Do funding agencies distort impact evaluations? A session organised by BetterEvaluation on choosing and using evaluation methods, at the recent South Asian Conclave of Evaluators in Kathmandu, focused on this issue. Participants were quite candid about funding agencies dictating terms to researchers. “The terms of reference often define the log frame of evaluation (i.e. the approach to designing, executing and assessing projects) and grants are awarded on the basis of budgets that applicants submit.

The chasm between policymakers and researchers is frequently observed but seldom addressed. A little over two weeks ago, 3ie organized a matchmaking market place to bridge this gap between research and policy. The setting for this was the Dhaka Colloquium for Systematic Reviews in International Development. The people who came together for this innovative matchmaking exercise were both ‘users’ and ‘doers’ of systematic reviews.

3ie is currently funding 100 impact evaluations in low and middle-income countries spread across Africa, Asia and Latin America. We are now in a unique position to learn a lot about what’s working well in designing and conducting impact evaluations and what can be done better to ensure that research produces reliable and actionable findings.