Margie Buchanan-Smith - Do less, but do it really well (Evalcrisis podcast series)

In this podcast, Mrs Margie Buchanan-Smith, a leading evaluator in the field of humanitarian action, shares her experience in dealing with ethical issues when conducting evaluations in contexts of fragility. She reminds us that, in such difficult times of pandemics, with reduced access to the field, an increased need for time and efforts to conduct evaluations, it is crucial to be strategic in our planning of evaluations, and make sure that those that we choose to do are really insightful and benefit our organisations in these really challenging times. In other words: do less, but do it really well.
Margie Buchanan-Smith is a senior evaluator with more than 30 years of experience in the sector of Humanitarian action. She led numerous evaluations, often in conflict environments, for UN agencies, NGOs and governments. She also led research studies in areas with very limited access (such as in Darfur, Sudan) and where the only option was to conduct remote work. She co-authored the pioneering guide to evaluation of humanitarian action, published by ALNAP in 2016, playing a key role in charting how to manage the ethics of evaluation in a humanitarian context.
By her work she matured first-hand experience of dealing with ethical issues both in the field in situations of extreme fragility and when evaluating remotely; in both cases protection concerns are paramount. Many of these ethical issues, are relevant to evaluation in the current crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic – and the cross-fertilisation between humanitarian aid and development cooperation is of the highest importance.

In the podcast you will hear Margie Buchanan-Smith in conversation with Marco Lorenzoni and Hur Hassnain from the European Commission DG DEVCO/ESS. The technical support is provided by Michael Potar and Saskia Brand and the introduction is read by Sarah Davies.