Nearly a quarter of the 543 elected members of the Indian Parliament have been charged with crimes, some as serious as rape and murder (Association for Democratic Reforms, 2009). Civil society movements have made corruption among politicians a topic of national importance using approaches such as voter education campaigns to empower citizens and demand more effective leadership.

At a recent 3ie Delhi seminar Dr. Rohini Pande, Harvard University, presented preliminary findings from a 3ie supported evaluation of the impact of voter education awareness campaigns on voting behavior. Working with local NGOs, Satark Nagrik Sanghatan and Prayatn, the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) research team, used  ‘report cards’ and street theatre to generate awareness on the performance of elected representatives in the urban slums of Delhi and villages of Rajasthan. The report cards give an objective profile of the candidate's education, criminal record, assembly or parliament meeting attendance and their performance as measured by expenditure on public works.

The findings from this randomised control trial are promising. “Our evaluation in Delhi shows that the turn out for the election was 3-5 % higher in treatment groups than the control groups. Better performing incumbents received more votes in the treatment group. Cash-based vote-buying also declined by 19 % in treatment polling stations,” said Dr Pande. Read More

3ie invites proposals for Systematic Reviews

3ie has launched a joint call for proposals for systematic reviews to strengthen the international community’s capacity for evidence-based policy making with NORAD, Sightsavers and Population Services International. Systematic reviews examine the existing evidence on a social or economic development intervention or programme in low and middle income countries, drawing also on evidence from developed countries when pertinent.

3ie has developed a list of proposed systematic review questions, but is also accepting expressions of interest for other questions, provided they fall within 3ie’s remit. The proposed review questions address several policy relevant issues in a broad range of sectors like microfinance, health insurance, water and sanitation, agriculture, governance, and conservation. 3ie intends to fund up to 12 studies under this call.

For more information and to submit a proposal, please go to:
http://www.3ieimpact.org/systematicreviews/sr4/

A 3ie funded impact evaluation in Mozambique has produced new evidence on the benefits of early childhood education. The study clearly shows that children who attended preschool programs run by Save the Children, were more likely to enroll in primary school and were significantly better equipped to learn than children not covered by the program. Most importantly, children who participated in the program demonstrated improved cognitive, problem solving and social skills. This finding also corroborates evidence from a recent 3ie funded systematic review which shows that daycare programmes have a positive impact on child development.

In her blog for 3ie, Melissa Kelly from Save the Children shares the organisation’s experience of conducting an impact evaluation and engaging with the Government of Mozambique for investing more in Early Childhood Development.

Read the blog by Melissa Kelly.

African theories of change : lost in translation?

How important are ‘traditional’ cultural concepts to ‘modern’ thinking on evaluation? “Very important” was the predominant feeling at the recent African Evaluation Association (AfrEA) conference in Accra, Ghana. There was a strong call for using African evaluation methods and African-based theories of change.

But what does ‘Africa-based theory of change’ really mean? The theory-based approach to impact evaluation is one that maps out the causal chain of a development intervention, from inputs to outcomes to impacts. It tests the underlying assumptions to answer the crucial question of ‘why’ a development programme should have an impact. An important aspect in a theory-based approach is a deep understanding of the context (White, 2009). What this means from the African perspective, is that each theory of change needs to be adapted to the specific local context. Read full feature by Dr. Sulley Gariba and Dr. Thomas de Hoop.

3ie appoints new Deputy Director for Systematic Reviews

3ie is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Philip Davies as the Deputy Director for Systematic Reviews and head of 3ie’s European office based at the London International Development Centre. He will take up his position on 1st March, 2012.

Dr. Davies is currently the Executive Director of Oxford Evidentia, a research consultancy company that specializes in public policy analysis, monitoring and evaluation, and knowledge transfer. His previous positions include being a Senior Research Fellow at the American Institutes for Research in Washington DC and the Executive Director of the Campbell Collaboration. From 2000-2007 he was a senior civil servant in the UK Cabinet Office and HM Treasury, responsible for policy evaluation and analysis. We welcome Dr. Davies to 3ie.

Bursaries, Jobs and Events

3ie is offering 5 bursaries for residents from low and middle income countries attending the NONIE 2012 meeting in Rome. Read more. (Deadline for application: Feb 27).

3ie is looking for a Post-doctoral Fellow for its Impact Evaluation Replication Program.

3ie seeks a senior researcher to write a white paper on the Commitment to Evaluation Indicator. Read FAQ (Deadline: February 29).

The Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation, Presidency of South Africa is looking for Evaluators.

The Clinton Health Access Initiative is looking for a Research Associate for its 3DE Evaluation Initiative.

Registration is now open for the 12th Annual Colloquium of the Campbell Collaboration from May 29-31 2012 in Copenhagen.

MEASURE Evaluation's regional workshop on Impact Evaluation of Population, Health and Nutrition Programs from May 21-June 1 in Pretoria (Deadline for application: March 18).

The London International Development Centre (LIDC) is hosting a conference on Measuring impact of higher education for development from 19-20 March at Birkbeck College, London.

3ie-LIDC Seminar Microfinance: A Comprehensive Evaluation by David Roodman on February 22 in London.

Recommended Reading

Debate on Systematic Reviews
The Overseas Development Institute has released a thought-provoking briefing paper on systematic reviews which offers some insights into the value of this form of analysis, but also finds fault with the approach. In response, 3ie’s systematic review team suggests that just because something is hard doesn’t mean it isn’t worth doing. Both pieces address steps the evaluation community should take to improve the ease and value of doing systematic reviews, including a registry of impact evaluations so that relevant studies are not excluded because of a lack of access to some academic databases. Read 3ie’s response to the briefing paper.

'Ideal' impact evaluations

How can we implement an ‘ideal’ impact evaluation, one that is technically robust, produces useful findings and influences policymakers? The authors of 3ie’s new working paper Behind the scenes: managing and conducting large scale impact evaluations in Colombia address this question by drawing on the experience of implementing evaluations of four major programmes in Colombia. The keys steps for conducting high quality and influential impact evaluations identified in the paper are 1. Invest in the preparation of good terms of reference and identification of evaluation questions, 2. Make a careful choice of the best methodological approach to address the evaluation questions, 3. Adopt mechanisms to ensure the quality of the evaluation, 4. Lay out incentives for involved parties in order to foster buy-in for the evaluation and finally 5. Carry out a plan for quality dissemination of the evaluation. Read more.

Monitoring & Evaluation of advocacy

Making the case for advocacy by Carlisle J. Levine focuses on the need for monitoring and evaluation of advocacy efforts made by NGOs. The article suggests that evaluations can help advocates identify successes, understand shortcomings and shape future efforts. There are also suggestions of concrete steps that can be taken to monitor and evaluate advocacy.

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