:
Venue: Senate House, 2nd Floor, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg,
Date: 19 March 2015
Time: 08:30 – 12:00
For more information, please contact: Ricardo Mahlakanya; Deputy Director: External Communication; Public Service Commission; Tel: 012-352 1070; Cell: 079 769 7955; Email: ricardom@opsc.gov.za; or Humphrey Ramafoko; Director: Communication and Information Services; Public Service Commission; Tel: 012-352 1196; Cell: 082 782 1730; Email: humphreyr@opsc.gov.za.
