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Building Evaluation Capacity to Address Problems of Equity

The issue of equity is receiving increasing attention not only in health but in other areas of social development. It is often a highly charged and emotional conversation. This chapter argues that with better capacity to evaluate for equity, evaluators can make a significant contribution to clarifying the issues in the debate and, through that, to addressing inequities. Evidence is never the only element in a debate—politics and emotion always play important roles—but the absence of solid evidence fosters even stronger polarization of the debate. This chapter addresses a gap in our capacity to evaluate for equity so that evidence can make a central contribution to this debate. Building on the challenges to measurement in the equity space, the chapter identifies the process and systems thinking skills that are needed to complement our evaluation methods skills.