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NEW RESEARCH: Reinvigorating Impact Evaluation for Global Development Good policymaking requires good evidence. A new CGD report breaks down the barriers.

The problem? Not enough evidence, not being put to good use

The effects of most international development spending remain unknown—even though with better evaluation, we could concentrate limited development resources on the most effective interventions, improving lives and potentially saving hundreds of millions of dollars.

Despite over two decades of progress, impact evaluations, which rigorously assess the effectiveness of a program, are still not used as widely as they should be. Why? A major new CGD report from a working group of 40 experts breaks down what barriers exist and how we can improve the evidence landscape.

Key messages

  1. After two decades of progress and innovation, rigorous impact evaluation can now be done quickly, affordably, and at a large-scale.
  2. Despite progress in the field, development policies and programs still go mostly unevaluated with their impact unknown.
  3. When impact evaluations are conducted, they often fail to respond to policymakers’ questions, priorities, and timelines.
  4. The need to shift research agenda-setting power and resources to those who best understand local policy contexts and decision-making priorities is long overdue.
  5. New and better funding is needed to deliver on the promise of impact evaluation and bolster the broader evidence system for massive improvements in well-being.

What can we do? Five ways for researchers and funders to close the gap

  1. Design evaluations that start from the policy question and decision space available
  2. Harness technology for timely, lower-cost evidence
  3. Advance locally grounded evidence-to-policy partnerships
  4. Enact new incentives and structures to strengthen evidence use
  5. Invest in evidence leaders and communities to shape the future of impact evaluation

How can specific funders accomplish that? We break it down for USAID, the World Bank, and philanthropies.

Interested in even more?

Tweets to share

High-quality evidence on performance and outcomes is crucial for global development ✅🌍

So why have decision makers not yet fully harnessed the value of evidence for better public policies?

A new @CGDev report investigates 👇

https://www.cgdev.org/evidence-to-impact

Better evaluations could save hundreds of millions in development dollars.

So why aren't we doing it?

A new report explores how funders can invest in high-quality locally-led impact evaluation 🌍✅

https://www.cgdev.org/evidence-to-impact

#COVID has demonstrated the cost in lives and livelihoods when policymakers make decisions based on incomplete or outdated evidence.

A new report investigates how we can make impact evaluations better and more useful 🌍✅

https://www.cgdev.org/evidence-to-impact

Research agenda-setting power and resources often don’t focus on those who best understand local contexts and decision-making needs.

Here’s how we can fix that, and improve the evidence base available to policymakers.

https://www.cgdev.org/evidence-to-impact

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Evidence from impact evaluations has led to substantial long-term improvements to public policies, and to people's lives.

So why aren't more development programs evaluated?

CGD's new report reviews two decades of progress in the world of evaluation, and lays out how we can get past the barriers to making sure policymakers have the data they need to make decisions.

Read more: https://www.cgdev.org/evidence-to-impact

Who’s on the working group? 40 policymakers and experts from governments, multilateral organizations, aid agencies, academia, and NGOs. Check out their profiles here:

For more information about this report, please contact Julia Kaufman: jkaufman@cgdev.org