TORONTO, Canada – Khalil Bitar, Co-leader, Decade of Evaluation for Action and Chair, EvalYouth Global Network, Johannes (Jan) VOORDOUW, Monitoring and Evaluation Systems Design Consultant and  Andrea “Delcita” Wright, Actress and Guidance Counsellor will be guest speakers at the “Jamaican Diaspora Stakeholder Engagement for the National M & E System”  which will be held today, July 30, 2020 at 2:00 pm.

Mr. Bitar will bring greetings on behalf of the Co-leaders for the Decade of EVALUATION for Action, also known as the Eval4Action campaign. “The campaign is aligned with the UN Secretary-General’s Decade of Action to deliver the Global Goals (UN Sustainable Development Goals, also known as the SDGs).

The Eval4Action campaign “seeks to promote widespread recognition on evaluation being critical to, and a key accelerator for achieving the SDGs. It will mobilize commitments by different stakeholders – parliaments, governments, and evaluation associations – to invest in stronger evaluation systems to inform public policies, ensuring no one is left behind” (https://www.eval4action.org/). 

The campaign also raises awareness about the lack of evaluation evidence in the Voluntary National Reviews presented to the United Nations High Level Political Forum by developed and developing countries.  It also champions the need for building evaluation capacity— including monitoring and evaluation systems, which are critical to the delivery of the goals.

Columbia, Mexico, and Venezuela were among the first 17 countries to present Voluntary National Reviews in 2016, and the only Latin American countries to do so (UN ECLAC). Canada, Jamaica, The Bahamas, and The Dominican Republic reported in 2018, the third round of reporting. While the United Kingdom submitted their first report in 2019. Fifty-one countries were preparing their reports in February 2020.

“Eval4Action is envisaged as a highly inclusive campaign that is led by civil society for the achievement of these objectives, with global coordination and support by the co-leaders”. UNFPA Evaluation Office, EvalYouth Global Network and Global Parliamentarians Forum for Evaluation are the co-leaders. Local action for delivering the goals as well as for ensuring issues unique to countries and their citizenries such as unique challenges faced by Jamaica, and its diaspora both mutually and independently require actions and commitment by individual diasporans, businesses and diaspora organizations says, Meegan Scott of Magate Wildhorse Consulting event host and Eval4Action campaign partners.

Eval4Action aims to “revitalize global engagement and commitment on national evaluation capacities for timely delivery of the SDGs”. Today’s event aims to ensure all Jamaicans can own, contribute, and benefit from the process.

Diaspora organizations public and private must generate data and engage in evaluation so Jamaica and host countries can meet the “the key UN principles for constructing national reviews”. That requires “rigorous evaluations based on evidence,  and informed by data which is high-quality, accessible, timely, reliable and disaggregated by income, sex, age, race, ethnicity, migration status, disability and geographic location and other characteristics relevant to the context of the diaspora and beneficiaries of programmes it funds in Jamaica.

Johannes (Jan) VOORDOUW, the consultant engaged by the Government of Jamaica for delivering the M & E System will facilitate the stakeholder engagement session. He is also a Director of the Board of Caribbean Evaluators International (CEI), an international partner in the Eval4Action campaign.  The CEI is registered in Jamaica with chapters in other Caribbean countries.

Andrea “Delcita” Wright will bring humour as well as serious conversation through her session “ “Genderation Revue” . She will address Jamaica’s unique context and manifestations of the challenges related SDG 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”; and SDG 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.

Results-based strategy planning that is grounded in systems thinking and informed by evidence is also crucial to the delivering the goals. Dr. Karren Dunkley will present, North East Diaspora Strategic Planning: Ensuring Productivity & Success in a “ Soon Come” Mindset and Mentality Frame.

With just 10 years for fixing some of world’s most “wicked problems” , when both developed and developing countries were off target to varying degrees before and now dangerously off  track as a result of the COVID _19 pandemic the need for action is urgent.

Delivering the SDGs are crucial to improving the wellbeing of people, planet, and prosperity, but it requires  partnerships like we have never needed it before― if “no one is to be left behind”.

The event is hosted by Magate Wildhorse Consulting and The Community of Practice for Caribbean Immigrant Entrepreneurs. Today’s event partners are the Co-leaders of Eval4Action,  the Jamaica Diaspora Northeast USA, Windsor West Indian Association, the Jamaican Canadian Association Alberta as well as several ethnic media outfits.

Magate Wildhorse is committed to partnering and delivering influential evaluations for the goals.

There is no charge for participating in the event. Individuals with no Jamaican roots but who identify as Jamaicans are welcome to participate in the event.

Pre-registration is required via the following link: https://forms.gle/5CWkWZyUekRcDAr28

For questions, email: magate.wildhorse@gmail.com

Or visit the event links at:

https://magatewildhorse.ca/jamaican-diaspora-stakeholder-engagement-for-national-m-e-system

https://www.facebook.com/events/317139716007839/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CDKtzxXh5xx/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

https://twitter.com/MagateWildhorse/status/1287922436890132480?s=20

Event flyer

Event participants are being ask to pre-register at the link included in the release above.

PDF Version of Release