Evaluation of the Ugandan Youth Livelihood Programme informs cabinet decision

A 3ie-supported evaluation of the Ugandan government’s Youth Livelihood Programme has informed the cabinet’s decision to make several key changes in programme design. The flagship programme assists poor and unemployed youth aged between 18 and 30 years to become self-employed. It provides start-up credit for skills development projects and income-generating activities initiated by youth groups.

The authors found that a group size of over ten members reduces the per capita funding share, complicates group dynamics and increases attrition. Based on study recommendations, the cabinet endorsed the decision to reduce the minimum group size from ten to five members. The findings have also informed the cabinet’s decision to increase the budget for institutional support from 10 to 20 per cent. The additional resources will be used for training, technical support and youth group supervision. In line with study recommendations, the government will also be strengthening programme implementation monitoring, as well as adding components for enterprise building and skill development.

“When you do these evaluations, they help you to inwardly reflect and look at what is working, what is not working and generate sufficient evidence to inform policy,” said Paul Onappa, national programme manager - Youth Livelihood Programme, Ugandan Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development.

Evidence use brief: How evidence helped address ultra poverty in Malawi

Impact evaluation reports: Harnessing transparency initiatives to improve India’s environmental clearance process for the mineral mining sector; Using information to break the political resource curse in natural gas management in Mozambique; Impacts of key provisions in Ghana’s Petroleum Revenue Management Act and Unpacking the determinants of entrepreneurship development and economic empowerment for women in Kenya

Impact evaluation briefs: Using voice reminders to reinforce harvest training in Mali

Replication papers: Risk sharing and transaction costs: a replication study of evidence from Kenya’s mobile money revolution and    Biometric Smartcards and payment disbursement: a replication study of a state capacity-building experiment in India

Systematic review report: Impact of financial inclusion in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review of reviews

Working paper: Transparency and accountability in the extractives sector: a synthesis of what works and what does not

Putting government in the driver’s seat to generate and use impact evaluations in the Philippines Emmanuel Jimenez, Tara Kaul and Fides Borja discuss lessons on building trust relationships and promoting alignment among government agencies that 3ie has learnt from our Philippines Country Policy Programme. Successful engagement with the government requires targeted strategies and responsiveness to the specific needs of government counterparts. Government-led and demand-driven studies are important for generating evidence that is useful and relevant to decision makers.

3ie’s latest working paper synthesises key lessons from seven impact evaluations of transparency and accountability initiatives in the extractives sector carried out through our transparency and accountability evidence programme. These evaluations focused on the role of information disclosure and deliberation interventions in increasing citizens’ knowledge, awareness and demand for accountability, and the implications the interventions have on public service delivery and development outcomes in Ecuador, Ghana, India, Mozambique, Peru, Tanzania and Uganda. Watch a video on the evidence programme here.

3ie and the World Bank’s Impact Evaluation Group co-organised a highly-interactive and well-attended one-day conference on citizen engagement and accountable government in Washington, DC on 8 April. A full house of approximately 130 participants heard from experts, interacted with their peers and shared their thoughts on the need to go beyond just what works to increase citizen engagement that can hold governments accountable. You can read the summary of discussions at each session and watch the videos here.

2nd Asia Pacific Evaluation Association, Manila, Philippines, 25 February-1 March

Emmanuel Jimenez, Tara Kaul and Violeta Corpus (National Economic and Development Authority, Philippines) presented an overview of and early lessons from 3ie’s Philippines Country Policy Programme. They focused on the demand-driven nature of the four impact evaluations, strategies employed in setting up the programme, and challenges encountered in promoting strong government ownership for these independent evaluations. Panellists discussed how the evidence programme complements the National Economic and Development Authority’s evaluation agenda, and ways in which our joint engagement has been useful in promoting impact evaluation by government agencies. The presentation was well-received and elicited several questions from the audience on evaluation methods, successful engagement strategies, and suggestions for establishing strong partnerships with governments.

What is women’s empowerment and how do we measure it, Delhi, India, 8 March

On the occasion of International Women’s Day, 3ie organised an interactive seminar on measuring women’s empowerment. While there are growing investments in rigorous evaluations of interventions designed to empower women and girls economically and promote gender equality, there remains limited evidence of the effectiveness of such investments. Speakers had the opportunity to discuss challenges they have faced, particularly in measuring empowerment in evaluations, and how they have tried to address them in their work. Approximately 70 participants, including researchers, programme managers and students, attended the seminar. Read more here.

9th African Evaluation Association Conference, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, 11-15 March

3ie staff conducted panel sessions on building evidence on agricultural innovations and risk insurance, and presented initial findings from 3ie’s scoping study on impact evaluation capacity and opportunities in West Africa. We hosted our popular workshop on evidence use. We also co-hosted workshops on improving capacity development approaches using adult learning principles. Click here for more details.