Feminist Evaluation does not happen in a vacuum; it aligns with four major global shifts in international cooperation:

GLOBAL DRIVERS OF FEMINIST EVALUATION

 

1. Feminist Foreign Policies

Prioritizing gender equality across development initiatives.

2. Localization

Shifting leadership & funding directly to local WROs.

3. Decolonization

Challenging Western “gold standard” evidence norms.

4. SEGs

Centering Structurally Excluded Groups in Evaluation.

 

Localization in Evaluation

Localization means shifting leadership, decision-making, funding, and accountability from international agencies to national organizations and local evaluators.

  • Example: Instead of a UK-based firm flying in a lead evaluator for a Nigerian programme, a Nigerian WRO or local firm leads evaluation design, with international partners in a supporting role.

Decolonizing Evidence

Decolonization challenges the assumption that knowledge, evidence, and standards developed in Western or international institutions are automatically superior or default.

  • Example: An international standard might treat a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) as the “gold standard” while dismissing oral storytelling as “anecdotal.” Decolonizing evaluation recognizes a community’s oral tradition as valid evidence in its own right.

 

THE DECOLONIZING QUESTIONS TO ASK

• Whose knowledge counts?

• Who defines what constitutes “rigorous evidence”?

• Who decides what success looks like?

• Who benefits from the evaluation findings?
PreviousNext