Evidence Dialogues | Bridging the gaps: Building evidence for achieving the SDGs

The panel discussion will cover major recommendations from the report, including how the SDGs must be given a more central role in setting research priorities and coordinating research activities in global development. Just as the SDGs set firm targets against which progress is monitored, global producers and users of evidence should set and monitor progress towards targets for creating a robust evidence base for interventions to achieve the SDGs.

Chair: Birte Snilstveit, Director and Head, Synthesis and Reviews Office, 3ie

Panelists: 

• Martin Bruder, Head, Department of Civil Society, Human Rights, DEval
• Kathrin Wolf, Evaluator - Team Leader, DEval
• Mark Engelbert, Senior Evaluation Specialist & Leader, Development Evidence Portal, 3ie

Martin Bruder, Head of Department Civil Society, Human Rights, Deval

Martin Bruder is the Head at Department of Civil Society, Human Rights, DEval. He studied Psychology in Freiburg, Germany, and Cambridge, UK and holds a PhD in Psychology from the University of Cambridge, UK. He has also worked as the Head of Section “Monitoring, Evaluation, Research” at the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) including commissioning and management of project and program evaluations as well as facilitating the development of a results-based management system in the area of BMZ funding (2013-2015).

Kathrin Wolf, Evaluator - Team Leader, DEval

Dr Kathrin Wolf currently leads the research and advisory project on monitoring, evaluation and steering in official bilateral development cooperation. Beforehand, she has been the team leader of a research and advisory project on rigorous impact evaluation. As a PhD candidate in the field of economic psychology at Leuphana University of Lüneburg, her research sought to shed light on women entrepreneurship in sub-Saharan Africa and its effective promotion through training. In the context of her doctoral work, she has collaborated with the World Bank’s Africa Gender Innovation Lab and run experimental and quasi-experimental impact studies in Ethiopia. Prior to joining DEval, she has worked for the German Commission for UNESCO and - as an independent consultant - for major donor agencies, such as the World Bank and the GIZ. As part of her consulting services, she has developed evaluation designs and monitoring tools.

Mark Engelbert, Senior Evaluation Specialist & Leader, Development Evidence Portal, 3ie 

Mark manages 3ie’s Development Evidence Portal and supports the production of systematic reviews and evidence gap maps in a variety of topics, with emphasis on agriculture and immunisation. Before joining 3ie, Mark was a consultant for a number of development organizations, working on projects such as an experimental study examining how new evidence affects the decisions of policymakers and exploratory research to identify the most cost-effective anti-poverty interventions. He also did project management and evaluation work on a programme using SMS reminders to increase vaccination rates in India. Mark has a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Maryland, a Masters in International Development, School for International Training and Bachelors in Philosophy, College of William & Mary, Virginia.

Birte Snilstveit, Director – Synthesis and Reviews and Head of London office

Birte is the head of 3ie’s London office and as director, she is also part of 3ie’s senior management team. Prior to this, she was a senior evaluation specialist and head of 3ie London office. She manages systematic reviews commissioned by 3ie and other donors, provides quality assurance of systematic reviews and conducts in-house systematic review research and methods development. She is the lead author of a major systematic review on education and a co-author of systematic reviews and evidence gap maps on a range of topics, including WASH, social cohesion, and land-use change and forestry. Birte has led the development of the methodology and web-platform for evidence gap maps at 3ie, manages the Development Evidence Portal and has published several papers on evidence synthesis methods. She is also an editor of the Campbell Collaboration International Development Coordinating Group. Her research interests include agriculture, education and environmental policies, as well as synthesis methods and evidence use. Birte has a BSc in Politics with Sociology from Aston University, a MA in Political Economy of Development from University of Birmingham, UK and is currently pursuing a PhD in Global Public Health Policy at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.