Zenda Ofir, Author at EVALUATION FOR DEVELOPMENT

The extraordinary benefits of COVID-19

November 17, 2020 Zenda Ofir 0

**7 min read** A dispassionate observer of Planet Earth from far away could well be pleased with this global crisis faced by all of humanity. The suffering of those hardest hit, in particular those individuals and societies already vulnerable or ... Read more »

Lost in the loss of traveling the world

July 14, 2020 Zenda Ofir 9

This post was first published on Medium. My life is a tapestry of memories. Woven together to make up the fabric of my life. Like African fabrics, my memories come in a riot of colours – never boring, always calling. ... Read more »

Learning from China’s Transformation, Part 6. Co-evolution – a ‘first principle’.

June 6, 2020 Zenda Ofir 2

Yuen Yuen Ang’s study of China’s exceptional escape from its poverty trap in just 3-4 decades is significant and useful because it shatters conventional wisdom about how development happens. Complementing the notion of directed improvisation, she highlights a second crucial ... Read more »

Learning from China’s Transformation, Part 5. Directed Improvisation.

May 28, 2020 Zenda Ofir 3

**8 min read** This series of blog posts highlights lessons from one of the greatest transformative development success stories ever. It is also an extraordinary example of the deliberate application of complex adaptive systems concepts in political-economic or transformative development. ... Read more »

Transforming Evaluations, Part 5. COVID-Safe, COVID-Ready and COVID-Informed Evaluation

May 20, 2020 Zenda Ofir 2

**6 min read** Evaluative practice needs to focus on three interconnected, overlapping priorities if we want to help lead action towards a transformed world. I like to call them ‘COVID-Safe’, ‘COVID-Ready’ and ‘COVID-Informed’ Evaluation. COVID-Safe Evaluation: Coping in this emergency ... Read more »

Transforming Evaluations and COVID-19, Part 3. Advice for this time

April 13, 2020 Zenda Ofir 6

**4 min read** “We won’t get back to normal because normal was the problem.” – Graffiti in Santiago, Chile It is great to see evaluators leaping into action with advice on how to adjust practice to cope with the impact ... Read more »

Hello, I am COVID-19 …

April 11, 2020 Zenda Ofir 2

**5 min read** A letter to humanity …. I received on my phone a beautiful video in Italian. It is unique — a letter to humanity. In the name of the coronavirus. Among the millions of messages and reports and advisories written ... Read more »

Transforming Evaluations and COVID-19, Part 2. Repositioning evaluation

April 9, 2020 Zenda Ofir 0

In my view elevator speeches that present evaluation as something done for “learning”, “improving”, “generating knowledge” or “being accountable” belong to the past. COVID-19 is part of humanity’s footprint on Earth, part of the Anthropocene. It is going to force ... Read more »