4 December 2007

SAMEA UPDATE! SAMEA UPDATE! SAMEA UPDATE! SAMEA UPDATE!

Dear members and potential members

This year during March we experienced our very successful inaugural conference. The event catapulted SAMEA into the ranks of similar international associations as the quality of the conference was on par with those organised by well-established and probably better resourced associations. The newly elected Board of Directors convened a strategic planning session in June 2007 and this has resulted in a Strategic Planning Document that is available to all members on request or which you may download at our website (http:www.samea.org.za). Board members were elected and the following portfolios were assigned:

Chairperson: Mark Abrahams

Deputy Chairperson: Indran Naidoo

Treasurer: Benita van Wyk

Academia and Evaluation Journal: Kevin Kelly

Website & Communication: Marlene Roefs

Policies and procedures: Octavia Mkhabela

International Liaison: Donna Podems

Government liaison: Fanie Cloete

Training, Capacity Building: Sarah Howie

Regions, Chapters and TIGs: Sefiso Khumalo

Corporate Liaison: Angela Bester

There has been a steady growth in SAMEA membership. We have approximately 400 paid up members and over 200 registered on SAMEAtalk, our listserve. “Growing SAMEA” will soon become a central theme in our communication with existing structures in Gauteng, Western Cape and the Eastern Cape. We are encouraging the establishment of local ‘chapters’ and have invited active members to develop clear guidelines on the roles and responsibilities of the chapters. Similarly, various Topical Interest Groups (TIGs), such as Accreditation and Government Sector are emerging with the support of the Board. These ‘dynamic’ processes have been documented in a ‘Policies and Procedures’ paper that will be circulated for comment to members soon. The Board has also sought guidance from other international M&E associations on how regional and topical interest groups are to be established and sustained.

The Accreditation Group, coordinated by Christel Jacob, met with SAQA representatives recently. Follow-up meetings have resulted in a plan for a Qualification Scoping Exercise to take place during May 2008. Minutes of the Accreditation group have been circulated to all members on SAMEAtalk Listserve. The Accreditation Group will be asked to draft a proposal, outlining the purpose and resource needs for the Scoping Exercise so that the required support can be enlisted either internally or externally. Important for all members to note is the establishment of the new Quality Council for Trade and Occupations (QCTO) that will become responsible, outside the higher education sector, for all accreditation. Jennifer Bisgard, an ex-Board member, will be asked to engage the Board about a possible M&E pilot for next year. The next Accreditation Task Team meeting will be held on the 14th of February 2008 in Pretoria. Invites for this event will be circulated via SAMEAtalk.

SAMEA was invited to attend a South African Management Development Institute (SAMDI) Reference Group meeting [November 2007]. SAMDI’s goal is to train M&E users, M&E managers and M&E practitioners. The focus between now and the end of 2008 is to train a large number of senior managers of the civil service. SAMDI has agreed to revisit its proposed ‘curriculum’ and will work closely with SAMEA. An invite to join the SAMDI mailing list will be send to SAMEA and SAMEAtalk members so they can be informed of future events.

Board members, including several SAMEA members, attended a two-day Government-Wide M&E Learning Network initiated by the Office of the Presidency (November 2007). The two-day event show-cased best practices in the areas of Information Management Systems and other interventions related to development, delivery and M&E. The Learning Network will convene regular meetings to discuss M&E issues relevant to the Government Sector. Marlene Roefs will serve as the SAMEA observer delegate on the Learning Networks’ Organising Committee. How this network will interact with SAMEA should emerge during the ongoing discussions.

Please note that the next national SAMEA M&E conference is scheduled for May 2009. Linked to this will be the establishment of a committee to do research on available M&E Internships and Bursaries for further studies. Another committee will look at M&E best practices and awards will be allocated at the 2009 conference. Benita van Wyk will coordinate these activities. Since there will be no ‘big’ conference in 2008, several other types of events are planned for next year.

These include:

• Seminar on Institutionalisation and organisation of M&E in government (Public Service Commission’s M&E Audit) and tertiary sector. This seminar is planned for;

• Gauteng (21 February 2008), Western Cape (6 March 2008), and the Eastern Cape or KZN (28 February 2008 or 13 March 2008).

• A three day training course on Impact Evaluation is being considered for May/June 2008. The Board is currently looking at potential facilitators both locally and internationally who can provide stimulating input on this topic.

• A seminar focusing on multiple perspectives on Impact Evaluation will accompany the above mentioned training and will/could provide the backdrop for the 2008 AGM.

The Board will soon re-vamp the SAMEA website, which will need to be adjusted to serve our growing membership and organisation. The website will be more responsive to members’ needs, make more links and resources available, and facilitate easier communication between the Board and SAMEA members.

Another exciting and noteworthy development relates to the establishment and launch of an African M&E Journal. Kevin Kelly is working with individuals in the African Evaluation Association (AfrEA) on defining the parameters of such a journal and identifying the practicalities of launching and maintaining it.

In our effort to establish international relations with sister and brother M&E associations, SAMEA will participate in the conference events of the Malaysian Association and the European Association during 2008.

SAMEA hopes that these and other events and actions will serve to promote and strengthen M&E in South Africa and the region. The support and participation of M&E practitioners and users is a sine qua non for this to become a reality. We thank our growing membership and sponsors for their valuable contribution and encourage those people who have not joined us to sign up soon (http:www.samea.org.za). On behalf of the SAMEA board, I wish for all M&E stakeholders and their families a blessed holiday season and good tidings for the New Year.

Mark Abrahams

Chair SAMEA