SAMEA Annual General Meeting Jennifer Bisgard, Chair March 29, 2007

M&E, an idea whose time has come െ Interest in SAMEA grown enormously െ 330 members െ Launch of Government-wide M&E Framework െ Increasing calls for M&E services െ Lots of new government M&E officials

President Mbeki’s State of the Nation Address, 9 February 2007 “Many of the weaknesses in improving services to the population derive in part from inadequate capacity and systems to monitor implementation. As such, in the period leading up to 2009, the issue of the organisation and capacity of the state will remain high on our agenda.” (Page 9)

SAMEA Governance െ SAMEA incorporated as a Section 21 non-profit company in December െ SAMEA governed by the volunteer Board of Directors. െ Currently 9 Directors, 3 resigning and 5 joining

SAMEA Vision Monitoring and evaluation widely recognized in South Africa as a profession and discipline essential to development, and practiced and used in a manner that adds significant value to effective, sustainable development in South Africa.

SAMEA Mission SAMEA will cultivate a vibrant community that supports, guides and strengthens the development of monitoring and evaluation in South Africa as an important discipline, profession and instrument for empowerment and accountability.

SAMEA Objectives (1) െ Provide a platform for interaction and information sharing among all those interested in monitoring and evaluation. െ Promote high quality intellectual, ethical and professional standards in monitoring and evaluation. െ Increase the use of monitoring and evaluation theory and practice.

SAMEA Objectives (2) െ Promote the development and adoption of monitoring and evaluation approaches and methods suitable to a South African and development context. െ Promote post-graduate education and continuing professional development in the field of monitoring and evaluation.

SAMEA Objectives (3) െ Increase the profile of South African monitoring and evaluation at national and international level. െ Help build understanding of international developments and trends in monitoring and evaluation. െ Be a resource on monitoring and evaluation in South Africa.

Accomplishments – Starting from Scratch െ SAMEA website െ SAMEATalk/ Newsletters െ Countless regulatory and red tape processes covered െ Nominations and voting processes െ Professional Development workshops held െ Participate in AfrEA standards and ethics െ THIS Conference

SAMEA Membership െ Only individual membership (not institutional) ⃘ R150 annually ⃘ R60 annually with proof that member is a student െ Sign up on െ Problems or issues,

SAMEA Contributions െ SAMEA cannot function effectively without financial support, in-kind donations, volunteer time or platforms to get our message across. െ Your contribution, however limited or extensive, can help SAMEA to achieve its vision for monitoring and evaluation in South-Africa.

Organisational Contributions െ Provide links to our website െ Provide venues for SAMEA regional meetings or professional development workshops െ Ensure all evaluations are posted on our website െ Represent SAMEA at international conferences െ Sponsor international M&E experts to South Africa / evaluators’ from the developing countries to attend our events െ Placement of SAMEA’s profile and contact information in your publication / newspaper / newsletter / website

Thanks Go To െ My superb fellow board members െ Ms. Nomvuzo Mamabola our Events Co-ordinator െ Contributing Companies: ⃘ Khulisa Management Services ⃘ Feedback Performance Metrics, ⃘ Social Dimensions ⃘ Public Services Commission; െ Development IT Services cc