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April 2017   Making Evidence matter
Evidence uptake and use from 3ie-funded studies
Early results help inform Pakistan's integrated nutrition strategy: The Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development (ACTED) is implementing humanitarian assistance programmes in the natural disaster-prone areas of Pakistan. Researchers from the University of Mannheim are collaborating closely with ACTED to assess the effectiveness of its interventions in responding to natural disasters and reducing the community’s vulnerability to emergency shocks. ACTED is actively disseminating findings from a recently concluded baseline survey among humanitarian actors. These include the working group of national and international NGOs on food security and cash transfers, the academic nutritional specialists at the national and provincial levels, and donors. Most recently, ACTED presented the study and the baseline findings at a workshop hosted by the Pakistan government. The workshop was to inform Pakistan’s integrated nutrition strategy by drawing on the insights from various stakeholders with experience of working on nutrition and disaster management, such as donors, national and local nutrition authorities and NGOs.
African Evaluation Association International Conference 2017
3ie participated in the Eighth African Evaluation Association (AfrEA) International Conference 2017 held in Kampala, Uganda from 27-31 March. More than 900 people registered for the conference, including evaluators, researchers, programme implementers and policymakers from 38 African countries and 32 countries from outside the region. 3ie had a strong and effective presence throughout the event. Our specialists organised five methods skills-building workshops, six panel discussions and presented three posters covering our impact evaluation, systematic reviews and/or mapping work in health, education, humanitarian assistance, and transparency and accountability. We awarded ten bursaries to African evaluators. Through our regular grant programmes, we sponsored 30 panellists, primarily from developing countries. .

Peer-learning workshops
We used the AfrEA event to host respective peer-learning workshops for grantees of our Humanitarian Assistance Thematic Window and the Transparency and Accountability Thematic Window. Not many impact evaluations have been carried out in either area. The peer-learning workshops offered opportunities for sharing expertise and experience in these emerging sectors. Researchers and implementers talked about the progress made on impact evaluations and the challenges they have encountered. They also shared preliminary results of their studies.

Fostering conversations on the generation and use of evidence
3ie organised a panel on the role that impact evaluations, systematic reviews and monitoring and evaluation systems can play in achieving the SDG on education. Representatives from the South African and Ugandan governments shared their experiences. 3ie’s Birte Snilstveit presented main findings from the 3ie education effectiveness review, focusing in particular on examples of evidence uptake and use since its launch last September. The panellists on agricultural and financial inclusion evaluations discussed the need to think innovatively about research methodologies that factor in the realities of programme implementation as means of promoting evidence use.

We also highlighted our evidence gap maps on land-use change and forestry and adolescent sexual and reproductive health. Both of them are examples of EGMs that have clear findings on where we need more evidence and where to direct future research. Participants discussed the advantages and limitations of restricting gap maps to impact evaluations and systematic reviews. There were lively exchanges about the importance of recognising how those limits might skew what the maps indicate are gaps.

3ie’s executive director Emmanuel (Manny) Jimenez gave the keynote address at the closing plenary. He commended the organisers for effectively using the sustainable development goals as a reference point for the sessions, especially on hard-to-evaluate goals, including climate change, sustainable cities and peace and justice. He also praised the increased visibility of and focus on gender-responsiveness and equity and on evaluating complex interventions.
3ie's first country-focused education policy dialogue held in Uganda
We organised our first country-focused education policy dialogue on 28 March in Kampala, Uganda. We co-hosted with our member, the Office of the Prime Minister. 3ie staff shared relevant findings from our flagship education effectiveness review that are government priorities, including some of the deeply rooted issues plaguing the education system that the Minister of State for Higher Education Dr John Chrysostom Muyingo highlighted. The findings fed into several discussions on evidence-informed solutions for Uganda's education challenges.
Global systematic reviews are often considered irrelevant for specific country contexts. However, 3ie's education systematic review includes studies from 52 countries and 216 programmes. We therefore had a lot to share on both Uganda-specific studies. Moreover, we had the opportunity to demonstrate the relevance of synthesised evidence from other countries to shared common challenges in Uganda, such as education quality, community-based monitoring and school-based management. Participants at the day-long event included a significant number from the Ministry of Education and Sports, representatives from the World Bank’s country office, USAID, UNICEF, and members of the Uganda National Teachers Union.
New 3ie publications
Evidence gap map brief: Mapping what we know about the effects of agriculture, land-use and forestry programmes

Evidence gap map reports: Science, Innovation, Technology and Partnerships and State Society Relations

Scoping paper: Assessing the evidence base on science, technology, innovation and partnerships for accelerating development outcomes in low- and middle-income countries

Systematic review summary report: Short-term WASH interventions in emergency responses in low- and middle-income countries

Systematic review technical reports: Effects of certification schemes for agricultural production on socio-economic outcomes in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review and Incorporating the life-cycle approach into WASH policies and programmes: A systematic review

Working paper: Evidence gap maps: a starting point for strategic evidence production and use

3ie brief: Can mobile message reminders help in treating TB in Pakistan?; Evidence-informed policy change: improved access to groundwater in West Bengal, India and Using evidence to prevent violence against women in Uganda
Peer-reviewed publications of 3ie-funded studies
Click here to access a list of the recent peer-reviewed publications of 3ie-funded research.
3ie @ events
3ie-LIDC London seminar, 22 February
Ken Chomitz from the Global Investment Fund (GIF) spoke on the organisation’s approach to development finance. He explained how GIF predicts and measures impact in order to maximise the social benefits of its investments. He began with a network analysis of the diffusion of project design concepts in development finance. The study found that successful projects are no more frequently emulated than unsuccessful ones. He also described how GIF is changing those dynamics by using impact prediction and measurement to find, improve, and take promising innovations to scale.

3ie Delhi seminar series, 17 March
Dr Nipun Vinayak, director of Swachh Bharat Mission (Clean India Mission) talked about bridging the gap between policy and practice, using India’s cleanliness campaign as a case study. In discussing the factors that affect an individual’s decision to use a latrine in rural India, Dr Vinayak emphasised the need for context-specific behaviour change methods. The main discussant, Upneet Singh, a water and sanitation specialist at the World Bank, spoke about the challenges to scaling sustainable sanitation practices.

3ie-IFPRI seminar series, 23 March
Kate Ambler, a research fellow from the International Food Policy Research Institute, spoke on cash transfers and crop production in Senegal. David Seidenfeld, vice president for the American Institutes for Research’s international research and evaluation work, was the main discussant. Read more about the event here.
Member webinar, 24 February
3ie co-hosted its fifth member webinar with the National Social Protection Agency (NSPA), Maldives. 3ie Research Associate, Ritwik Sarkar, provided an overview of 3ie’s policy window grants and 3ie’s approach to engaging with NSPA on its policy window grant. NSPA Technical Advisor Ismail Azzam Wajeeh presented on the paradigm shift that led NSPA beyond its initial focus on ensuring vulnerable populations had access to its programmes to an emphasis on assessing their impact and making improvements to future programmes. To see the webinar, please click here.
Upcoming 3ie events
3ie Washington Evidence Week, 27 April
3ie is organising a one-day conference, Evidence for whom: Do decision makers have the evidence they need to address inequalities? This event will include panel discussions on conducting equity-sensitive impact evaluations, reaching underserved populations affected by HIV and AIDS, conducting impact evaluations in conflict-affected countries and promoting evidence use. Richard Manning, chair of 3ie’s board of commissioners will deliver the closing remarks.

Delhi seminar series, 28 April
Arnaud Vaganay from the Berkeley Initiative for Transparency in Social Studies will be speaking on transparency and reproducibility of impact evaluations. He will discuss how transparency and scientific credibility of applied social sciences is measured. He will also outline the influence of scientific norms, political institutions and financial incentives on his research. Kiran Bhatty from the Center for Policy Research will be the discussant.
Other events
EvalPartners Global Evaluation Forum III, Bishkek, 25-28 April, Kyrgyzstan
The conference theme is Transforming our world through evaluation: engagement and partnerships for the better world we want.

United Kingdom Evaluation Society annual conference, 10-11 May, London
This conference theme is Exploring the current uses of evaluation.

Community of Evaluators South Asia conference, 6-9 June, Thimphu, Bhutan
The theme is Well-being and sustainable development – New frontiers in evaluation. 3ie will be hosting pre-conference workshops and organising panels at the conference.
Job opportunities at 3ie
3ie’s New Delhi office is looking for a research assistant to support our Promoting Latrine Use in Rural India Thematic Window. The deadline to apply is 30 April. For more details, please click here.
 
Job opportunities at other organisations
Save the Children is looking for an impact advisor In London, United Kingdom. The deadline to apply for this job is 30 April. For more details please click here.

The World Health Organization is looking for a monitoring and evaluation officer in Geneva, Switzerland. The deadline to apply for this job is 27 April. For more details please click here.

The Queen Rania Foundation for Education and Development has issued a call for applications for its Impact evaluation fellowship scheme. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.
   
 

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3ie is an international grant-making NGO promoting evidence-informed development policies and programmes. We are the global leader in funding and producing high-quality evidence of what works, how, why and at what cost. We believe that better and policy-relevant evidence will make development more effective and improve people’s lives.

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