To: 11/11/2015
Location: Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
Time to rethink how we do development
The African Development Bank is convening development practitioners to Development Evaluation Week 2015 to critically examine emerging development issues and share evidence-based insights, guidance, know-how and innovative approaches on how to address related challenges, especially in light of the new global sustainable development objectives being formulated.
Speaking about the objectives and goals of Development Evaluation Week 2015, Rakesh Nangia, AfDB Evaluator General, said:
"The development landscape is changing at a fast and unprecedented pace as we can see from the frequent conversations about such topics as global and regional public goods; the rise of the BRICS, the creation of new development banks; the development of innovative financial instruments; climate change; green growth; inclusive growth; greater private sector role in promoting and financing development; shifting strategic partnerships; a civil society that is more empowered; and developing countries striving to mobilize more domestic resources to reduce their dependency on aid. What does all this mean for development practitioners? Will business as usual get us through or do all these changes call for a paradigm shift in how we implement development initiatives? What innovative thinking, approaches and practices are required for the way forward?"
The four-day event will offer opportunities for participants to engage in various technical workshops, debate emerging development issues through high-level discussions, as well as lively and interactive face-to-face or virtual forums. Expected outcomes are concrete innovative ways to better navigate the new world of development.
This event is being organized in the context of the 2015 International Year of Evaluation. As evaluation contributes to all aspects of development work, all practitioners are invited to join the conversation during Development Evaluation Week. Participants will include influential world dignitaries, development practitioners, evaluators, and decision makers; donors and multilateral development banks; other donor agencies, industry; civil society; academia; and non-government organizations.
Areas of focus:
Transforming Africa: Overcoming Fragility, Building Infrastructure; Developing the Private Sector for sustained economic growth and sustainable development;
Financing Development; Governance and Accountability for Sustainable Development;
Tackling Emerging Development Challenges: Becoming a Learning Organization for the Road Ahead; Meeting of the Minds - Economists & Evaluators.
Event overview
The four-day knowledge-sharing event will offer lively and interactive face-to-face and virtual forums.
Key events include the following:
Launching of Evaluation Week by the AfDB President
One-on-one interviews of renowned African leaders
Keynote addresses by experienced development practitioners
Ignite talks
Book launches
Moderated panel discussions and debates on various emerging development issues and related challenges and opportunities) with active audience participation
Knowledge fair, including the launch of flagship evaluation reports
IDEV awards, and Networking opportunities.
To receive further information about the AfDB Evaluation Week 2015, send an email to evaluationweek@afdb.org
About the AfDB Evaluation Week
The AfDB Development Evaluation Week is a knowledge sharing event that offers development actors from across the globe an opportunity to discuss and debate development issues - both successes and failures - through an evaluation lens. Learning from both successes and failures will help all partners avoid costly mistakes and increase the effectiveness of development actions.
Discussions draw on lessons from the past interventions of development partners and practitioners and highlight good practices that can inform future development work. The event focuses on what works, what does not work, and why, and on the identification of trends, new ideas, and actions that can bring about change and improve development effectiveness. Ultimately, Evaluation Week provides greater insights into development work and generates innovative solutions to development challenges.
Development Evaluation Week is one of the ways in which Independent Development Evaluation (IDEV) achieves its strategic objectives of enhancing learning from experience, providing a basis for accountability, and promoting an evaluation culture.
About IDEV: The mission of Independent Development Evaluation is to enhance the development effectiveness of the AfDB in its regional member countries through independent and influential evaluations and partnerships for sharing knowledge. operationsevaluation.afdb.org
About the AfDB: The overarching objective of the African Development Bank Group is to foster sustainable economic development and social progress in its regional member countries (RMCs), thus contributing to poverty reduction. The Bank Group achieves this objective by mobilizing and allocating resources for investment in RMCs and providing policy advice and technical assistance to support development efforts.
