3ie will finance studies which address enduring questions.

What is an enduring question?

An enduring question is one which builds knowledge about what effect a program or policy will have to improve social and economic development in developing countries. The question will be important and of high demand because it will inform policies that affect large numbers of people, imply large resource outlays, and/or have large effects on particular populations. The question will be enduring in the sense that is expected to be of lasting importance in improving performance. The question will be amenable to collecting and analyzing evidence to make it possible to attribute impact to a particular intervention. The question, therefore, may likely relate to a certain sector (e.g. education or rural development) or sub-sector (e.g. HIV) and seek to not only understand whether something generates impact but under what circumstances and why.

How will the enduring questions be chosen?

3ie is currently inviting suggestions for enduring questions from everyone with an interest in development. All questions submitted will be added to the long list of questions. These will be collated into a middle list, which will be narrowed down to a shortlist through a broad consultative process. The final selection from the shortlist will be made by 3ie members with the assistance of expert panels.

Read more about 3ie's approach to identifying the enduring questions here.

You can submit your own suggestions for enduring questions to enduring_questions(at)3ieimpact.org