Call for submissions

Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) continue to occupy centre stage in development discourses, primarily because of dwindling resource availability and the need for more strategic allocation. There is an urgent need to know what works, when, how and why. Without this knowledge we are likely to repeat past mistakes and more seriously fail the recipients who stand to benefit from the use of scarce resources. This is true for highly involved government development programmes and policies as well as small targeted initiatives by NGOs, CBOs and the private sector.

Values and principles, are inextricably part of the conceptualisation, planning, commissioning, implementation and use of M&E processes and findings. We need to think carefully about what values are implicitly espoused or promoted in M&E processes.

This raises questions about whether there are values that that underpin M&E practices in general, as well as questions about how to identify and reconcile value differences that may arise in interpreting M&E findings. Those who commission M&E, M&E practitioners, people who use M&E findings, and programme beneficiaries; may have very different perspectives on what matters. This may lead them to understand M&E needs and to interpret findings in quite different ways.

The 2009 Bi-annual SAMEA Conference is centered on these concerns. We invite participation in the conference from individuals and groups involved with: utilisation of M&E practices and findings; programme development, management and implementation; knowledge management and learning within organizations and programmes; the challenges of building evaluation systems for tiered, multi-sectoral and multi-partnered programmes; and building evaluation capacity. We expect participation to come from many disciplines, sectors and perspectives. Please use this opportunity to share your experiences, help us address crucial questions and construct best practices that will inform policy decisions, implementation strategies and capacity building initiatives.

Organising Strands:

• Monitoring and evaluation in the public sector – the principles and values that inform frameworks and practices.

• Values underpinning evaluation methods – The relation between methods of evaluation and the values that inform them.

• Contracting evaluations – the values embedded in requests.

• M&E innovations in action – new approaches, instruments, tools and techniques.

• Global trends and local actions – comparative perspectives, global and local influences, the role of donors and dependence/interdependence issues.

• M&E practices and values in the caring professions – health, welfare, HIV/AIDS, poverty alleviation and the general well-being of individuals, communities and institutions.

• M&E practices and values in education and training, from ECD to higher education; including community based capacity building programmes and the skills development (SETAS) agenda in South Africa, as well as the building of evaluation capacity.

Conference Activities

Pre-conference professional development workshops: On the two days prior to the main conference SAMEA will host a number of professional development workshops. These will be hands-on, interactive sessions that provide an opportunity to learn new skills or hone existing skills. They will range in length between ½ day, 1 day and 2 days long.

The main conference format will include plenary sessions, panel discussions, parallel paper presentations, and poster presentations.

PLENARY SESSIONS: The plenary sessions will be led by invited key-note speakers. To date we can confirm the participation of Professor Jennifer Greene of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is an international author, scholar, trainer with in-depth experience of working in the field of M&E in different contexts. Another speaker is Professor Johann Mouton of the Centre for Research on Science and Technology, University of Stellenbosch. He is a well known author and scholar whose books are used by most academic institutions in South Africa. We also look forward to the contribution of Professor Adam Habib, Deputy Vice Chancellor at the University of Johannesburg. His research interests include democratisation and its consolidation in South Africa, contemporary social movements, philanthropy, giving and its impact on poverty alleviation and development.

PANEL DISCUSSIONS: This formal, thematic, 90-minute presentation focuses on an issue facing the field of evaluation. The overall abstract should outline how three or more panelists and possibly a discussant will offer coordinated presentations and the general topic of the panel. In addition, the proposal must contain separate abstracts or summaries from each presenter describing his or her contribution to the session. The submitter is responsible for coordinating the presentations in advance. Panels should be interactive in that they allow for questions and discussion following the formal presentations.

PAPER PRESENTATIONS: Paper presentations may be submitted either individually or as a pre-defined group of two or more papers on a common topic. Papers submitted individually will be grouped with others on a common theme and will be allocated 15 minutes as part of either a 45- or 90-minute session. Paper abstracts should detail the focus of the paper and the way(s) in which it contributes to the body of knowledge in the field of evaluation.

POSTER RESENTATIONS: This formal graphic presentation of your topic, displayed on poster board, offers an excellent opportunity for gathering detailed feedback on your work and reporting on evaluation results. Posters should NOT be used to advertise a product or service. Like a paper, the abstract should detail the focus of the presentation and the way(s) in which it contributes to the body of knowledge in the field of evaluation. The presenters provide all the items to be attached to the boards. Poster Competition: There will be a prize for the best poster presentation. A panel of judges will review posters based on content AND presentation.

GUIDELINES FOR CONTRIBUTIONS

Panel Discussions

Proposals should include the following:

1. Title of panel discussion

2. Names, affiliations and areas of expertise of panellists and moderator. Moderators are requested only to include panellists that have already agreed to participate.

3. Email and telephone contact details of moderator

4. Abstract: This may not be longer than 300 words. It should be a summary of the themes or issues to be addressed by the panel members. It should also justify why the panel may be of interest to the conference.

Oral Paper Presentations

Abstract submissions for oral presentations should include the following:

1. Indication that the abstract is for an oral presentation.

2. Title of presentation

3. Name and affiliation of author/s

4. Name and title of presenting author

5. Email and telephone contact details of presenting author

6. Abstract: This may not be longer than 300 words. It should include information on the context, an overview of the content of the presentation and summary of the results/conclusions of the work presented.

7. Proposals must be submitted via email in Microsoft Word. Please note that abstracts that are accepted will be included in the conference programme as they stand, and authors are required to ensure that they are adequately proof-read before submission.

8. A statement of whether the presenter would be interested in presenting a poster if the presentation is not accepted for the limited number of oral slots.

Only abstracts that have not been presented before (at other conferences, etc.) will be considered.

Proposals not accepted for oral presentation will be considered for poster presentation along with the proposals specifically submitted as poster presentations.

Poster presentations

Abstract submissions for poster presentations should include the following:

1. Indication that the abstract is for a poster presentation.

2. Title of poster presentation

3. Name and affiliation of author/s

4. Name and title of presenting author to be in attendance at poster exhibition

5. Email and telephone contact details of presenting author

6. Abstract: This may not be longer than 300 words. It should include information on the context, an overview of the content of the poster and summary of the results/conclusions of the work presented in the poster.

Please note that only new work may be exhibited and posters should not have been presented at other conferences or venues.

In order to present a poster, the author will be required to attend the conference.

Details relating to poster size will be communicated on notification of acceptance of a poster presentation.

The closing date for proposals is 31 March 2009. Please follow the online instructions