AfrEA was founded in 1999 in response to a growing demand for information sharing, advocacy and advanced capacity building in evaluation in Africa. It is an umbrella organisation for national M&E associations and networks in Africa, and a resource for individuals in countries where national bodies do not exist.    AfrEA works with the national networks and committed donors to develop a strong African evaluation community. It has held three African evaluation conferences, with a fourth to take place in Niger in 2007. It has facilitated the development of African Evaluation Guidelines to enhance the quality and utility of evaluation on the continent. A database of evaluators on the AfrEA website highlights African evaluation expertise. The Africa Gender and Development Evaluation Network, an AfrEA SIG in partnership with UNIFEM, has been enhancing African capacity in gender and rights-based evaluation since 2003.    AfrEA continues to work with its member associations, interested organisations, donors and others to build capacity across the continent, establish networks that develop evaluation methods and share expertise, do research to improve evaluation practice and theory, and advocate the role African evaluators should play on the continent.