African Parliamentarians’ Network on Development Evaluation (APNODE)

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APNODE is a network of African parliamentarians and development partners promoting the use of evaluation in national decision making to support development effectiveness and inclusive growth. Launched in March 2014, it was initiated by African parliamentarians based on their recognition of the important function of evaluation in national decision-making and the crucial role of parliamentarians in ensuring that evaluation evidence is used for strengthening oversight, budgeting, legislation and policy-making. APNODE’s vision is to promote development effectiveness and inclusive growth in the African continent through an effective use of development evaluation by policy and decision makers.

The Network was established with a mandate to strengthen the capacity of African parliamentarians for quality oversight, policymaking, and national decision-making by ensuring appreciation, demand, and utilization of evaluations in their daily work. The Network further strives to bridge the gap between evaluators (who provide impartial evidence) and parliamentarians (who utilize such evidence).

Membership of the Network is open to current and former Parliamentarians from Africa and other regions, civil society organizations, private sector organizations, research institutions, national and regional evaluation associations, African Parliaments, development partners and other individuals and organizations demonstrating a keen interest in the vision and mandate of the Network.

APNODE is managed by a thirteen-person Executive Committee comprising of eleven network members and three development partners. The Executive Committee is elected at the Annual General Meeting for a two-year term, renewable once.

APNODE’s objectives are anchored on three main axes: a) Sensitization of national parliaments and parliamentarians about the essence of evaluation for oversight, policy- and decision-making; b) Enhancement of parliamentarians’ capacity to demand and utilize evaluation evidence; and, c) Peer-learning and experience-sharing for triangular and south-south cooperation.

In line with its mandate to promote an evaluation culture within the AfDB’s Regional Member Countries and as part of its evaluation capacity development initiatives, the AfDB’s Independent Development Evaluation (IDEV) has hosted the Secretariat of APNODE since its inception. The Secretariat oversees the day-to-day administration of the Network, ensures communication with the members, organizes the APNODE Annual General Meetings, and coordinates the bimonthly virtual meetings of the APNODE Executive Committee.

APNODE resources derive from many sources. In addition to the membership fees paid by members and their respective national parliaments, APNODE has also benefited from funding support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Korean Trust Fund at the African Development Bank. Further, the Network receives in-kind support from partner organizations, such as the African Evaluation Association (AfrEA), the Centers for Learning on Evaluation and Results (CLEAR) for Francophone Africa and Anglophone Africa, Twende Mbele, Réseau Francophone de l'Evaluation (RFE), UN-Women, UNICEF and UNDP.

The Network’s membership and footprint continue to grow. From an initial core of 25 founding members from 7 countries, APNODE’s reach today spans 29 African countries, notably: Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central Africa Republic (CAR), Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.