Ian Goldman

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• PhD
• Professor at University of the Witwatersrand

Background: The world is facing rapidly declining health of the climate and ecosystems on which all species depend, with wealth accumulating in the hands of a few, a result of unsustainable economic systems. Evaluation has the potential for a significant role in learning from the past and helping to guide a regenerative future, but for this, the ap...

In 2021, the South African Monitoring and Evaluation Association facilitated an evaluation hackathon that engaged diverse stakeholders in co-creation processes to develop practical solutions to address complex problems facing the monitoring and evaluation sector. The event catalysed broad-based ownership and enabled the South African Monitoring and...

This chapter seeks to describe the development of evaluation systems in developing countries, focusing in particular on Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Asia Pacific. It shows how evaluation systems have been institutionalized worldwide and which elements are in place, including in both the public service (the Executive) and in Parliament....

We examine how Impact Evaluation (IE) and associated syntheses contribute to evidence generation in low- and middle-income (LMIC) countries. We interviewed over 50 individuals from relevant organisations and five LMIC countries and drew on data from reports and repositories. The number of development-oriented IEs has shown sustained growth, but tra...

This guideline seeks to help countries who are thinking of establishing a national monitoring and evaluation policy (NMEP) or evaluation policy (NEP), targeting the M&E champions in government, as well as their supporters in the wider M&E ecosystem. At present in Africa there are several countries with NMEP or NEPs, including Benin, Uganda, South A...

Case studies on the use of evidence in African policy processes reveal that knowledge brokers play critical roles as facilitators, linkage agents, capacity builders, and knowledge managers. Yet these roles are often underestimated and under-resourced. Effective knowledge brokers understand internal and external contexts. They harness opportunities...

This guideline seeks to help countries who are thinking of establishing a national evaluation system (NES) and suggests the minimum requirements for doing so. At present in Africa there are three countries with established NESs, Benin, Uganda and South Africa. These systems are outlined in Goldman et al., (2018). This guideline draws from the exper...

Parliaments play a pivotal role in governance, and yet little is known about how evidence is used for decision-making in these complex, political environments. Together with its practice companion volume, African Parliaments: Systems of evidence in practice, this volume explores the multiple roles legislatures play in governance, the varied mandate...

Background: This article is based on a case study research on evidence use in Africa, drawing from four cases to focus on the role of civil society in evidence use. The countries included Benin, South Africa, Kenya and Ghana and sectors included agriculture, violence against women and children, sanitation and wildlife. Objective: The objective of...

This chapter builds on research on the performance monitoring and evaluation (M&E) culture in Benin, Uganda and South Africa conducted through the Twende Mbele African M&E partnership, which is presented here to provide a context for the cases in the book. The research was conducted on approximately five national departments per country and 368 man...

Evidence use in policy and practice in Africa

The COVID-19 pandemic emphasises the need to make informed choices, often with little time to prepare. How can we do this most effectively, and encourage use of the evidence which exists, or which we collect? This policy brief summarises the findings from research involving eight cases of policy or practice change, in five African countries and the...

Nigeria’s 2017 VNR outlined the institutional dimensions needed to create an enabling policy environment for the implementation of the SDGs through Nigeria’s Economic and Recovery Growth Plan (ERGP) (2017-2020). Nigeria’s 2020 Voluntary National Review (VNR) on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) focuses on the critical issues of poverty (SDG-...

Venezuela, once one of the wealthiest countries in Latin America, is undergoing simultaneous political, economic and humanitarian crises. This has led to the exodus of nearly five million Venezuelans from the country, creating one of the largest external displacement crises in the world today. As the situation has deteriorated, UNICEF has worked to...

Guideline from South African Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation on conducting evaluative workshops as a rapid form of evaluation activity

Guideline from Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation on conducting rapid evaluations, defined as those where the report is produced within 6-12 weeks

In 2006 the Center for Global Development’s report ‘When Will We Ever Learn? Improving lives through impact evaluation’ bemoaned the lack of rigorous impact evaluations. The authors of the present paper researched international organizations and countries including Mexico, Colombia, South Africa, Uganda, and Philippines to understand how impact eva...

Background: South Africa has pioneered national evaluation systems (NESs) along with Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Uganda and Benin. South Africa’s National Evaluation Policy Framework (NEPF) was approved by Cabinet in November 2011. An evaluation of the NES started in September 2016. Objectives: The purpose of the evaluation was to assess whe...

Background: Evaluation is not widespread in Africa, particularly evaluations instigated by governments rather than donors. However since 2007 an important policy experiment is emerging in South Africa, Benin and Uganda, which have all implemented national evaluation systems. These three countries, along with the Centre for Learning on Evaluation an...

This report is on a scoping visit undertaken by the Twende Mbele programme to Ghana in June 2017 to understand the situation with M&E and potential entry points for collaboration. The delegation comprised of the Chair of the Management Committee (Dr Ian Goldman), Director for CLEAR-AA (Dr Laila-Ruth Smith), and the South African Project Coordinator...

This chapter outlines progress in establishing a national evaluation system in South Africa. The system has now resulted in 54 national evaluations covering around $6 billion of government expenditure, as well as around 55 provincial evaluations. The chapter uses a framework to analyse the evaluation system derived from Diamond and Morlino's (2005)...

This article describes the development of the national evaluation system in South Africa, which has been implemented since 2012, led by the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME, previously the Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation) in the Presidency. It suggests emerging results but an evaluation of the evaluation b...

Policymaking in many instances does not follow proper diagnosis of a problem using evidence to justify why particular decisions have been taken. This article describes findings of a diagnostic review of existing challenges facing early childhood development (ECD) in South Africa. The review is part of the government’s attempt to use information to...

The article explains the rationale for the development of standards for evaluation practice, the process followed in developing those standards, and how those standards inform the quality assessment of evaluations. Quality assessment of evaluations are conducted as a routine activity of the South African National Evaluation System (NES). The import...

The Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME) in the Presidency was established in South Africa in 2009 by an incoming administration to improve the impact of government on citizens, notably around delivery of services. DPME has established a number of planning, monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems including around priority outc...

M&E is touted as a key tool in improving the effectiveness of the state. This section seeks to make the link between approaches to strengthening the performance of the public sector and the role that M&E plays in this, and then draws lessons from case studies for institutionalisation of M&E. The opening section introduces different paradigms of how...

This book deals with the management of evaluations of public policy, programmes and projects – i.e. interventions carried out by public sector agencies to achieve particular desired objectives – although the book deals with many generic issues and principles that are also largely applicable to evaluations undertaken in the NGO and business sectors....

This article describes the South African government's process in developing evaluator competencies. It first briefly describes the more general historical context in which the need for "com-petent" program evaluators and evaluation skills emerged in government, and then focuses on the Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation in the South...

When decision-makers want to use evidence from monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems to assist them in making choices, there is a demand for M&E. When there is great capacity to supply M&E information, but low capacity to demand quality evidence, there is a mismatch between supply and demand. In this context, as Picciotto (2009) observed, ‘monito...

South Africa has a number of actors with legal or constitutional mandates for monitoring and evaluation (M&E). There has been a major shift in emphasis concerning M&E since 2009, partially stimulated by a political need to improve service delivery, but also from the extensive exposure of both technocrats and political leadership to international ex...

"This paper reports on work carried out in Zimbabwe, Zambia and South Africa, which used a Sustainable Livelihoods approach to assess the impact of policy and services on poverty. It used the approach in following through a 'vertical transect' of the public administration from village to central ministries. As a result the sustainable livelihoods f...

Report on a study tour to Mexico, Colombia and the US to unerstand their evaluation systems. This was used to inform development of South Africa's national evaluation system

The Rural Livelihoods Learning Group (RLLG) brings Ford Foundation Program Officers together with leading practitioners worldwide to seek innovative solutions for rural poverty reduction. One project has been the hybrid organisations research project which looked at " Are hybrid organisations and hybrid strategies necessary to facilitate the develo...

South Africa has undergone radical restructuring of government services since 1994. Local government entities have been reduced down to 284 municipalities. and their functions changed dramatically from suppliers of electricity, water and sanitation to democratic developmental institutions responsible for facilitating, managing and administering ser...

IDC together with dplg have been promoting the use of local economic development agencies (LEDAs) as a possible special purpose organisation to promote the local economy. Examples in South Africa include the Johannesburg Development Agency and Amathole Economic Development Agency. These Guidelines seek to draw on good practice in South Africa and e...

South Africa’s rate of inequality has continued beyond political democratization, and while rural areas remain very poor, urban poverty has deepened as poor rural people have moved to urban areas in search of services and livelihood opportunities. The core question asked in the overall study is “What interventions are required to improve the access...

The post-1994 system of back-to-back local government changed the realities of municipal governance everywhere – but more so in rural areas than anywhere else, where urban and rural municipalities were amalgamated. The fact that there was no uniform tradition of local governance outside of the old white municipalities and the huge range of on the g...

As an organisation that promotes sustainable livelihoods and community-driven development, Khanya-aicdd advocates and has adopted the use of action learning and action research in its work. Building on practical experience of trying to implement such processes, the Learning about Action Learning (LAL) project aimed to improve our understanding of h...

Community-based services offer the potential to reach many more people within the limited financial resources available to African governments, to respond to widespread need as in the situation of HIV and AIDS, and to significantly improve people’s quality of life. In addition, community-based services represent an opportunity for communities to in...

Africa is predominantly rural, often characterised by poor infrastructure and inadequate services. Many communities in Africa are largely dependant on services provided by local people, rather than by external agencies including government. Such services include traditional birth attendants, traditional healers, farmer to farmer extension, homebase...

Decentralisation and participatory approaches are now part of established development practice. Khanya-aicdd has been using such approaches as part of a community-driven development (CDD) approach. CDD implies that communities are able to make decisions and implement activities to take forward their own development. Key to this is funding communiti...

This document provides a policy framework for public participation in South Africa. This builds on the commitment of the democratic government to deepen democracy, which is embedded in the Constitution, and above all in the concept of local government, as comprising the community as part of the municipality. This government is committed a form of...

This report documents the overall findings of the UNICEF lessons learned study on the non-food response to the southern Africa crisis, focusing on the 2003-2005 period and covering six countries in the region. Reports documenting the findings of the Malawi and Mozambique country visits form two supplementary volumes to this main report of the lesso...

This briefing reports on a study of pro-poor local economic development in 30 urban and 50 rural municipalities of South Africa. Very different conditions can be seen ranging from the small rural to large urban municipalities but examples of more–or-less success can be seen in all size groups. 56% of municipalities have LED units, similar in report...

LED Agencies are one of the many institutions supporting the development of local economies in different parts of South Africa. This article describes the roles and responsibilities of some of the major existing agencies in the South Africa’s four major cities. Our thanks to Karuna Mohan (Executive Director LED, Ekurhuleni) for compiling the substa...

Route tourism is a market-driven approach for tourism destination development. The scope for tourism as a driver for local and regional economic development across South Africa can be maximized only with appropriate policy interventions designed to support the competitive niches in local tourism economies. South Africa can learn from an extended in...

This LED newsletter looks at how area-based regeneration can be a vehicle for local economic development (LED). Chris Rogerson, University of Witwatersrand, shares research on the development and impact of Johannesburg’s Fashion District.

In order to promote economic development it is increasingly being recognised that microeconomic measures at the local level are needed as well as macro-economic measures at the national level. The former are often collectively referred to as Local Economic Development (LED). South Africa is one country in Africa where there has been explicit attent...

This case study is part of a research project funded by the DBSA as part of a national study of rural LED, complementing and extending a World Bank funded study of Pro-Poor LED in urban areas of South Africa. The case study documents an example of how LED is being applied in a rural municipality bordering Lesotho in the Eastern Cape, incorporating...

This LED Newsletter looks at the increasingly important role of the private sector in LED processes. The Alicedale case study is a stimulating example of how the private sector can drive an initiative to bring sustainable benefits to a community. Meanwhile we are looking at how we can continue sharing and disseminating relevant and helpful LED mate...

This research focuses on the urban-rural dynamics in Motheo District in the Free State, South Africa. The study mainly focuses on the movement patterns of people, goods and services in Motheo and it’s significance for rural-urban local economic development planning. The data was collected through observations and interviews and surveys coupled with...

This policy briefing summarises the results of a study of Pro-Poor LED commissioned by the World Bank and implemented by Rhodes University, Khanya-aicdd, and the University of Witwatersrand. This included a number of case studies of pro-poor interventions, as well as a survey of some of the top 20 urban and regional centres in the country. Some key...

The Directorate General of Development Cooperation (DGDC) of the Belgian Government has undertaken a thematic review of experience in Africa around decentralisation, to develop a strategy in support of decentralisation and local governance in the countries in which it has multi-lateral, bi-lateral and NGO programs. This report is one of four case s...

This report summarises the experience of scaling up community-based planning to eight municipalities in South Africa, including cities like eThekwini (Durban) as well as small rural municipalities and the lessons learned.

This newsletter is an exciting new initiative intended to support LED stakeholders and practitioners in their efforts to stimulate local economic development and share experience, outcomes and lessons learnt on LED interventions in South Africa. The project is being run by Khanya-African Institute for Community Driven Development (Khanya-aicdd), Rh...

The study is the outcome of two grants, from the World Bank/Dutch Government with an emphasis on urban areas and from the Development Bank of Southern Africa through the LGWSETA to focus on rural and small-town municipalities. Findings from both studies have been combined in this document. Partners in the project included Rhodes University, the Afr...

Facilitators Guide for undertaking participatory planning at community level

This is a guide for IDP managers to use war planning using teh community-basec planning methodology and incorporate the findings in local government integrated development plans

Report of the 4 country community-based planning project in South Africa, Ghana, Zimbabwe and Uganda.

South Africa has undergone a profound process of transformation since the democratic elections of 1994. We have seen the creation of a legitimate government, the amalgamation of the myriad administrations characteristic of the Apartheid era, the creation of 9 provincial governments with considerable powers, and the rationalisation of local governme...

The research goodbye to projects grew out of the increasing interest in sustainable livelihoods approaches (SLA) and growing disillusion with projects as mechanisms for addressing the development needs of the poor. Its aim was to investigate the implication of the adoption of SLA on the management of development interventions and in particular of t...

This issue on decentralisation and community-based planning draws on the four-country CBP Project, the action-research study in Africa which Ian managed. This project is outlined in article two, and articles three to six give experiences from the four countries – South Africa, Uganda, Ghana, and Zimbabwe. The issue also includes other examples, out...

This report analyses the current system of allocation of powers and functions to municipal, provincial and national government. Its main conclusion is that there are numerous problems associated with the current system. Consequently, taking the concept of “developmental local government” (as articulated in the White Paper on Local Government, 1988)...

Participation of ordinary citizens in matters affecting their own lives is new to South Africa. For a long time community participation was limited to rural development projects such as water and sanitation and construction of rural roads (where such existed), often with the assistance of non-governmental organisations (NGOs). However, this situati...

Over the past five years, CARE has been working in two districts (Mohale’s Hoek and Quthing) through a DFID-supported project called TEAM (Training in Environmental and Agricultural Management) using an extension approach that promotes self-reliance and problem solving amongst poor farmers. The project ended in June 2002 but has a 6 month nocost ex...

This paper draws on practical experience of linking the use of the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach (SLA) with corporate citizenship approaches to secure a positive developmental impact of business in society. This paper focuses on mining, an example of an enclave industry, which are the dominant development agent in a particular area, and on which...

The Free State is a rural province of wide horizons and blue skies, with farmland, mountains, goldfields and widely dispersed towns. It is peaceful, with a high quality of life, good infrastructure and a low crime rate. The Free State was formerly part of the Basotho Empire, and retains strong cultural, family and economic links with its neighbour,...

Planning is a critical activity in the decision-making over resources, and is one of the important processes in the “policies, institutions and processes” elements of the sustainable livelihoods (SL) framework. Therefore if the use of the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach (SLA) is to make a difference to pro-poor development, it must have an influen...

The study focused on developing a monitoring and evaluation framework for service delivery, and not on internal departmental performance management processes and it focused on anti-poverty programmes managed by government departments. Research was conducted in 15 national departments and six provincial governments. This involved (a) Identifying and...

This thesis documents and analyses one of the early examples of public sector transformation in South Africa, following the democratic elections of 1994. It analyses the changes that happened in the rural sector in the Free State from 1994-8. It seeks to inform those involved in public sector reform of the key elements required by the public sector...

These guidelines are intended to assist people who wish to develop a poverty eradication strategy using a sustainable livelihoods (SL) approach1. This could be for a region, or country, but it is assumed these would be based on the SL principles (see A.3). This work is based on the experience of 4 regional assessments carried out in Zambia, Zimbabw...

This series is published by ODI, an independent non-profit policy research institute, with financial support from the Department for International Development (formerly the Overseas Development Administration). Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of either ODI or DFID. DFID Department for International Development Par t A Th e f...

The Green Paper on Development and Planning, 1999 aims to review and recommend changes to the legislation and process of land development in South Africa. The Development Planning Commission decided to review the document in the light of the needs of rural areas and Khanya-managing rural change were commissioned to do this review. The objective of...

This project attempts to learn from experience in the Eastern Cape of attempts to support rural development and reduce poverty. It is part of a three country study by Khanya-managing rural change, funded by the UK’s Department for International Development. The Department of Agriculture and Land Affairs was the local partner of the project and prov...

In the Free State some 66% of the population are in poverty2 which in South Africa is exceeded only by the Eastern Cape (71%). The poverty level is particularly bad in QwaQwa, reaching 88%, one of the poorest areas in the country3. The Free State MEC for Social Welfare was given the responsibility by the Free State Government to develop a Poverty E...

This country study provides a detailed review and critical analysis of rural planning in South Africa, covering past and current systems and practices, methodological approaches and institutional frameworks. The Free State province has been selected as the focal point of the study. The livelihood approach has been used as a framework of analysis. T...

This report is an evaluation of an ambitious attempt at transformation of the agriculture and rural sector, in the Free State, South Africa. This was initiated by a new MEC for Agriculture, Cas Human, supported by DFID (then ODA) through the Rural Strategy Unit (RSU). The report is based on research conducted in June and July 1998 including intervi...

Indigenous rural development in the peripheral regions of Europe could be encouraged through the uptake of telematics by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). However, little is known about patterns of and resistances towards the adoption of telematics in rural areas and there exists a view that the main beneficiaries will be larger businesses...

This paper describes the experience of an ODA funded Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP) in Northern Zambia over the period 1980–86. In contrast to existing Zambian IRDPs it chose to follow a ‘learning process’ approach in working as a facilitator with three District Councils. The start of the programme coincided with the passing of decen...

The Forest Sector Umbrella Programme of the Government of Uganda takes a pro-poor, livelihoods approach to the redesign of forestry support services. It combines bottom-up participatory planning (asset-and opportunity-based), meso level institutional reform (redefining the roles of service providers), macro level policy change (new policy and contr...

This paper considers the potential role of decentralisation in promoting sustainable rural livelihoods (SRLs). It was commissioned by DFID for the 1997 Natural Resource Advisers’ conference. In preparation for this conference a framework for looking at SRLs has been developed. The following causal chain is identified: (the) Context - - in which exi...

This briefing paper reports on research exploring ten detailed case studies of livelihoods-oriented interventions operating in Tanzania, Lesotho, South Africa and Uganda. Analysing these interventions through an audit of sustainable livelihood ‘principles’ (as a proxy for best practice) revealed general lessons both about the practical opportunitie...

Yes This briefing paper reports on research exploring ten detailed case studies of livelihoods-oriented interventions operating in Tanzania, Lesotho, South Africa and Uganda. Analysing these interventions through an audit of sustainable livelihood ‘principles’ (as a proxy for best practice) revealed general lessons both about the practical opportun...

Yes This briefing paper reports on research exploring ten detailed case studies of livelihoods-oriented interventions operating in Tanzania, South Africa, Uganda and Lesotho. As a proxy for best practice, these interventions were analysed through an audit of sustainable livelihood ‘principles’. This revealed general lessons about both the practical...

yes This briefing paper reports on research exploring ten detailed case studies of livelihoods-oriented interventions operating in Tanzania, South Africa, Uganda and Lesotho. As a proxy for best practice, these interventions were analysed through an audit of sustainable livelihood ‘principles’. This revealed general lessons about both the practical...

Yes This briefing paper compares two approaches to community-based planning in Tanzania, South Africa and Uganda. Analysing these interventions through an audit of sustainable livelihood ‘principles’ (as a proxy for best practice) reveals general lessons about both the practical opportunities and challenges for employing sustainable livelihoods app...

Yes This briefing paper reports on research exploring four detailed case studies of rural livelihoods interventions operating in Tanzania, South Africa and Uganda. Analysing these interventions through an audit of sustainable livelihood ‘principles’ (as a proxy for best practice) reveals general lessons about both the practical opportunities and ch...