Engaging Youth in Evaluation

Moderator

• Gabriela Renteria Flores, Chair, EvalYouth Global Network, Mexico

Panellists

• Marco Segone, Director, Evaluation Office, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
• Aloyce Ratemo, Director, Monitoring and Evaluation Directorate, the National Treasury and Planning, Kenya
• Alfredo Domínguez, President, International Organization for Cooperation in Evaluation (IOCE)
• Daniel Alonso, Evaluation Specialist, IEO, UNDP

"Meaningful engagement of Youth in Evaluation": engaging youth agency and voice in evaluation to increase the transformative power of evaluation to reach the furthest behind.

Panellists discussed - from their own perspectives and within their roles - the importance of engaging youth in evaluation, and how to do it. They also exchanged ideas on the key challenges to meaningful engagement of youth.

Why is it important to engage youth in evaluation?

• Youth are already taking the lead in averting once-in-a-generation interconnected challenges
• It improves relevance and quality of evaluations
• It provides an opportunity to amplify the voice and agency of youth, while empowering them
• It enhances SDG implementation, monitoring and review, and holds governments accountable
• It brings out-of-the-box solutions and perspectives
• It contributes to the development of future leaders and prepares the next generation of evaluators

How to engage youth in evaluation?

• Strengthening institutional and individual capacities (technical and soft skills)
• Incorporating youth in governance structures, while recognising their importance
• Creating the demand for young evaluators, including mandatory requirements in evaluation
• Ensuring proper engagement in all stages of the evaluation process
• Strengthening and diversifying the role of youth in evaluation (e.g. not merely as key informants but also co-evaluators, co-advisors, co-decision-makers, and co-advocates for the use of evaluation)
• Continuing to support the global advocacy movement “Youth in Evaluation Manifesto” for meaningful engagement of youth in evaluation (with 500 signatories already)

Key challenges in engaging youth in evaluation:

• Inadequate knowledge, capacity and opportunity to engage
• Inadequate employment opportunities
• Lack of access to financial resources
• Digital divide, especially in rural areas
• Impact of intersectionality of vulnerability (education, gender, ethnicity, locality, etc.)

Lessons learned and good practices:

• Co-creation of standards to step up the practice and accountability towards engaging youth
• Enhance youth in leadership positions
• Establishment of youth-adult (experienced evaluator) partnerships
• Promoting youth participation in relevant networks
• Ensuring decent spaces of participation for youth among the different members of the evaluation ecosystem
• Leveraging the role of VOPEs in promoting capacity-building and the participation of youth

Conclusion

Engaging youth in the evaluation process is no longer a choice, but an imperative for the development process. Through different perspective (United Nations agencies, VOPEs, government and evaluators), panellists highlighted the importance of the meaningful engagement of youth in evaluation, as well as the need to create the appropriate avenues and incentives for their participation. Young evaluators, beneficiaries and young leaders are showing extraordinary leadership and innovation to build a global evaluation culture for SDG delivery and to increase the transformative power of evaluation.