Looking Back to Move Forward: Reflections on EBU’s Mid-Term Strategic Review

by Samaneh Shabani

Over the past months, I had the opportunity to work with the European Blind Union (EBU) on the mid-term evaluation of their Strategic Plan 2024–2027. What I expected to be a technical assignment soon turned into something much richer: a space for reflection, learning, and future-thinking.

From the beginning, the process went remarkably smoothly. The EBU Secretariat ensured full collaboration, sharing documents, data, and insights with openness and efficiency. Questions were answered quickly, discussions were constructive, and there was a real sense of shared purpose. That alone says a lot about EBU’s organisational culture.

For those who may not know EBU closely, it plays a crucial role as the voice of blind and partially sighted people in Europe, and more broadly as a strong actor within the disability rights movement in the EU. Its reach covers a wide range of thematic areas, with advocacy being one of the most prominent and impactful pillars.

My role was to assess where the organisation stands halfway through its strategic cycle: what is working well, where the bottlenecks lie, and how well the plan still aligns with the rapidly evolving world around us. And here came one of the first challenges. The evaluation framework already existed, and yet, the world is not what it was two years ago — and it will certainly not look the same in two years’ time. Civil society organisations today operate in increasingly unstable environments, facing funding uncertainties, political shifts, and unexpected disruptions. Evaluating progress only through static indicators would have risked missing the bigger picture.

This is where the real learning began. The task was not just to “measure”. It was to ask whether the strategy was still fit for purpose, whether EBU was equipped to anticipate change and maintain its leadership role, and how resilience and sustainability could be strengthened. Instead of treating the mid-term review as a checkpoint, I began to see it as a driver of evolution.

This required a balance: respecting the existing structure while introducing strategic foresight thinking. We wanted to avoid overly detailed, rigid indicators that may look precise on paper but fail to reflect real-world complexity. Instead, we needed tools that support flexibility, strategic influence, and proactive decision-making.

The result was much more than a report. Through data analysis, interviews with 14 dedicated staff members and partners, and the development of practical checklists, we were able to draw lessons not only about what EBU has achieved so far, but also about how it can continue to grow stronger, smarter, and more future-proof.

For me personally, the biggest takeaway was this: mid-term reviews should not simply observe change — they should help organisations shape it. And EBU, with its committed team and clear mission, is well positioned to continue doing exactly that.