Abstract: Kaupapa Māori is literally a Māori way. It is a reclaiming by Māori (Indigenous peoples of Aotearoa New Zealand) of a future that is founded within a Māori worldview; a future where cultural knowledge and values inform understandings of and responses to Māori needs, priorities, and aspirations. Self- determination, cultural aspirations, and the importance of familial relationships and collectivity are among the central elements evident in Kaupapa Māori development initiatives. Th e culturally responsive evaluation of these initiatives builds upon traditional commitments to information management and the updating of Māori knowledge. Kaupapa Māori evaluation looks “inwards” to assess development on Māori terms, and “outwards” in a structural analysis of other facilitators of and barriers to that development. After more than 20 years of Kaupapa Māori evaluation, it is timely to ask what learning might helpfully be shared with other Indigenous peoples to support their desire for the culturally responsive evaluation of development initiatives they experience. A Kaupapa Māori evaluation lens will be described and then used to critique international development evaluation to facilitate decolonization. Audiences for this article include development efforts led by the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs within the South Pacific, and international development efforts led by organizations such as UNESCO that are developing equity evaluation approaches.

Abstract: Child welfare data collected for administrative purposes are often used as a source of information for understanding the population impact of child abuse and neglect (CA/N). This study used administrative data linked at the individual level for a cohort of Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) children to follow and extend a model developed by Drake et al. In this investigation, we aimed to build an understanding of the high representation of indigenous NZ children in administratively sourced measures of CA/N. Variation in rate ratios (RRs) within infant mortality and birth outcomes considered as possible proxies for actual CA/N RRs leaves open a range of interpretations. Our findings indicate that a more nuanced interpretation of the overrepresentation of indigenous children in administratively recorded maltreatment statistics is required. Rather than considering risk and bias as competing explanations, we suggest an acknowledgment of the impact of colonization and the existence of systemic bias generating increased risk as key drivers. As linked administrative data are increasingly used for research and evaluation, and considered for use in supporting decision making, there is a need for a deeper understanding of the drivers of administratively recorded CA/N in order to effectively address the needs of indigenous populations.