Jennifer Nzambi Mutua

Jennifer Nzambi Mutua

Founder and independent consultant
Evaluation Society of Kenya
Kenya

En savoir plus sur moi

A leading  M&E, Gender, Program and Organizational Management Specialist, with over 10 years of relevant experience.  Founder of Evaluation Society of Kenya (ESK). Runners-up recipient of the Africa Evidence Leadership Award. Recognized by Nation Media Business Daily as one of  Kenya’s 2016 “Women in Top Corporate Leadership. Under her organizational leadership Kenya declared the 2018 Winner of the “EVALPARTNERS/EVALSDGs Global   Outcomes Competition. Holds MA in Gender and Development;  BA in Sociology and Philosophy. Education supplemented with formal professional trainings in M&E, policy, advocacy, climate change and gender, among others.

  • Évaluation rapide pour mesurer l'impact de la pandémie COVID dans les zones montagneuses

    • Jennifer Nzambi Mutua

      Founder and independent consultant Evaluation Society of Kenya
      Kenya

      Chère Malika,

      Merci de partager votre expérience. Notre initiative, telle que partagée sur cette plateforme [www.evalforward.org/comment/reply/node/118/field_comments_ref/19], implique un partenariat conjoint de la Société d'évaluation du Kenya (ESK) et du Département de suivi et d'évaluation (MED), financé par la Banque mondiale.

      Notre contexte est donc différent du vôtre, car il implique une coordination entre le gouvernement national et les gouvernements des comtés (ce qui rend les choses plus complexes). Néanmoins, comme vous, nous avons constaté que les évaluations rapides n'ont pas été aussi rapides que prévu initialement (et comme le terme semblait l'indiquer). Des ressources beaucoup plus importantes que prévu initialement ont également été dépensées. Certains facteurs contributifs étaient :

      • Un démarrage lent en raison des protocoles/bureaucraties de communication entre les gouvernements nationaux et de comté 
      • Réponses parfois tardives au niveau technique (surtout lorsque le personnel est peu nombreux sur le terrain)
      • Une documentation limitée sur des données de surveillance bien analysées et archivées
      • En général, les systèmes de S&E sont faibles. Cela limite la possibilité de faire des études rapides. Il a fallu recourir à d'autres moyens, impliquant un champ d'application plus large et des fonds supplémentaires, pour combler les lacunes des données

      Compte tenu de tout cela et selon le contexte, je pense qu'il est important de prendre en compte ces limitations, y compris les dépassements budgétaires potentiels lors des étapes de planification de l'évaluation.

      Bien à vous,

      Jennifer

  • What can evaluations do in terms of capacity development?

    • Jennifer Nzambi Mutua

      Founder and independent consultant Evaluation Society of Kenya
      Kenya

      Dear Luisa and Lavina,

      Thanks for highlighting the critical need to focus on capacity building for various stakeholders  i.e. towards more participatory and effective evaluation.

      Currently, the Evaluation Society of Kenya (ESK) jointly with government (at national and county levels) with the World Bank's funding support are undertaking a pilot project in 2 of Kenya's Counties. 

      Notably, under the EvalSDGs/EvalVision (2016-2020) for  promoting the evaluation of the SDGs and their alignment to our country's Vision 2030, Devolution and "Big Four" agenda [Food and Nutrition, Universal Health Coverage, Affordable Housing and Manufacturing].

      The devolved level is the center of development execution in our country.

      The initial focus is on the water and health sectors. The activities are advocacy, trainings and rapid evaluations for related projects in each sector.

      The project puts special focus in strengthening the capacities of the various stakeholders. I mean towards their effective participation in the rapid evaluations and utilization of the findings for more evidence-based investment choices and service delivery.  

      So far, successful advocacy events towards buy-in/ ownership and more evaluation awareness (and which has been left behind in our country vis-à-vis monitoring) have been held.  

      These have been completed for one of the counties.

      They have targeted various categories of stakeholders i.e. each with a different targeted messaging as follows:

      • High political and executive leadership (governor/MPs, senator and cabinet secretaries at that level).
      • Members of the County Assembly (MCAs - they are the equivalent of MPs at the national level with oversight, budgetary and citizenry representation roles). Their buy-in just like the above category is deemed very critical towards the inculcation of a national culture and practice for evaluation (and which is currently weak).
      • Technical teams including directors, chief officers, planning and M&E officers.

      More stakeholder participation will be effected during the rapid evaluations including for the public and beneficiaries. The findings will also inform the earmarked trainings that will be customized, accordingly.

      It is expected that this will be replicated to the other 47 counties as we go along and across all sectors, in due course.

      NB: See more by scrolling down these links:  

      https://mobile.twitter.com/esk_kenya  

      https://m.facebook.com/EvalSocietyKE/

      Kind Regards,

      Jennifer

      Evaluation Society of Kenya