Prime HUB publishes our paper on “Decoloniality in Evaluations,” by the BRICS Policy Center (PUC-Rio)

Evaluation is a political act. But whose voice is heard in evaluation?

We have just published the paper “Decoloniality in Evaluation” by the BRICS Policy Center (PUC-Rio), centered on a key provocation: there is no such thing as neutral evaluation.

Indicators, criteria, and methods carry choices — and often reproduce historical inequalities, silence local knowledge, and reinforce epistemic hierarchies.

In this work, we discuss how a decolonial and participatory approach can transform the field of Evaluation by repositioning communities as subjects of decision-making, interpretation, and knowledge production — rather than merely as sources of data.

The paper includes:

• theoretical foundations of decoloniality applied to evaluation
• a critique of the dominant technocratic model
• a concrete case study of community-based evaluation in the field
• pathways and challenges for evaluations committed to racial equity and cognitive justice

If you work with public policy, development, M&E, or social participation, this debate is for you.