When the things “everyone knows” turn out to be wrong

Marie Gaarder
07 October 2025 blog  

I still remember my early days as a fresh PhD economist at the Inter-American Development Bank. My job was to help design health and social programs across Latin America. I arrived eager, idealistic, and armed with economic theory. I quickly noticed something: everyone—government officials, colleagues, even myself—had strong views about what the “right” structure of a program should be. If you wanted to reduce the incidence of child malnutrition, you gave out food. If you wanted more women to work, you subsidized childcare.

Where evidence meets impact — a shared journey at ESA Africa

Engy Saleh, Abdelrahman Nagy
08 August 2025 blog  

It is always a bit magical when a conference turns into a conversation—and then into a movement. That’s what it felt like at this year’s Economic Science Association (ESA) Africa Conference hosted by Busara in Nairobi. The conference set something important in motion—a step toward ensuring that research in the Global South is shaped by the people it serves. 

New FCDO Research Commissioning Centre funding round to understand evidence use in policymaking

Marie Gaarder, Andy Hinsley
05 December 2024 blog  
The first stream of funding will focus on learning from examples of evidence use in practice in economic policymaking. The second stream will be dedicated to evaluations of initiatives designed to increase uptake and use of evidence by policymakers.

Enhancing rural livelihoods in India: evidence-based policy evolution and innovation

Anjini Kochar
24 July 2024 blog  
One of India’s largest livelihoods programs—which 3ie is evaluating—and its transformation over time offer insights into how policies interact with and adapt to the changing ground realities and the vital role played by effectiveness evidence. This blog explains how the traditional approach has evolved to focus on new evidence-informed ways to address constraints and enable an environment for income generation and empowerment.

Using evidence in decision-making: Moving from commitment to practice by distinguishing evidence from any old data

Douglas Glandon, Thomas Kelly, Marie Gaarder
02 July 2024 blog  
The importance of evidence for decision-making is widely acknowledged, and an increasing number of organizations are stating this officially. This type of organizational signaling can be an important lever for improving the culture of evidence use. At the same time, acknowledging the importance of evidence is just the beginning; it does not entail any specific decision, action, or behavior.

State of the evidence on SDGs: Five key takeaways and reflections

Zafeer Ravat , Dr Martin Bruder
12 June 2024 blog  

As we crossed the halfway point of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, we examined the state of the evidence for all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Joining forces with DEval* – and with funding from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) – we did a deep dive into the effectiveness evidence in our Development Evidence Portal (DEP) to unpack the trends and themes across SDGs.

A roadmap for more TRIPS on the evidence journey

Marie Gaarder
08 May 2024 blog  
In October 2023, 3ie created the Global Evidence Commitment, a statement signed by seven leading international development institutions to date to improve their organizational use of rigorous evidence in decision-making. Today, we offer thoughts on the levers these and likeminded organizations can use to improve their culture of evidence use. We call this the TRIPS Framework.

How should evaluators respond to a changing global landscape? Ideas from the World Bank IEG's expert panel

Paul Thissen, Marie Gaarder
15 April 2024 blog  
To respond to a rapidly-changing global context, the evaluation community needs to adapt its methods and approaches, according to an expert panel assembled by the World Bank’s Independent Evaluation Group (IEG).

The evidence-to-policy conundrum and how to solve it

David de Ferranti
09 April 2024 blog  
Does better evidence lead to better policies and programs? Massive amounts of reliable evidence, drawing on scientifically strong methods, including randomized controlled trials, mixed-methods approaches, and more, have been generated and disseminated in recent decades. A Nobel Prize has been awarded for that pathbreaking work. Yet the impact of that evidence – on what policymakers and program implementers think and do – has been far below expectations, even pitifully tiny according to some accounts.

Measuring and Improving the Impact of US Foreign Aid—A Look at Two Key Statutes

Erin Collinson, Thomas Kelly
30 November 2023 blog  
Over the years, US lawmakers of many stripes have embraced the value proposition of foreign assistance. While their precise motivations have varied, ensuring US international aid is transparent, accountable, and effective has been vital to this long-running bipartisan support.