New Executive Director for the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3IE)
As we wrote in December, Howard White has been selected to serve as 3IE's first Executive Director, starting in February. White has extensive experience in evaluating programs in developing countries, including studies of basic education programs in Ghana, health and nutrition programs in Bangladesh, rural development initiatives in India, and rural electrification in a number of countries. In his current position with the World Bank's Independent Evaluation Group, based in Cairo, he has also played a leading role in bringing together donor agencies, multilateral banks and others in forming the Network of Networks for Impact Evaluation (NONIE) - an entity with which 3IE will be closely collaborating. Read a Q&A with Howard here.
New Members for 3IE
The initiative welcomes several organizations that have joined the effort to establish 3IE since our last e-Update. They are: CARE USA, Save the Children USA, google.org, the International Rescue Committee, and the Mexican Ministry of Education. If your institution is interested in considering membership in 3IE, please contact me ([email protected]) for further information.
Financial Commitments Arrive
In the last few months, a range of organizations committed to creating 3IE have come forward with funds to establish 3IE and assure that it will have sufficient resources for its first few years. Foundations stepping forward include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation and google.org. CARE USA and IRC also have made first-year contributions. Over the next several months, resources are expected from other organizations that are actively participating in establishing 3IE.
International Assistance Agencies and Foundations Informed about Progress toward 3IE’s Creation
At a meeting in October in Washington, DC, representatives from 10 bilateral agencies, 2 foundations and 6 international organizations discussed 3IE and how it can complement other international efforts to improve the evidence base for policymaking. Richard Manning, Chair of the Development Assistance Committee, joined CGD President, Nancy Birdsall, in hosting the dinner.
Spanish TC Fund Issues its First Round of Grants for Impact Evaluation
A €10.4 million Trust Fund has been established at the World Bank by the Government of Spain to support to prospective, randomized evaluations of human development programs in eligible developing countries. The program, which will run through July 2010, provides funding for new impact evaluations and/or follow-on funding to complete already-launched evaluations. Priority will be given to evaluations of programs supported by World Bank lending, but the program is also open to other activities (e.g., NGO-implemented programs or government programs not currently supported by Bank lending) that have high potential relevance to future Bank operations.
World Bank Hosts Impact Evaluation Conference in January
The Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Network, the Independent Evaluation Group, and the Development Economics Vice Presidency of the World Bank are hosting a one-and-a-half-day conference in Washington, January 15-16, on "Making Smart Policy: Using Impact Evaluation for Policy Making." The conference seeks to explore how to design and use impact evaluation for increased policy impact and how to generate greater demand for impact evaluations.
Additional Resources on Impact Evaluation
- The Africa Impact Evaluation Initiative at the World Bank has posted the results from 45 completed evaluations along with descriptions of 47 ongoing evaluations. A special section of the initiative’s website, the Africa Results Monitoring System, presents the results of these studies in summary form.
- The Asian Development Bank has recently published a new impact evaluation of microcredit programs, "The Effect of Microfinance on Poor Rural Households and the Status of Women". The study combined quantitative and qualitative analyses to study 5 microcredit projects in Bangladesh, the Philippines and Uzbekistan, with particular attention to gender issues.
- The European Evaluation Society has recently adopted a statement entitled: "The importance of a methodologically diverse approach to impact evaluation specifically with respect to development aid and development interventions". The statement supports "multi-method" approaches to impact evaluation and explicitly rejects considering any single method as a first choice or "gold standard."