Evaluations that 'leave no one behind': Decolonizing Canada's international assistance evaluations in Africa

The role of evaluation in reaching development outcomes, such as the Sustainable Development Goals, is key. However, there are growing calls from African evaluators for the transformation and decolonization of evaluation to ensure that development 'Leaves no one behind.' Despite Canada's focus on equitable development and partnerships through practices such as the Feminist International Assistance Policy, significant challenges remain. Through an examination of Africa, which is a primary focus of international assistance in Canada, this study investigates how decolonization in evaluation can be operationalized. Through a literature review, expert and informant interviews, and jurisdictional scan, four policy options are analyzed and recommended through an implementation framework. The short-term recommendations call for more meaningful engagement of African evaluation approaches through evaluation terms of references and evaluation steering committees, and the creation of knowledge sharing plans. The long-term recommendations call for the implementation of evaluation-capacity-building projects and a pre-qualified pool of evaluators and firms from Africa.