The Uganda Evaluation Association (UEA)was formed in May 2001 and registered in 2002 as a professional association and national chapter of the African Evaluation Association:

• Create a national network to facilitate sharing of literature methods, procedure and practical evaluation frameworks among evaluators who were operating in isolation.
• Build capacity for evaluation
• Promote professionalism in evaluation practice.

Although these objectives have been refined over the years, they remain largely the same. The Association started with a membership of over fifty individuals drawn from monitoring and evaluation units in Government, Parastatals, local and international NGOs, private organizations and members from the public that are engaged in evaluation practice. A steering committee of prominent evaluators was appointed to translate the objectives of the association into feasible strategies and activities. The Committee comprised of Mr. Ismail Barugahare as the National Coordinator, Mr. Chris Opondo from the African Highlands Ecoregional Programme, Dr. Sophy Musana from NARO, Dr. Edward Mukooyo from the Ministry of Health, Ms. Susan Kasedde from UNICEF and Mrs. Margaret Kakande Head Poverty Monitoring and Analysis Unit MFPED. Dr. Z. Nyiira was an advisor to the group. I joined the Steering group one year later in 2003.

The UEA identified five priority areas for fostering the evaluation practice in Uganda in the short and medium term. These were:

1. Institutional development of the UEA
2. Capacity building for program evaluation
3. National and global networking
4. Cultivation of partnerships with institutions, associations and development
5. Partners working in the area of evaluation
6. Development/acquisition of literature and materials for evaluation.

The World Bank generously provided seed funding of US$ 10,000 towards institutional development and capacity building activities starting September 2002. The Association is highly appreciative of this support.