Latest blogs

Mapping evidence gaps on good governance and political competition

Political decisions for the common good and political accountability are important drivers of development and stability. These are enabled by good governance and political competition. Although an increasing body of evidence highlights the importance of institutions and good governance for development, the number of free countries, according to the Freedom House Barometer, has reached its lowest level in 15 years,

Evidence Impact: Taking HIV self-testing from pilot programs to global implementation

In March of this year, UNAIDS launched the In Your Hands HIV self-testing campaign in the Caribbean, aiming to increase the proportion of HIV-positive individuals who know their status. In January, Senegal's government approved its new HIV self-testing strategy, working with a donor-funded program to promote and distribute the HIV self-tests in West Africa. These efforts join others around the world, with a push from the World Health Organization for countries to fast-track HIV self-testing.

Making agricultural insurance work for smallholder farmers in the COVID era

Sustainable agriculture is crucial for the 2030 agenda for sustainable development. Agricultural production is inherently risky due to erratic climate conditions, crop loss from pests, and fluctuations in crop and/or input prices, limited access to inputs, among others. These

Beyond Counterfactuals: Making transparent, reproducible and ethical evidence (TREE) central to rigorous evidence generation

Since 3ie was established, we have known we need to learn from evidence to make better decisions and that we need to open the ‘black box’ of project design and implementation to learn what works, what doesn’t, and why. But as this movement for more evidence generation matured, we have increasingly understood that research that generates evidence also requires accountability and transparency.

Evidence impact: Putting the brakes on a childhood nutrition program with unintended consequences

Even bad news can be useful. In this case, as part of an upgrade of Colombia's childcare centres, a foundation called Fundación Éxito had planned to fund a new nutrition program for children. But it reversed course after an impact evaluation showed that the new nutrition component seemed to do more harm than good. Children's nutrition did not improve and some gained an excessive amount of weight.

Evidence Dialogues: Improving programming to address gender inequality in fragile contexts

By now, virtually everyone in the development community recognizes the centrality of gender equality in improving lives. Now the question is: how can interventions be designed to effectively move the needle on entrenched gender prejudice?

What is desirable vs. what is feasible: Producing evidence on peacebuilding programming

Measuring the impact of peacebuilding is different than measuring the impact of other types of programs. We should aim for a more evidence-based foreign policy and multilateral interventions, which might be able to propel us to new levels of global peace.

On World Food Day, think once more about food systems, instead of just deciding what to eat today

Every time you sit down for a meal, you are part of a food system—the chain from production through distribution to your plate and disposal of leftovers. Most of the time, people only focus on the near end of that chain: what to eat today.

Why we need qualitative evidence in systematic reviews: the case of the Gender SR

We recently completed a new systematic review, ‘Strengthening women’s empowerment and gender equality in fragile contexts towards peaceful and inclusive societies’. This systematic review, also called the Gender SR, examined 14 gender-specific and gender-transformative interventions focusing on women’s empowerment in fragile contexts.

Evaluation approaches to scaling – application and lessons

In the second blog of his two-part series, 3ie Senior Research Fellow Johannes Linn builds on the discussion in Part I around the factors that support and hinder the scaling process and pathway. In this piece, he writes about both quantitative and qualitative evidence-based evaluation of scaling efforts and the practical application of these approaches.

About

Evidence Matters is 3ie’s blog. It primarily features contributions from staff and board members. Guest blogs are by invitation.

3ie publishes blogs in the form received from the authors. Any errors or omissions are the sole responsibility of the authors. Views expressed are their own and do not represent the opinions of 3ie, its board of commissioners or supporters.

Archives