Birchwood Hotel, Johannesburg

Welcome Message

We are delighted to announce that planning for the 9th Biennial SAMEA Conference is underway.

The biennial conference serves as a primary platform for fostering the growth of a vibrant Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) community in South Africa and increasing the use of M&E as valuable tools for achieving equitable and sustainable development. The conference offers a unique opportunity for M&E practitioners, government officials, donors, and policymakers to learn from leading experts and peers, sharing insights on new developments within the M&E field. As one of the most anticipated events of the year for those in the M&E sector, the SAMEA conference promises rich discussions and networking opportunities for M&E practitioners, evidence users and champions.

This year’s theme, “Vuca-Vuka! Catalysing Change Through Monitoring and Evaluation”, highlights the necessity of proactively responding to our world’s volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) nature. The uncertainties and volatilities of the last several years call for us to wake up – Siyavuka sisebenzele ikusasa elingcono. Our hope is that the SAMEA conference will inspire and capacitate participants to adopt adaptive, collaborative and innovative approaches to their M&E practice that will help us collectively steer South Africa towards equitable and sustainable development.

We aim to “unconference” this conference by integrating elements that foster co-creation, peer-to-peer learning, and community-building. To enrich the conference with an indigenous African heartbeat, the conference will also be infused with the art of storytelling as critical knowledge sharing. The conference will feature a mix of co-creative mini-hackathons or mini-workshops, oral presentations, panel discussions, World Café sessions, poster presentations, and lightning talks.

We hope that the conference provides opportunities for M&E practitioners, governmental representatives, and professionals from different industries across the continent and beyond to learn from each other and expand our professional capacities. Participants can look forward to engaging in discussions and co-creation sessions that will underline the critical importance of M&E in driving successful outcomes for policies, programmes, and projects that effectively address the diverse development challenges South Africa and the continent face.

We invite you to participate in the programme by submitting a conference session abstract or post-conference workshop proposal. Please visit the Abstract Submission or Workshop Submission page for more information and to submit.

For our collective future,

Jennifer Norins
SAMEA Chairperson

IMPORTANT DATES

Workshop Proposals Submission:

Closed

Abstract Submissions:

Closed

Registration Opens:

07 June 2024

Notify Speakers:

4 July 2024

Final Programme:

2 August 2024

Early Bird Cut-off Date:

6 September 2024