Blog
Continuing to Learn about Sustainability, Now more than ever
Continuing to Learn about Sustainability, Now more than ever Since 2024, foreign aid has taken multiple shocks (post-Covid): wars, climate shocks, and a widespread retreat from foreign assistance, especially among OECD countries: "Official development...
Localization and investing in what lasts: locally led development and ex-post learning
Localization and investing in what lasts: locally-led development and ex-post learning This year-end blog highlights learning from the Climate Investment Funds (CIF), IRC/ CARE, about what can work, what needs more resources, learning from what didn't, OCHA...
Sustain our planet: Sustained Impact, Return on Environment, Environmental Impact Continuum & MRV (M&E)
Sustain our planet: Sustained Impact, Return on Environment, Environmental Impact Continuum & MRV (M&E) I've been focusing on sustainability and reframing impact from the perspective of nature, thanks to lessons about the earth's carrying capacity and tipping...
Adaptive Sustainability lessons the Climate Investment Funds’ PPCR evaluation, including three ex-posts
Adaptive Sustainability lessons the Climate Investment Funds' PPCR evaluation, including three ex-posts I am excited to share our latest Climate Investment Funds (CIF) Adaptive Sustainability report including three ex-post evaluations conducted by our Valuing Voices...
Un-sustaining ‘Sustainable Development’ via USAID shuttering and other US learning losses
The draconian cuts to USAID in February 2025 ($40 billion in currently allocated aid assistance, $63 billion in 2024, $71 billion in 2023, Pew) to 120 countries around the globe) are said to address waste and fraud and re-align priorities. Elon Musk of 'DOGE'...
NEW YEAR, NEW SUSTAINABLE US?
NEW YEAR, NEW SUSTAINABLE US? Happy 2025! (Image from: https://plumvillage.org/articles/can-the-new-year-really-be-new) How will we be new this New Year? It may seem funny as an ex-post sustainability evaluator to write...
Grow the .002% of all global development projects that are evaluated ex-post closure for sustainability
Grow the .002% of all global development projects that are evaluated ex-post closure for sustainability It seems like 'fake news' that after decades of global development so few evaluations would have peered back in time to see what was sustained. While I was...
Trust is both a belief and a bond: Why is Trust for outsiders declining in communities? (Reblog from APEA and Rituu Nanda)
Following on from the localization blog by PLAN, APEA has shared why trust is declining in local communities. Note the learn not give lesson 🙂 Reblog of Asia Pacific Evaluation Association apea-admin/ Rituu Nanda:...
REBLOG: COMMENTARY A USAID localization model finally emerges by Justin Fugle October 6, 2023
NOTE: Am reposting a great blog (plus attended the webinar) on localization of aid (getting US foreign assistance directly to local organizations), as we know, what is local tends to be sustained over the long-term, and NGOs can design, implement, monitor &...
Fostering Values-Driven Sustainability Through an Ex-Post Capacities Lens (reposting a book chapter)
We all want our project results to be sustained, but without doing ex-post sustainability evaluations, we don't know if they are. However, ex-post evaluations can also teach us how to fund, design, monitor, and evaluate projects before they close. They also require...
Jindra Cekan, Ph.D. has used participatory methods for 30 years to connect with participants, ranging from villagers in Africa, Central/ Latin America and the Balkans to policy makers and Ministers around the world for her international clients. Their voices have informed the new Sustained and Emerging Impacts Evaluation, other M&E, stakeholder analysis, strategic planning, knowledge management and organizational learning.