Spotlight | Evidence impact

3ie-supported impact evaluation informs new Ecuadorian law

Informed by 3ie-supported evidence, Ecuador’s lawmakers revised the draft of a new law to include community monitoring of environmental degradation in the Amazon. Researchers at the International Institute of Social Studies worked with the University of San Francisco at Quito and local civil society groups, the Union of People Affected by Texaco and the Amazon Defense Coalition, to evaluate the impacts of technology-assisted community monitoring on detecting environmental liabilities, reporting to state authorities and claiming compensation. In 2017, the researchers and implementers presented monitoring and qualitative data from the evaluation to the committee drafting the law and made the case for recognising community monitoring as a just and effective mechanism to monitor environmental degradation. Following the presentation, the 2018 law regulating planning in the Amazon territory included an article on community-based environmental monitoring.

3ie announcement: leadership transition

After five successful years of leading 3ie, Emmanuel ‘Manny’ Jimenez has decided to step down as the executive director. Marie Gaarder, currently 3ie’s director of evaluation office and global director for innovation and country engagement will take over the role. Read the message from Ruth Levine, the chair of our board, here.

Events

3ie at the What Works Global Summit

3ie staff actively participated in panel sessions and made presentations on a range of topics at the What Works Global Summit 2019 held in Mexico City from 14-18 October. We organised well-attended pre-conference workshops on topics like designing and using policy briefs; strategic communication; rapid response and systematic reviews; and promoting, monitoring and reporting on evidence use.

Our staff presented the latest evidence gap map on peacebuilding; a synthesis and map on transparency and accountability in natural resource governance; and two major systematic reviews on payment for environmental services and citizen engagement in public services through participation, inclusion, transparency and accountability. We also had several interesting panel discussions with experts on funding research for policy impact, taking stock of systematic reviews in international development, and curating, translating and integrating evaluation evidence into policymaking. Around 500 world leaders in evidence-informed decision-making including researchers, evaluators, policymakers, funders and students participated in the conference. To watch short videos of the keynote speakers and read more about the highlights of the discussions, click here.

Upcoming events

3ie Delhi Evidence Week | Beyond good intentions: from action to impact, New Delhi, India, 6-7 November
3ie-Ministry of Rural Development, India-World Bank conference | Evidence-informed policymaking for rural transformation: an exploration of the role of women’s collectives and community participation, New Delhi, India, 19-20 December
3ie-LIDC seminar | Plastics in the food system: human health, economic and environmental impacts – a systematic scoping review, London, UK, 27 November

Past events

3ie@global conference | Knowledge for sustainable development: the research-policy nexus, Bonn, Germany, 23-25 October
3ie@global conference | What Works Global Summit, Mexico City, 14-18 October
3ie-LIDC-CEDIL-CfE seminar | Making data reusable: lessons from replications of impact evaluations, London UK, 9 October
3ie-LIDC seminar | Does promoting citizen engagement in the governance of public services improve development outcomes?, London, UK, 25 September
3ie@global conference | Producing and using evidence for policymaking in West Africa, Cotonou, Benin, 12 September
3ie@conference | 2019 Asian Evaluation Week, Kunming, China, 2-6 September

Publications

Evidence gap map briefs
Performance measurement and management in primary healthcare systems in low- and middle-income countries: an evidence gap map; and Intimate partner violence prevention evidence gap map: 2018 update

Evidence gap map reports
Intimate partner violence prevention evidence gap map: 2018 update and The effect of transparency and accountability interventions in the extractive sectors: an evidence gap map

Evidence use briefs
Using evidence to improve pollution regulation in India

Impact evaluation briefs
Impacts of community environmental monitoring in the Ecuadorian and Peruvian Amazon, Evaluating how Ghana’s Petroleum Revenue Management Act has improved transparency and accountability, Harnessing transparency initiatives to improve India’s environmental clearance process for the mineral mining sector, Using community stakeholder interventions to increase transparency and accountability in Uganda’s extractives sector and Breaking the political resource curse in natural gas management in Mozambique

Impact evaluation reports
In search of the holy grail: can unconditional cash transfers graduate households out of poverty in Zambia

Systematic review briefs
Payment for environmental services, Does promoting citizen engagement in the governance of public services lead to improved service delivery and quality of life?; and Does promoting citizen engagement in the governance of public services lead to improved service delivery and quality of life?

Systematic review summary
Economic self-help group programmes for improving women’s empowerment

Working paper brief
How effective are transparency and accountability initiatives? An overview of new evidence

Multimedia

3ie how-to video: Innovative methods for humanitarian evaluations

By the end of 2019, nearly 132 million people across 42 countries will be in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. As the number of people in need of aid grows, humanitarian agencies need to be more effective when delivering assistance in complex and diverse emergencies. Impact evaluations can provide crucial evidence to improve the effectiveness of programmes but they are often dismissed for being too difficult to carry out in such settings. In this how-to video, 3ie’s Tara Kaul highlights some of the lessons we have learned in supporting evidence generation and use through our humanitarian assistance evidence programme. She provides real-world examples of innovative and successful strategies for carrying out evaluations.

Jobs @ 3ie

Director, evaluation programmes, 3ie

Consultant- research assistant, 3ie, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Senior evaluation specialist, 3ie, Washington, DC

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Senior research fellows (part-time), 3ie

Consultant- research associates, 3ie, New Delhi

Policy, advocacy and impact associate, 3ie, New Delhi

3ieNews is a bi-monthly newsletter of the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie). We promote evidence-informed equitable, inclusive and sustainable development. We support the generation and effective use of high-quality evidence to inform decision-making and help improve the lives of people living in poverty in low- and middle-income countries. We provide guidance and support to produce, synthesise and assure the quality of evidence of what works, for whom, how, why and at what cost.