Over the past two decades, the volume of rigorous impact evaluations has grown dramatically. But generating evidence is only part of the story—making that evidence easy to find, synthesize and use remains a major challenge. Leading evidence producers have joined forces with 3ie to address this through a new initiative—the Sustainable Evidence Infrastructure Commitment—to strengthen the global evidence ecosystem. The founding SEIC partners, alongside 3ie, include the Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA), Center for Open Science, IDinsight, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and Policy Innovation Research Center (PIRC).

Evidence synthesis often requires hours of manual data extraction from individual studies, making it slower and more costly than it needs to be. Our Commitment aims to improve reporting standards, strengthen data sharing and create interoperable registries and open data systems—ensuring that impact evaluation evidence can be reused, synthesized and applied more effectively in policymaking.

The SEIC also complements 3ie’s ongoing contributions to the Evidence Synthesis Infrastructure Collaborative, reinforcing shared efforts to strengthen the systems, standards and partnerships needed to make research evidence more accessible, reusable and useful for decision-making. This is an early, co-design effort and we invite evidence producers, funders, publishers, registries, and other partners to join our efforts.

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Is it the program - or the moment? Measuring real impacts in fast-moving sectors 

When a development project appears to work, how do you know it's actually responsible?
In Bangladesh, fish farming has undergone a dramatic transformation over the past four decades-reshaping rural incomes and livelihoods along the way. A new 3ie evaluation of the WorldFish IDEA project put this booming sector to the test. Using a randomized controlled trial, the study—supported by the Gates Foundation—found that productivity and income rose across both project and comparison communities; suggesting that broader sectoral growth, not the intervention itself, was driving results.

The implication is significant: without rigorous evaluation, this project could easily have claimed credit for change that was already underway. In fast-moving sectors, distinguishing between a rising tide and a real intervention effect isn't just academic; rather, it's what ensures future investments are built on evidence, not coincidence.

Read the blog | Read the brief | Read the report

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Mapping the latest evidence on irregular migration

Irregular migration is a complex global challenge shaped by economic opportunity, shocks, insecurity and migration policies. 3ie’s updated Evidence Gap Map on interventions addressing the root causes and drivers of irregular migration offers policymakers and researchers a clearer picture of what we know—and where the evidence gaps remain.

There has been a 38% increase in the evidence base since 2023 and the updated map now includes 105 impact evaluations and seven systematic reviews across 67 countries. Yet the research remains uneven, with most studies focused on economic opportunity programs and information campaigns, while many other intervention areas remain understudied. The findings highlight the need for stronger evaluation of migration outcomes, greater attention to cost-effectiveness and more systematic evidence synthesis to support policy decisions.

For several EGM categories, we are producing syntheses that will be available soon. The recent and ongoing research is supported by the Policy and Operations Evaluation Department (IOB) of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In the first phase, the project received funding support from the IOM and USAID.

Read the blog | View the interactive EGM | Read the report

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Digital financial inclusion: Lessons from a community-driven initiative

Can the rapid rise of digital payment systems automatically deliver financial inclusion? India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) now accounts for nearly 85% of all digital payments in the country, making it one of the world’s most influential digital financial systems—but access to digital infrastructure alone does not guarantee inclusion, especially for low-income women. With Gates Foundation’s support, we are studying how gender-intentional design and community engagement can improve women’s adoption of digital payments.

We collaborated with NGO Yugantar to understand their Digital Budget Rani (DBR) initiative, which aims to strengthen women’s confidence and their ability to use digital financial tools. The program trained more than 41,000 women across the Indian states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, equipping them with practical skills. Insights from this initiative highlight the importance of trusted mobilizers within the community, accessible technology and strong support systems in building confidence and sustained usage.

These lessons underline a key message: digital systems become truly inclusive only when they are designed with users’ realities in mind.

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Announcement | New member joins 3ie Board

We are delighted to welcome our new Board member, Mariam Essam Allam, who brings extensive experience in international cooperation, sustainability and strategic policy leadership. Her global perspective will strengthen 3ie’s mission to advance the generation and use of evidence for better development outcomes. Read more