Focus and scope

This book series’s scholarly focus and scope are rooted in the World Health Organization’s (WHO) 2015 definition of equity as ‘the absence of avoidable or remediable differences among groups of people’ that transcend conventional boundaries. This research-based series explores monitoring and evaluation’s pivotal role in addressing inequality and fostering equity.

The series covers economic, political, and social factors behind inequality in sub-Saharan Africa with a scholarly lens on equity evaluations. Its primary goal is to critically assess the effectiveness of African development programmes in promoting equity. As a result, the volumes in the series serve as indispensable resources for researchers and scholars who want to understand the challenges of creating a more equitable society.

‘Evaluation: African Perspectives’ is primarily tailored for researchers and academics and provides a valuable scholarly contribution to African Evaluation Association (AfrEA) members, national associations of policymakers and development programme decision-makers. The series is led by Dr Steven Masvaure (steven.masvaure@wits.ac.za) from the Centre for Learning on Evaluation and Results: Anglophone Africa (CLEAR-AA) in collaboration with AOSIS Scholarly Books. The series editors are committed to producing high-quality, peer-reviewed volumes dedicated to exploring the intricate landscape of equity, its evaluation, and monitoring.

If you would like to propose a chapter contribution for the next volume, please contact the series editors, Dr Masvaure, Dr Candice Morkel (candice.morkel@wits.ac.za) or Tebogo Fish (tebogo.fish1@wits.ac.za). Feel free to contact the corresponding editors to ask research-related queries about the book series content or peruse the ‘Notes on contributors’ within each book to reach the national and global contributing authors.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

The United Nations’ SDGs are heavily emphasised as part of the series. Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Studies in the series assess the effectiveness of poverty alleviation programmes (SDG 1) and evaluate the effects of agricultural and food security initiatives (SDG 2). M&E is also pivotal in gauging health interventions, health care systems, and disease prevention efforts, contributing to the goal of achieving universal health coverage (SDG 3). Additionally, the series aligns with SDG 4 by using M&E to evaluate education programs and ensure access to quality education for all. It extends its impact to assess initiatives promoting gender equality (SDG 5), economic development programmes, and job creation efforts (SDG 8). M&E further measures progress in reducing inequalities and improving social inclusion (SDG 10), evaluates urban development projects (SDG 11), contributes to evaluating governance, justice systems, and peace-building initiatives (SDG 16), and supports the establishment and assessment of partnerships for sustainable development (SDG 17).

The book series actively engages with and contributes to achieving a wide array of SDGs through robust M&E practices.