Meet Vika: an emerging evaluator in Ukraine

As our portfolio of work in Ukraine has grown, this commitment has taken shape through our collaboration with Viktoriia (Vika) Drymliuha. While completing her Master’s degree and living and working in Ukraine, Vika has supported multiple IOD PARC projects (including our recent work on a Post-Appeal Review for the DEC’s Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal Response). Her involvement has strengthened our work, and we’ve been intentional about supporting her development.

We asked Vika and the teams she worked with what supporting emerging evaluators looks like in practice, and what we’ve learned along the way.

Learning by doing

For Vika, one of the biggest benefits has been the chance to develop real skills through real work:

“In this role, I strengthened several research and analytical skills, particularly in working with qualitative data. I gained more experience in reviewing interview materials, identifying key themes and organising information. What was new for me was becoming familiar with different approaches to data validation, which helped me better understand how evaluation findings are checked and strengthened.”

And it wasn’t just about the technical skills. Being genuinely embedded in the team made a significant difference:

“Having the opportunity to ask questions, receive guidance, and be involved in different parts of the evaluation process is very valuable for learning and professional development.”

Vira Nedzvedska, an IOD PARC associate based in Ukraine, echoes this sentiment, emphasising the importance of treating emerging evaluators as full team members from the start:

“From the very first project, Vika was treated as a full member of the team. She was invited to participate in all team meetings, even though she wasn’t directly involved in the tasks being discussed. I believe this helped her to understand the assignment better and to learn from observing how the team worked.”

What it takes from team leaders

This kind of support doesn’t happen by accident. Sarah Bolger, one of the team leaders Vika worked with, reflected on what made the difference:

“It’s important to see the idea of working with young and emerging evaluators as a win-win that does require an upfront investment of time and effort. Getting to know the person, understanding their strengths, and making sure they know they can always ask questions makes such a difference. Asking Vika what her goals were at the beginning of the project and then having regular check-ins worked really well, and I would do that again next time.”

Luba Margolina, another IOD PARC associate based in Ukraine, complements this view by emphasising how hands-on experience needs to be paired with intentional mentoring and knowledge sharing:

“Hands-on experience is essential for supporting emerging evaluators, but it should be accompanied by deliberate and focused knowledge sharing. It’s important to spell out concepts and approaches that may seem obvious to more experienced colleagues. Being a curious person myself, I always share articles and other resources that I come across when I feel that they may be of interest.”

What teams gain

From the perspective of team leaders, involving emerging evaluators like Vika is not only a learning opportunity, it also strengthens the quality of the work. Enrique Young, another team leader Vika worked with, explained that having a young evaluator based in‑country adds credibility and nuance:

“Having a young evaluator based in Ukraine as part of projects brings additional credibility to our analytical process. Their lived experience helps us interpret subjective evidence with more nuance. Combining ‘insider’ and ‘outsider’ perspectives is a well‑established way of reducing bias in qualitative research. Working with emerging evaluators adds another dimension: younger team members bring different ways of understanding the world that can surface insights that we may well have missed when interpreting complicated and varied qualitative data.”

Why this matters

Our experience shows that involving emerging evaluators with lived experience in the contexts where we work deepens both the credibility and relevance of evaluation practice. In Ukraine in particular, this approach not only strengthens the quality of current work but also helps build a more sustainable, locally led evaluation ecosystem for the future.

Reflecting on this, Vira and Luba highlight why investing in and supporting the next generation of evaluators is especially important at this moment.

Vira explains:

“Given Ukraine’s EU integration status, there is an increasing demand for MEAL tools, particularly within the public sector and civil society. Consequently, there is a growing need for professional evaluators who are proficient in the latest tools and knowledge. Involving young evaluators in international projects provides them with a unique opportunity to learn modern techniques, as well as best project management practices and experience of working within multicultural international teams — skills that will be a real asset as Ukraine moves forward with EU integration.”

Luba adds a broader perspective on the structural challenges facing the field:

“Formal evaluation education is almost non‑existent here, with only a handful of related courses and very few dedicated programs. As a result, people enter the field from widely different backgrounds, often by chance, when international firms need a local partner. While this diversity has value, it also means many practitioners begin evaluation work with limited grounding in evaluation theory and approaches.

With Ukraine’s EU integration and recovery processes ongoing, the demand for high‑quality evaluations will only grow. This makes it essential to support emerging evaluators through both formal and informal learning experiences. For me, evaluation is not just about judgment; it is about learning, accountability, improvement, and giving voice to those rarely heard. I do believe evaluators can help make the world better, so investing in the next generation truly matters.”

Looking ahead

Our experience supporting Vika and other master’s students before her reinforces why building pathways for emerging evaluators matters. It strengthens our work, broadens our perspectives, and helps cultivate the next generation of evaluators in the places where their expertise is most needed.

As we continue to deepen our commitments to locally led evaluation, we’ll keep building these opportunities into our ways of working, learning from experiences like Vika’s and from the teams who support them.

For more insight, read our Position Paper on Locally Led Development and get in touch with its authors, Sarah Bolger and Madeleine Oldow.