Theory in Practice

Back with some exciting news!  'Making M&E Work in Development Programme: A Practitioner's Handbook' is a product of more than 15 years in development, and 10 years in M&E. It's purpose is many: as an introduction to M&E in development programming to people new to the field; as a training handbook; and as go-to guide for established development practitioners that understand M&E but struggle with operationalizing the M&E framework for their project or programme.  The book is available through Amazon and other online websites. You can purchase it here: https://www.amazon.com/Making-Work-Development-Programmes-Practitioners-ebook/dp/B07PK5RBKS/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=denika+blacklock&qid=1556249243&s=gateway&sr=8-1-spell

You can now purchase my new book on Amazon Kindle edition here Paperback edition here Happy reading!

Originally posted on the Australian Evaluation Society Blog ( AES Blog )   November 2018 By Denika Blacklock I have been working in development for 15 years and have specialised in M&E for the past 10 years. In all that time, I have never been asked to design an M&E framework for or undertake an evaluation of a project which did not focus entirely on a logframe. Understandably, it is a practical tool for measuring results – particularly quantitative results – in development projects. However, as the drive for increased development effectiveness and, thankfully, more accountability to stakeholders has progressed, simply measuring what we have successfully done (versus what we have successfully changed or improved) requires more than just numbers. More concerning is the fact that logframes measure linear progression toward preset targets. Any development practitioner worth their degree can tell you that development – and development projects – is never linear, and a...

I recently had the unique experience of spending time in DPRK (North Korea). I was evaluating two separate projects – standard stuff related to OECD DAC, results, gender and inclusion, lessons learned etc. After my first visit to the communities where activities were being implemented, I was asked what I thought. ‘Same thing, different country,’ was my response. To be fair, once you get past the hoopla about DPRK, the development needs at the community level are pretty much the same as any other least developed country or fragile state. Geography and culture influence what you do and how, but the issues that need addressing are similar.

I ’ve recently completed a number of missions for M&E purposes across Asia and the Pacific, and although there is always a sense of satisfaction of ticking the box on all of your deliverables, of knowing your client is pleased with the results, there is perhaps a greater satisfaction in what you can take away from each experience to build your own knowledge and try to use in your next assignment, to make development work just a bit more accountable and a bit… more. Measuring Innovation in Laos Nearly 10 years after drafting guidelines for the country office of an international organization on how to implement results-based monitoring and evaluation, I’ve discovered that a) not only have those guidelines been disseminated and used regionally, but b) they haven’t been updated (10 years!!??) and c) we’ve changed what we want to measure but not the tools we are allowed to measure the changes we effect with. Sigh.

Yo u have to admit, there is a lot of good writing out there. Such is the wonder of the internet and the ability of people to give their ideas and opinions a voice. I’m a proponent of this, particularly of those writers (professional and ad hoc) who have something truly meaningful to say. 2017 was, to my mind, a seminal year for some very excellent writing, largely to the shifting world around us. Below is the list of the top five articles which both inspired and challenged me last year, despite the fact that we are well into 2018. Coming in a number five, ‘ Why Expertise Matters .’ What with ‘fake news’ and, sadly, the terrible opinions based on conjecture and absolutely no fact, people with actual expertise have to compete not just with other people with expertise, but more often than not, people who know nothing about anything but like to feed their egos. Differentiating fact from fiction used to be a simile, but now? It is a full-time job and rarely does that mean that fact (and...

Originally Published in Al Jazeera http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/arms-embargo-myanmar-save-rohingya-170924081030160.html The past couple of weeks have seen a flurry of statements and op-eds demanding that the international community do something to stop the ethnic cleansing of the  Rohingya  in Myanmar. Among the demands made of the international community was the implementation of an arms embargo by the UN Security Council. In a report published on 17 September,  Human Rights Watch  requested that "The Security Council should urgently place a travel ban and asset freeze on those responsible for grave abuses and impose a comprehensive arms embargo against Burma, including prohibiting military cooperation and financial transactions with key military-owned enterprises."