Hi, we are Lisa Frantzen, Amy Jersild, and Scott Chaplowe, and we are members of AEA’s International Working Group (IWG). The IWG advises AEA’s Executive Director on international issues and policies that affect international members and conference participants. The IWG is comprised of evaluators who work and live in various parts of the globe, are involved in international and cross-cultural evaluation, and represent an assortment of international evaluation networks. The Group believes the rich and valuable exchange between countries and cultures is highly valuable for AEA members.
The landscape of those involved in international evaluation is quite broad and includes: U.S.-based and internationally-based evaluation actors, AEA stakeholder organizations, and global membership evaluation organizations, including AEA. Figure 1 provides a landscape snapshot developed by the IWG to help AEA consider the international evaluation ecosystem in which it sits.
Figure 1: International Landscape of Evaluation Actors
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AEA has developed an International Engagement Strategy for creating knowledge sharing opportunities between AEA members and evaluators around the world. With approximately 18% of AEA members based outside of the United States, it is important for AEA and AEA’s Leadership to remain abreast of international issues and engaged in the global evaluation community. Also, as the world’s largest and one of the most active Voluntary Organizations for Professional Education (VOPE, or evaluation association), the AEA has considerable potential to influence and support the global evaluation community.
AEA engages internationally by: (1) leveraging international evaluation networks, (2) leveraging international evaluation policy discussions, (3) strengthening and learning from evaluation associations overseas, (4) raising the profile of evaluation in the United States and internationally, (5) enriching AEA members’ evaluation practice through the exchange of global evaluation ideas, and (6) promoting evaluation as a desirable career internationally.
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Other actors within the international evaluation ecosystem which contribute to the IWG are:
- AEA’s International and Cross-Cultural Evaluation (ICCE) Topical Interest Group (TIG) – This TIG fosters idea exchange amongst AEA members on topics related to international and cross-cultural evaluation. The TIG supports efforts such as the International Travel Awards, International Buddy Program, ICCE conference sessions, an AEA365 week, and other member events. Membership to the ICCE TIG is open to any AEA member.
- International Organization for Cooperation in Evaluation (IOCE) – The IOCE represents Voluntary Organizations for Professional Evaluation (VOPEs) worldwide. It strengthens international evaluation through the exchange of evaluation methods, theories, and practice, and promotes good governance and recognition of the value evaluation has in improving peoples’ lives.
- EvalPartners – EvalPartners was formed by the IOCE and the United Nations in 2012. This partnership brings together the UN, VOPEs, Governments, Parliamentarians, Civil Society Organizations, Development Banks and other partners. EvalPartners strives to influence policymakers, public opinion, and key stakeholders to recognize the need for effective evaluation. Included in the EvalPartners umbrella are:
- EvalGender+ – a global partnership which exists to promote the demand, supply, and use of equity-focused and gender responsive evaluation.
- EvalIndigenous – a multi-stakeholder partnership which recognizes and values the strengths of Indigenous evaluation practices and advances the contribution of Indigenous evaluation to global evaluation practice.
- EVALSDGs – a network of policymakers, institutions, and practitioners who advocate for the critical role of evaluation for achieving the SDGs.
- EvalYouth – a global, multi-stakeholder network that supports and promotes young emerging evaluators and youth-led accountability around the world.
- Global Parliamentarians Forum for Evaluation – a collaborative movement of international parliamentarians, committed to improving policy outcomes and social accountability, that advocates for evidence-based decision making.
- The IWG also interfaces with other national and regional VOPES, as well as an assortment of additional international evaluation organizations and initiatives that IWG members engage with, such as the International Evaluation Academy, Eval4Action, EvalForward, and United Nations Evaluation Group.
Look for our session at this year’s AEA Conference in New Orleans where we’ll be looking for your suggestions on how AEA can support knowledge sharing on global evaluation issues. You can also let us know here. We hope to hear from you!
The American Evaluation Association is hosting International and Cross-Cultural (ICCE) TIG Week with our colleagues in the International and Cross-Cultural Topical Interest Group. The contributions all this week to AEA365 come from our ICCE TIG members. Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this AEA365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the AEA365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an AEA365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to AEA365@eval.org. AEA365 is sponsored by the American Evaluation Association and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators. The views and opinions expressed on the AEA365 blog are solely those of the original authors and other contributors. These views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of the American Evaluation Association, and/or any/all contributors to this site.