EVALUATION SOCIETY OF KENYA (ESK)
Address: P.O. Box 10073 – 00200,l Nairobi, Kenya
Phone: +254723428301
Email: admin@esk.co.ke
LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/company/evaluation-society-of-kenya/?originalSubdomain=ke
Facebook: @EvalSocietyKE
Brief History of vope
ESL was founded and established under the leadership of Ms. Jennifer Mutua, with the support of the government’s Monitoring and Evaluation Department (MED), Ministry of Planning, in 2008. The efforts were a follow-up action on the recommendations of a meeting held by African representatives at the 2008 International Program for Development Evaluation Training (IPDET) in Canada, which Ms. Mutua attended.
Other people who subsequently supported the initial team efforts were: Julius Nyangaga (ILRI); James Mwanzia (MED); Samuel Norgah (Plan International); Dr.Florence Etta (former AFREA President); Daudi Sumba (African Wild Life Foundation ); Hon. Dr. Makali Mulu ( Consultant and now Member of Parliament); Rose Muchiri (UNDP); Jan Reilaender ( then UNICEF); Steve Mogere (JICA); late Rekha Shori (Consultant); Charles Warria (Deloitte) and Peter Kimani (Maseno University.
The Society was formally registered in 2011. Mr. Julius Nyaganga served as the first informal chair. A new constitution led to the first formal election in 2012. Accordingly, Jennifer was elected and her mandate was renewed in the 2015 election. She also served as the elected Eastern Africa board representative to AFREA from (2012-2017). In 2016, for her role in pioneering ESK, Ms. Mutua was recognized as one of the Women in Top Corporate Leadership 2016, in Kenya by the Nation Media.
Notably, in order not to reinvent the wheel, initial efforts for a vibrant evaluation society focused on revamping and strengthening the dormant Kenya Evaluation Association (KEA), formed in 1999 and which hosted the first AFREA conference. However, due to unavoidable circumstances, these efforts failed. Hence, the multi-stakeholder resolution to form ESK. The Society has since emerged as one of the model cases of Voluntary Organizations for Professional Evaluators (VOPEs) in the continent.
Profile OF VOPE:
The Evaluation Society of Kenya (ESK – http://esk.co.ke) is the professional M&E network in Kenya. Regionally, the Society is a member of the African Evaluation Association (AFREA). Globally ESK is one of the founding partners of the UN Women-led- IOCE/EvalPartners’ Global Evaluation Movement. Its constitutional governance structure includes an elected board of 7 representatives namely: chair, secretary, assistant secretary, treasurer, Government representative, and CSOs’ representative.
The Society’s overall objective based on its constitutional mandate and strategic plan is to promote through a multi-stakeholder approach a sustainable and quality monitoring and evaluation culture and practice in Kenya. One of its specific objectives is to strengthen its institutional and individual membership capacities through partnership building and support.
Another is to rally around the multi-stakeholder efforts of strengthening the National Integrated Monitoring & Evaluation System (NIMES) and the County Integrated Monitoring & Evaluation System (CIMES). The Systems track the implementation of the Vision 2030 and Devolution agenda and their alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). They are coordinated by MED.
The society comprises individual, student, and corporate members. They are drawn across all sectors and stakeholders (CSOs, government, academia, private sector, and development partners including the UN). Currently, the Society has about 300 paying members and over 600 in combination with the non-paying. These are individual, student, and corporate categories. Some of the corporate members include the Catholic Relief Society (CRS), Tegemeo Institute, and AMREF.
Activities:
- Capacity strengthening for membership
- Constitutional review and revision
- Development of ESK’s sustainability mechanism
- Production and dissemination of a semi-annual newsletter
- Promotion jointly with MED and the SDGs’ Unit at the Ministry of Planning the EvalPartners’-led SDGs EvalVision in Kenya.
- Implementation of the action plans of the EvalVision events launches
- Co-coordination jointly with MED a stakeholder’s network, its Technical Working Group (TWG), and google group, towards strengthening the NIMES/CIMES.
- M&E mentorship support for selected counties
- Curriculum Gender and equity-responsive review and revision of Kenya School of Government’s M&E manuals.
- M&E advocacy for parliament and media
- Mentorship collaborations with the Tanzanian Evaluation Association and the plans for mentorship collaborations with the Evaluation Community of India (ECOL) are underway.
Partners:
Some of our partners have included: MED, AFREA/USAID, IOCE/evalpartners, CIFF, UNICEF, UNDP, World Bank, University of Antwerp’S iob, Kenya School of Government (ksg), and PARLIAMENT and agra.
Prizes & Awards;
ESK’s evolutionary case study was published by UNICEF/IOCE/EvalPartners for global P2P learning and experience sharing– pg.191 (http://www.mymande.org/selected-books). In 2016, through ESK and under the EvalPartners/EvalGender+/EvalSDGs global networks, Kenya was selected as one of the first 6 Pioneer “Spot Light” countries towards the promotion of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) EvalVision (2016-2020).
NAMES OF EXECUTIVES AND THEIR POSITIONS
| NAME | POSITION | TELEPHONE | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jennifer Mutua | Chair | jennicrafke@yahoo.com | +254723428301 |
| Phyllis Njenga | Secretary | phyllisforex@gmail.com | +254720926861 |
| Benjamin Masila | Assistant Secretary | bmasila09@gmail.com | +254725893873 |
| Eddah Karijo | Treasurer | eddahkarijo@gmail.com | +254721447828 |
| Dr. Samson Machuka | Government representative | smmaseses@gmail.com | +254721666532 |
| Dr. James Maraga | Cso’s representative | jmsmaraga@gmail.com | +254722448253 |
| Julius Nyaganga | Ex-official/former chair | julesnn14@gmail.com | +254 722 179 541 |