23: Evaluation Worldwide - Middle East and North Africa

After chatting with folks from EvalYouth about the Global Mentoring Program, they suggested a series of podcast episodes on what evaluation looks like around the world. This episode is one in which I chat with evaluators from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) about what evaluation looks like in their region. I chat with Hayat Askar and Sana Ben Salem about their experiences evaluating in their region, specifically Jordan and Tunisia, respectively. We discuss a variety of topics, including how they define evaluation, how their countries and region affects how evaluation is done, what evaluation looks like in their contexts (purpose, approaches, stakeholder involvement, recommendations, use, etc.), interesting trends and things going on in their local VOPEs, how people get into the field of evaluation, and more. About the guests: Hayat Askar: Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) professional with experience in the fields of Project Management, Data Visualization and Gender, working with various stakeholders from government, private sector and international organizations. Hayat is the Vice-president of Jordan Development Evaluation Association (EvalJordan), a co-lead in EvalSDGs Guidance Group and Eval4Action blog coordinator. Sana Ben Salem: Sana Ben Salem is a PhD candidate in Management and strategy of companies with a focus on digital Business Models, focal point of the Tunisian Evaluation Network, IOCE EvalMENA Representative, former chair of the professional insertion working group with the RF-Ee and member of EvalYouth Task force1. She followed many training in the evaluation field (IPDET), in diplomacy, renewable energies and SDGs. She is also an Activist in climate change, involved in the island innovation network as a representative of the Island of Djerba in Tunisia. Music by Matt Ingelson, http://www.mattingelsonmusic.com/