Crossing borders and building bridges: Embracing Diversity and Inclusion in Global Evaluation Practices (European Evaluation Society 2024 Keynote – Zenda Ofir, Bagele Chilisa and Yvonne Pinto)

Yvonne began by sharing her personal story, emphasizing her African identity despite her diverse background. She was born in Kenya and raised in Ethiopia, with genetic roots in India, and often perceived as a brown Brit. Yvonne considers herself a broker and translator, deeply aware of multiple ethnicities, cultures, and traditions. She highlighted the importance of recognizing prejudice and discrimination, especially among those who are unaware of their biases. Yvonne also spoke about the implications of having a privileged education and her commitment to connection, relational enablement, and leadership from behind, which she associates with African contexts. Yvonne also noted that she values being firm, clear, and explicit, which may be more of a northern paradigm. Yvonne mentioned the African proverb that: “Until the lions have their own storytellers, stories of the hunt will always favour the hunter”.

Bagele, another speaker, identified herself as African, born in Botswana, and belonging to the Bantu people. She shared a Bantu saying that is spoken across the African continent, “I am because we are” – Ubuntu – which shapes her life and being. Bagele emphasized her view of seeing people as human beings rather than through the lenses of color, race, religion, vocation, or gender. She strives to support global relations, build coalitions, and ensure respect for all knowledge systems and cultures.

Zenda, the third speaker, shared her identity as a white South African with a lineage in Africa dating back to 1690. Informed by her experience, Zenda expressed a strong sense of justice for people and nature, advocating for equality [correction, Zenda emphasized that she considers all lives of equal value] and the empowerment of the global South through evaluation. As Zenda put it, all living beings are connected, and we should consider the implications of that for our actions and the ecosystems around us, respecting differences, practising empathy, and building bridges. Zenda also emphasized the need to question everything, recognizing the power of indoctrination through media, politics, and religion, especially in the West, and emphasizing the importance of understanding things from multiple perspectives.

The conversation then shifted to the major divisions within the global evaluation community. Bagele identified three primary divides: our ways of conceiving reality [ontology]; our ways of conceiving what counts as knowledge [epistemology]; and, our ways of conceiving what counts as values [axiology]. Mainstream evaluation has been dominated by western paradigms and has largely ignored and excluded indigenous cultural, spiritual and environmental perspectives on the nature of reality, how reality can be understood, and what values are important.

Evaluation has been shaped by pedagogical colonialism, methodological colonialism, and funding colonialism. Pedagogical colonialism refers to the teaching of methods and paradigms rooted in Western traditions, excluding other perspectives. Methodological colonialism involves the use of methods based exclusively on Western paradigms, while funding colonialism pertains to funders dictating the methodologies that they are prepared to invest in and which evaluators are permitted to use.

Zenda followed up by discussing the philosophical underpinnings and frameworks that shape evaluation practices. She highlighted the differences between Western and non-Western societies, emphasizing the need to respect these differences. Zenda mentioned the work of Jeremy Lent [The Patterning Instinct], Tyson Yunkaporta [Sand Talk – my notes], Richard Nisbett [Geography of Thought – my notes ] and others who have analyzed the historical and cultural influences on worldviews. She pointed out that Western societies often operate on a "split cosmos, split human" paradigm, while many non-Western societies view the world as a harmonic web of life.

Zenda also discussed the importance of recognizing dominant narratives and the danger of a single story, as highlighted by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie [Video here]. She argued that terms like "developed" and "developing" countries create notions of superiority and are not accurate representations of global realities. Instead, she advocated for recognizing that all countries are developing and that the best form of governance is one that serves its people effectively, rather than necessarily being democracy or a particular version of democracy. Zenda emphasized that versions of systems thinking and complexity – including co-evolution and directed improvisation [Yuen Yuen Ang] – have been part of narratives in the east, and in indigenous cultures, for thousands of years.

Yvonne, working for the International Rice Research Institute – part of CGIAR – brought a practical perspective to the conversation, drawing on her experience in agriculture, environmental systems, and social impact measurement. She emphasized the importance of considering societal norms and communication styles in evaluation. In the global North, societies are often transactional, low-context and explicit in language, while in the global South, societies are relational, high-context and implicit [unspoken communication and meaning]. Yvonne highlighted the need for methodologies that reflect these differences and address the complexities and power dynamics in evaluation and the social realities in particular contexts.

Yvonne also called for greater multi-disciplinarity and diversity in evaluation teams, and emphasized the value of South-South evaluation approaches, and respectful and equitable South-North collaboration. She stressed the importance of human-centered design, gender equity, and data sovereignty in evaluation practices. Yvonne concluded by emphasizing the need for frameworks that reflect the aspirations of the people being evaluated and for brokering opportunities between the global South and the rest of the world.

In the concluding remarks, Yvonne and Bagele reiterated the importance of blending knowledge from different disciplines, sectors and traditions, including those of indigenous cultures. They emphasized the need for transformative development, a deeper understanding of how change happens and – as part of a process of decolonization – greater inclusion of non-western perspectives, priorities and practices. Zenda called for an end to “transformation washing” – system reform and system optimization – and for additional investment in collaborative programs that blend knowledge and knowledge systems from around the world to further transformative development.

The speakers collectively highlighted the importance of embracing indigenous knowledge systems and integrating them into evaluation practices. They stressed the need for continuous dialogue and collaboration to address the challenges of the future and to create a more inclusive and equitable evaluation community.

The conversation underscored the significance of recognizing and respecting diverse perspectives, questioning dominant narratives, and striving for a more holistic and inclusive approach to evaluation. The speakers called for a collective effort to bridge divides and work towards a more just and sustainable world.