On 7 April 2021, the Eval4Action campaign turned one!
In its first year, Eval4Action has rallied a worldwide call for stronger coordination and partnerships for action towards influential evaluation. Launched when the COVID-19 pandemic was spreading across the globe, the campaign seized the moment to advocate for equitable and sustainable response and recovery from the pandemic that is backed by evidence. Through the year, the campaign put a spotlight on evaluation having the highest multiplier effect on sustainable development.
In a short time, Eval4Action mobilized the global evaluation community in an unprecedented way. Today, the campaign’s 127 partners are co-creating and shaping evaluation advocacy in regions and countries, with young and emerging evaluators leading the way.
Key milestones
High-level launch by UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem and UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, Ms. Jayathma Wickramanayake took place in June 2020. Marathon of nearly 70 motivational statements from the global evaluation community marked this event.
Eval4Action was launched via regional consultations in the Asia Pacific, Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), Europe, Eurasia and Africa. The seventh regional consultation will take place in North America on 20 April 2021. The consultations have mobilized regional and national partnerships to build national evaluation capacities. In the Asia Pacific, the consultation led to the development of the regional evaluation strategy. Regional action plans are in development in MENA, LAC and Europe.
In October 2020, a global call for institutional and individual commitments to action for influential evaluation was launched, to accelerate the achievement of the SDGs at all levels. The Drive resulted in 125 voluntary promises, including high-level commitments and those from young evaluators to increase action for influential evaluation. As a follow-up, the Walk the Talk video drive will take place in October 2021.
The Eval4Action Twitter Chat was held with 27 co-panelists including all regional and international partners in May 2020. The tremendous outreach of the Chat brought worldwide visibility to Eval4Action and to evaluation being a key accelerator for the SDGs, especially during COVID-19. Building on this experience, an all-day #Eval4Action Tweetathon took place on 7 April 2021.
The campaign launched Eval4Action blogs to feature ideas, reflections and knowledge on strengthening and utilizing evaluation as an accelerator to achieve the SDGs.
Moving forward in its second year, the campaign has co-created its global agenda via a priority survey and an informal dialogue with partners. The campaign efforts are now focused on intensifying regional and national action for influential evaluation and strengthening multi-stakeholder partnerships for evaluation at all levels. To inspire a movement for transformational change, the values of shared ownership and participation continue to guide Eval4Action in 2021 and beyond.
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