A little less than a year ago, at the start of what has become an infamous year, we launched a yearlong social media campaign called ‘2020 Hindsight: What Works in Development.’
The timeframes over which the studies analyzed data also varied widely. Most were evaluated a few years after implementation, while the 1931 establishment of Van Panchayats (Village Forest Councils) in India was evaluated with data from 1931 through 2001.
It is no surprise that trees, which breathe in carbon dioxide, are key to the fight against climate change. Keeping existing forests intact is one pillar in the ongoing efforts to slow the planet's warming. By one estimate, tropical deforestation is responsible for more carbon dioxide emissions each year than the entire European Union.
The research on the topic has included a wide range of healthy behaviors: getting immunizations, attending medical appointments, taking medications for chronic illnesses like AIDS, quitting smoking, exercising, practicing safe sex, and drinking less alcohol.
This post looks at interventions that work differently, intervening in the market systems behind the food supply. The evidence on their effectiveness is exploratory and preliminary, which is why we are working on an evidence gap map to show what evidence exists and where more studies are needed.
Cash-based approaches to social protection programs are getting a lot of attention during the COVID crisis. By one count, cash transfers are the most common type of government assistance response to the pandemic.
At 3ie, we advocate for the use of the most rigorous evidence possible – but when circumstances are unprecedented, such evidence can be hard to find. In recent blog posts, we've looked at high-quality research on issues that are on many minds now relating to hand washing and vaccination campaigns.
Roads are one of the most basic forms of infrastructure. More than half of all official development assistance for economic infrastructure between 2005 and 2013 – at least $60 billion worldwide – went to road projects. Is all that investment worthwhile?
More than one third of countries in the world – including nearly all of Sub-Saharan Africa – will fail to meet the Sustainable Development Goals’ benchmarks for maternal and newborn health if current trends continue, according to Duke University researchers.
In many interventions to improve health outcomes, community health workers (CHWs) play a pivotal role. We've recently written about two such types of interventions: efforts to improve sanitation practices and campaigns to increase vaccination rates
