Participatory tools are increasingly valued in the field of evaluation whether for analysing reality, facilitating communication, constructing collective perspectives, stimulating creativity and facilitating decision-making, or even for quietening dominant voices to give space for shyer ones. A quick search in the EvalParticipativa tools section is enough to demonstrate that we have a rich supply of techniques and activity ideas. Yet, even though we have a vast array of tools, we do not always know how to use them well. Whilst there seems to be an instrument for every possible situation or goal, there is also the need to constantly modify them and design new customised tools to suit specific situations.

Everyone who has facilitated participatory processes has asked themselves at some point how to achieve maximum possible involvement from as many stakeholders as possible in the activities that we organise. And of course we have not always managed to achieve this! We believe that one of the challenges of participatory evaluation is to create spaces where real participation takes place and multiple stakeholders are the real protagonists in the evaluation agenda.

It is not enough to have a deep understanding of participatory evaluation. It is necessary to identify and use appropriate tools in each social and cultural context where the evaluation is held. These thoughts are a response to this challenge and we are going to share some ideas whilst hoping to provide a pathway for others which will emerge from this community of practice regarding the challenging task of selecting or creating the right tools to facilitate the evaluative process.

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Evaluation is growing in importance in the region. The professional demand from institutions is responded to through focuses and practices which vary in terms of quality and depth. The differences observed in evaluation affects professionalisation and how useful they are for decision-making, learning lessons, accountability and public deliberation on social policies and actions.

In order to address this diversity of realities, international experience demonstrates the importance of having standards which act as guiding references for the professional work of evaluators.

These definitions have been compiled by various organisations, professional associations and cooperation agencies. For example, standards have been defined by institutions belonging to the United Nations; evaluation associations from the USA (AEA), Europe (EES) and Africa (AFREA); and national associations and networks such as those in Germany, Canada, France, Switzerland among others.

They all share core definitions and recognise the shared element inherent to the professional exercise of evaluation, whatever the social or cultural context.

Given the field of evaluation’s relatively recent development in Latin America, it is of upmost importance to have a common guidance framework similar to those in other regions. As well as gathering shared core principles, other dimensions should be considered which are unique and relevant to our rich and diverse reality in Latin America.

For this reason, the Network of Monitoring, Evaluation and Systematisation for Latin America and the Caribbean decided to organise a working group to address this topic and draft the publication, Evaluation Standards for Latin America and the Caribbean. This is available in Spanish, Portuguese and English and is the fruit of the collective work of many people who have contributed their ideas and time. This was achieved with the support of FOCEVAL and the German Institute for Development Evaluation (DEval) who helped organise and run activities.

A few days ago, an animated video introducing the project was launched. It is currently available in two versions (short and extended) in Spanish and one version in English and Portuguese.

English version

Spanish (extended) version

Spanish (short) version

Portuguese version

We hope it will be useful to everyone who is interested in carrying out quality evaluations. We invite you to discover these materials and share them with your colleagues and peers!

Bye for now!