Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation participated in EvalFest 2024, organised by Evaluation Community of India on the theme ‘Making Evaluation Heard: Navigating the Evaluation Discourse within the Global South Context’ on February 21, 2024, in New Delhi.
The round table adopted the format of a focused group discussion, beginning with a brainstorming session. Participants critically reflected on the issues of evaluation. This formal discussion aimed to explore and understand the challenges associated with evaluation.
Ramanshu Ganguly, Associate Director, Climate Insights, Shakti, moderated a roundtable session on ‘Making Evaluation Heard: Navigating the Evaluation Discourse within the Global South Context.’ The discussion commenced with a plethora of questions, centering around the navigation of evaluation discourse and the amplification of evaluations and there was a query as to why evaluation is typically regarded as a post-design element rather than being integrated at the inception of the process. It was an open floor for additional discussion by posing and discussing other questions, all intended to delve into the formal aspects of evaluation and explore the importance of ensuring that evaluations are acknowledged from the outset.
The overarching objectives of the initiative were twofold: firstly, to encourage dialogue concerning the promotion and amplification of evaluative perspectives within the context of the global south, and secondly, to recognise and tackle obstacles encountered during the implementation of evaluation practices in this region, including constraints such as limited resources and insufficient capacity, to devise effective solutions.