Editorial

Welcome to the June 2021 issue of the Evaluation Journal of Australasia (EJA) that brings a strong advocacy feel from the social justice and capacity-building perspectives. This dominant feature in the issue brings to light that social justice and capacity building are quite often the taken-for-granted aspects that do not receive the focus they warrant. Readers of this issue will find that in the papers presented, empowerment evaluation approaches remedy this situation when accountability and internal evaluation unite. Accountability is mapped through an organisation’s mission and vision and enacted by its leadership that then drives and dictates the performance of its functions in the best interests of those it serves. As the papers in this issue reveal, internal evaluation has inherent powers and potential for emancipatory and enabling outcomes that serve as an underlying source of empowerment to those that are impacted by the programmes being delivered. Fetterman (2005) provides relevant and useful support to further introduce the significant evaluative notions and sentiments of the papers in this issue. He refers to 10 guiding principles of empowerment evaluation that encourage and promote internal accountability and contends that these principles are sustainable and prevail even after external evaluators and funders have been and gone. These guiding principles of empowerment evaluation are as follows (Fetterman, 2005, pp. 43–50):