Evaluation Through a Gender Lens: Foregrounding Global South Reflections and Experiences
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Abstract
Gender-focused evaluation in the Global South is often framed through colonial and Western epistemologies that appropriate diverse local experiences while minimizing and reproducing structural oppression, cultural domination, and knowledge hierarchies. As a result, evaluations may recognize context or Indigenous knowledge only superficially, address intersectionality partially or unevenly, and can inadvertently reproduce Global North logics, limiting progress toward substantive gender equality and social justice. Drawing on a targeted review of Global South feminist scholarship, synthesis of recent Three Horizons forecasting work, and four Global South case studies from Latin America, South Asia, and the Middle East, this article: (a) identifies elements distinguishing Global South feminist theorizing from dominant Global North approaches; (b) proposes a Global South decolonized framework for gender-transformative feminist evaluation organized around five interlocking domains—power dynamics, intersectionality, inclusion and representation, methodological approaches, and ethics; and (c) illustrates how these domains reshape evaluation design, evidence generation, interpretation, and use. The case studies illustrate power blindness in evaluations, co-creation of feminist monitoring and evaluation systems with structurally excluded groups, gender-transformative evaluation of masculinity norms with adolescent boys, and social network analysis of gendered norm enforcement. The overall analysis reveals that gender-transformative feminist evaluations require not only individual evaluator reflexivity but also structural transformation of Global North-dominated evaluation mindsets and systems. Together, the findings offer practical framing and vocabulary for commissioners and evaluators seeking to embed Global South feminist perspectives across the evaluation cycle, moving beyond tokenistic inclusion toward substantive transformative practice.
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