- Resource mobilization
- Governance and public policy
- Strategic leadership and planning
- Information, communication & technology skills
- Organizational skills: Program/Project Management of large and complex teams and Strategic Plan development
- Conducting surveys: Evaluations, research, assessments and reviews
- Analytic & visualization skills (quantitative & qualitative) with- STATA, SPSS, Excel, QGIS, ODK, R, GIS, ODK, Qualtrics, google forms
- Team and interpersonal skills: Coaching, Mentoring and diversity & multi-cultural support supervision
- Presentation skills: Capacity Building and facilitating trainings
- Writing: Technical reports, Grants, proposals, success stories and stories of change
Kenya
Eddah Kanini (Board member: AfrEA, AGDEN & MEPAK
Monitoring, Evaluation and Gender Consultant/Trainer
Posted on 09/05/2025
While my evaluation experience cannot be formally labelled as SSTC, I have assessed several multi-country and regional initiatives which have the same principles of SSTC, such as the peer learning, mutual accountability, and capacity exchange between countries in the Global South. Notably, I participated in an evaluation of a regional health systems strengthening program that involved technical cooperation between various countries where they shared innovations in health models, data use for decision-making, and integrated service delivery. Although the cooperation was organically South-South in nature, the absence of an SSTC-specific evaluation framework made it hard to fully capture the unique dimensions of reciprocal learning and ownership.
With no SSTC-specific guidance, several challenges are faced for example becoming difficult to articulate what success looks like for SSTC, especially when value lies more in process and relationships. You realise what comes out is more of the outputs. It also seems that SSTC successes have not been documented largely, probably due to limited tracking of the process. In this context, Narrative and story-based methods come in handy to be able to capture the mutual benefit and capacity exchange. Therefore, the qualitative methods such as outcome harvesting, storytelling, and appreciative inquiry are very relevant in evaluating SSTC.
Evaluators can contribute to a more impactful use of SSTC through the Co-creation of frameworks with partners to ensure they reflect Southern values and definitions of success. Documentation and dissemination of different learning of the successful processes and what success looked like, the how and why. Evaluators can also contribute through intentionally embedding equity and inclusion lenses as well as integrating the systems thinking when evaluating SSTC.
Kenya
Eddah Kanini (Board member: AfrEA, AGDEN & MEPAK
Monitoring, Evaluation and Gender Consultant/Trainer
Posted on 26/08/2025
Thank you for initiating this important topic on underutilised feedback in development decision-making.
From my experience, some of the barriers include organisational culture of resistance, where feedback is seen as criticism rather than a learning tool. Working in Silo is also a barrier where feedback remains in one entity, or in one project, instead of feeding into broader institutional decisions.
Leadership and culture play a critical role in influencing feedback responsiveness. Good leadership will set the tone for valuing evidence, allowing open dialogue and reflection, and encouraging adaptive management
Some practical steps for embedding feedback use, include institutionalising after-action reviews and learning forums. Other steps involve integrating feedback in planning cycles, and capacity building of staff not only in data collection but also in interpretation and application.