If Not Now, When? Evaluators as Agents of Change in the Time of a Global Pandemic*

May 1, 2020

*Translation of the blog post is also available in French here as done by the wonderful colleague, Sana Ben Salem.

In the early 1990s, Ernest R. House, building on John Rawls’s justice theory, argued that evaluators must act as the spokespersons or representatives of the poor and powerless. This view is not uncommon to House; he argued for many years that evaluation is not value-neutral and that it should always advocate for social justice and address the needs and interests of the vulnerable and disadvantaged. Despite attracting attention in the early 1990s and renewed recognition in recent years, this pioneering approach has been, and still is, mostly under-appreciated in the evaluation theory and frequently overlooked in the evaluation practice.  

Everything in our world, however, seems to have recently changed dramatically. As of publication date of this blog post, there are approximately 3,350,000 confirmed cases of infected people and 235,000 of confirmed deaths due to the global COVID-19 pandemic from 185 countries and territories around the world. Nearly half of the world population has been living in lockdown during the past several weeks. Economies in some of the wealthiest industrial countries are expected to experience a recession not seen since the Great Depression. The world, as we know it before the first cases were identified in late 2019 in Wuhan is long gone. But the coronavirus pandemic is expected to harshly hit developing countries in the global south during the coming months and have catastrophic and long-lasting consequences in these countries for years to come. Disadvantaged and vulnerable groups and people – in industrialized and developing countries alike – will be the most negatively impacted by this global crisis. The already staggering global social and economic inequality crisis is soaring. While the most affluent have already started benefiting from the global pandemic, hundreds of millions of people have lost their jobs or will lose them soon. 

The need to transform evaluation in order to evaluate such transformation, as Michael Quinn Patton has long been arguing and dedicated much of his new book “Blue Marble Evaluation” to this very issue, is now more imperative than ever. Evaluation and evaluators should adapt quickly and respond to these dramatic and terrifying developments. The role of evaluation was never as urgent and vital as it is today. Equally essential and urgent is evaluation that advocates – through activism – for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged people who are most affected by the pandemic and its consequences. 

By activism, I do not merely mean the traditional, limited definition of the term. I focus on two types of activism concerning the evaluator’s work and sphere of influence. The first notion is concerned with the evaluator’s role while she or he is conducting an evaluation activity and advocates for the poor and powerless through this activity. The case for such an approach has been eloquently first put forward by House and further discussed by several others (for example, Donna M. Mertens). The second notion, which I believe is often overlooked, is related to the evaluator’s role in the bigger picture where she or he advocates for the underrepresented, oppressed, and underprivileged outside the evaluation activity on which she or he is working at the moment. This role is as vital for evaluators as the first notion. After all, evaluators, in most cases, are privileged professionals who are familiar with the rich tradition and tools the evaluation field offers; have a general appreciation for evidence and evaluative thinking; strive to contribute to real positive social change, and arrive at the evaluation field from several other equally vibrant and vigorous traditions and fields of study.  

After several years – and perhaps decades – where the agenda of malicious populist movements have targeted to manipulate the general public in many countries and regions to lose trust in science, data, and expert opinion, many of those movements and their leaders seem in a state of momentary shock, crippled, and unable to provide an alternative to what scientific research and tools are offering in order to respond to the pandemic. There are signs of renewed public confidence in science, data, and evidence. Evaluators can – and should – build on this progress not to secure contracts and have more jobs but to be part of this apparent “scientific coup.” 

We, as evaluators, need to extend our reach outside the evaluation community and open or renew robust communication channels with other scientific communities of practice and fields of study. Evaluators and evaluation, as I see it, have an unprecedented opportunity to advocate for the vulnerable and disadvantaged using the robust evaluative thinking, traditions, and tools at our disposal. There are many ways to do so. For example: 

• Join efforts that are currently showing the linkage between the pandemic and the bigger problem of the climate crisis. 
• Join efforts that advocate for fairness in the use of the vaccine when developed for the poor and vulnerable, not only those who can afford it first. 
• Align ourselves and our profession with the movement that questions and investigates government policies even if we are not asked to do so formally through RFPs and TORs. 
• Contribute to the efforts to achieve the SDGs by 2030 and show the impact of the global pandemic on these efforts with the no-one-left-behind principle front and center. 

Recently, UNFPA Evaluation Office and EvalYouth launched the Eval4Action Campaign. This global campaign aims to a) create widespread recognition of the role of evaluation in accelerating the socio-economic response and recovery to COVID-19, and b) generate national, institutional, and individual commitments and action from decision-makers, evaluation community, and other stakeholders to develop stronger national evaluation systems, capacities, and culture, toward delivery of the SDGs by 2030, with a focus on no one left behind. In less than ten days since its inception, more than 50 partners have joined the Campaign, including evaluation associations, EvalYouth chapters, and other civil society organizations, as well as over 100 individuals. What excites me the most about the Campaign and the enthusiasm for it from numerous partners in a very short period of time are a) it shows that the evaluation community is hungry to significantly contribute to positive change through actions, and b) we have numerous allies that we do not often communicate with, but with the availability of such joint coordination mechanisms as Eval4Action, more opportunities become available to achieve greater results often difficult when we do not cooperate.

We are a robust community and have much to offer to the transforming world during this crucial moment of its history. We must be part of this transformation in order to contribute to a new and different, but also more sustainable and equitable, world. If not now, when?