Where Local Knowledge Meets Global Learning: Hosting IPDET Nairobi 2025
- Dr Candice Morkel, Dr Takunda Chirau, and Mr Siyabonga Sibiya
Bringing the International Program for Development Evaluation Training (IPDET) to Nairobi for the first regional delivery in Africa marked more than a geographic shift—it represented a significant step toward strengthening locally grounded evaluation capacity.
Hosted from 3–7 November, IPDET 2025 was delivered in partnership with the Center for Learning on Evaluation and Results for Anglophone Africa (CLEAR–AA), an implementing partner of the Global Evaluation Initiative (GEI). The course brought together more than 90 participants from 28 countries. The week illustrated how global knowledge becomes more meaningful—and more powerful—when it is rooted in African contexts and shaped by the practitioners who live and work within them.
Why Bring IPDET to Nairobi?
According to Dr. Candice Morkel, Head of IPDET, the motivation was clear. "At IPDET, our goal is to make evaluation capacity development accessible and contextually relevant around the world. Bringing the training to Nairobi was a natural step in that direction. Africa is home to a dynamic and growing community of evaluators, and we wanted to create a space that strengthens local ownership of evaluation capacity while connecting regional and global perspectives."
For CLEAR–AA, the decision was equally significant. "This was not just a change of location, but a significant milestone," said Dr. Chirau, Acting Director at CLEAR–AA. "Bringing this world-class training to the heart of a continent rich with potential and a growing evaluation culture is a powerful statement. It is a commitment to contextual learning, diverse perspectives and building evaluation capacities that will impact on the way evaluations are conducted in the continent and how the evaluative information get to be used in different spaces. Evaluation plays a crucial role in strengthening the governance and democratic processes of our countries. It is the hope of this training programme that evaluation be accentuated to the highest levels and provide answers to better decision and policy making in Africa."
What Makes the Nairobi Context Unique?
The Nairobi delivery highlighted what can happen when global evaluation principles meet the lived experiences of African practitioners. “What makes the Nairobi training so special is its diversity,” said Dr. Morkel. "The conversations are grounded in lived realities, which means the learning goes far beyond the classroom. It’s about translating evaluation principles into meaningful practice that responds to regional needs and priorities."
Participants discussed issues ranging from managing evaluations in fragile, conflict-affected, and vulnerable (FCV) settings to innovating in contexts where political, cultural, or social constraints shape evidence use. As Mr. Siyabonga Sibiya, Programme Manager, CLEAR–AA Capacity Strengthening Unit noted, "Globally accepted knowledge should be justified by its grounding and application to local contexts." Nairobi’s environment—both culturally vibrant and regionally connected—created an ideal setting for this type of learning.
CLEAR–AA’s long-standing work with the Government of Kenya also enhanced the relevance of the training. The Nairobi program built on existing collaboration aimed at strengthening evaluation practice in the public sector, demonstrating how regionally embedded institutions can sustain progress in monitoring and evaluation (M&E) capacity development.&
Learning From African Experience: Organizing IPDET Nairobi
The convening of participants from the Global North, Global South, and other African regions revealed the breadth of operational contexts in which M&E is practiced today. Participants shared approaches for navigating complex political economies, contested spaces, and social norms.
Participants working in FCV contexts shared how evaluation practice must adapt in politically and culturally contested spaces. One example centered on gender and education in conservative settings, where practitioners used religion and local cultural texts to create openings for girls’ education. These strategies showed how evaluators innovate to place gender and context at the center of evidence use, ensuring equity, relevance, and local legitimacy in spaces where evaluation rarely ventures. Together, these experiences demonstrated how context-grounded evaluation can advance both local priorities and broader development goals.
What Emerging Trends and Challenges Matter Most for Africa?
Conversations during IPDET Nairobi reinforced that methodological debates in Africa are intertwined with deeper questions of paradigms, power, and epistemology. For many participants, the longstanding discourse on decolonization, homegrown approaches, and Africa-rooted evaluation continues to shape professional identity and practice.
These discussions built on decades of work—from the leadership of the African Evaluation Association (AfrEA) to the Made in Africa Evaluation (MAE) movement—and highlighted the need for methods and standards that reflect African realities rather than importing assumptions from dominant traditions.
The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) also featured strongly. While participants acknowledged AI’s potential to simplify aspects of evaluation, they also emphasized concerns around reinforcing power asymmetries and marginalizing voices historically excluded from decision-making. As Dr. Chirau put it: "One of the most urgent questions for Africa is not only which methods we use, but whose logic informs those methods. Our task is to ensure that new tools amplify, rather than dilute, African agency in knowledge production."
Reflections From the Training
"Across Africa, evaluation is gaining real traction, governments are investing in national systems, young evaluators are entering the field, and there’s growing recognition that evaluation is key to achieving development impact. The next step is ensuring that evaluation approaches are contextually relevant and inclusive, promoting African voices and leadership in shaping the global evaluation agenda." — Dr. Candice Morkel
"Evaluation in Africa is no longer emerging, it is asserting. Our role now is to cultivate confidence in African ways of knowing, documenting, and validating evidence. The future of evaluation will be shaped by those who are bold enough to name their context as a legitimate source of theory and practice." — Dr. Takunda Chirau
"Adaptive and agile evaluation practices place evaluators at the edge of innovation and responsiveness." — Mr. Siyabonga Sibiya
Key Takeaways
- Locally grounded delivery of global training strengthens ownership of evaluation capacity.
- African practitioners are redefining evaluation practice through contextually driven approaches and methodologies.
- Regional institutions such as CLEAR–AA play a critical role in sustaining M&E system strengthening.
- Discourse on decolonization, epistemology, and responsible use of AI is central to Africa’s evaluation future.
- IPDET Nairobi 2025 demonstrated how global and regional actors can co-create learning that is relevant, inclusive, and transformative.
Please join us. Share your reflections on locally grounded approaches to evaluation or tell us about your experience with regional training programs.