On Friday, October 25th, Communitor+ held an insightful event, "Navigating Turbulent Waters: Evaluation in Times of Crisis, Conflict, and Fragility,"Â exploring the unique challenges and strategies for conducting evaluations in complex environments shaped by conflict, humanitarian crises, and authoritarian regimes.
The session featured four distinguished speakers: Hur Hassnain, Abu Said Md Juel Miah, Nico de Winter, and Miriam Mwaibula, who shared their expertise and experiences from diverse contexts around the world.
The session began with Hur Hassnain, a seasoned evaluation specialist with over 20 years of experience in fragile contexts. Hur, the lead author of "Evaluation in Contexts of Fragility, Conflict, and Violence"Â (2021) and founder of the Pakistan Evaluation Association, emphasized the importance of understanding community values, both formal and informal, and identifying conflict drivers and key actors in such settings. He highlighted specific challenges evaluators face in fragile environments and how being aware of these complexities is crucial for effective evaluation.
Next, Abu Said Md Juel Miah shared his experience evaluating humanitarian programs within the Rohingya Refugee Camp in Bangladesh. Abu outlined the risks and obstacles encountered when assessing programs designed to alleviate crisis conditions in one of the world’s largest refugee populations. See Abu Said Md Juel Miah’s presentation attached below.
Miriam Mwaibula then introduced the work of Twaweza Tanzania, an organization dedicated to transparency and information access, and the challenges it faced as Tanzania's political climate shifted toward authoritarianism. She discussed Twaweza’s strategies for navigating such an environment to maintain its mission and impact. Miriam Mwaibula’s presentation can be found just below this section.
The event concluded with insights from Nico de Winter and Lobke Maene, who presented findings from the Belgian Development Office’s Evaluation on Fragility exercise, conducted in various countries experiencing fragile conditions. Their work highlighted key takeaways for implementing effective evaluation practices in such challenging environments.
This session underscored the importance of adapting evaluation methods to the realities of crisis and fragility, calling on evaluators to be responsive to local contexts while navigating risks and limitations. We thank our speakers and participants for a meaningful exchange, helping to shape an ongoing dialogue on evaluation in complex global environments. For the ones willing to access the recording follow this link.
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