March 2010

RUTH LEVINE APPOINTED DIRECTOR OF EVALUATION AT USAID

Ruth Levine who co-led CGD’s Evaluation Gap Working Group was recently appointed Director of Evaluation, Policy Analysis & Learning at USAID.  Ruth will be working under the leadership of USAID Administrator and former working group member Rajiv Shah. After many years with the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank, Levine served at CGD as Vice President for Programs and Operations. She is also known for leading the Center’s work on global health policy and providing intellectual leadership that culminated in such products as Millions Saved: Proven Successes in Global Health ;  Making Markets for Vaccines: Ideas to Action;Start with a Girl: A New Agenda for Global Health; Global Nutrition Institutions: Is There an Appetite for Change; Performance Incentives for Global Health; and of course When Will We Ever Learn: Improving Lives through Impact Evaluation. The Center’s staff expressed regrets at losing Ruth’s leadership, collegiality, and humor while recognizing the opportunity this represents for improving evaluation at USAID. Congratulations Ruth and best of luck!

AFTER LOOKING AT COUNTERFACTUALS, CHILD SURVIVAL PROGRAM NOT SO SUCCESSFUL

A reminder of the importance of rigorous and independent impact evaluations comes from a recent study of UNICEF's Accelerated Child Survival and Development (ACSD) program, rolled out in 11 countries in west and central Africa between 2001 and 2005 at a cost of about US$27 million. In 2005, UNICEF reported that the program had reduced child mortality by 20% relative to comparison areas. However, a new paper in the Lancet, using survey data in Benin and Mali, found the ACSD program did not accelerate coverage of priority interventions relative to other areas. While areas in which the program was implemented experienced reduced child mortality levels, regions in which no program existed (control regions) experienced similar or higher reductions in mortality levels, calling into question prior claims of success.

EVALUATION SEPARATELY ASSESSES EFFECTS OF INCENTIVES AND RESOURCES IN RWANDA

A recent impact evaluation, “Paying primary health care centers for performance in Rwanda” found large and significant positive impacts on attending births at health facilities, preventive care visits by young children, and quality of prenatal care in facilities that received financial incentives. However, the authors found no effect on the number of prenatal care visits or on immunization rates. In prior studies, it has been difficult to tell whether gains under such programs were due to the performance-based incentive itself or merely due to receiving more funds. This study distinguished these two effects by providing the comparison facilities with additional funds under traditional input-based budgets. The resulting gains at participating facilities, therefore, appear to be due to the performance-based incentives.

LOOKING FORWARD

Ruth Levine’s appointment at USAID is good news for evaluation but we’ll miss her here at CGD. But don’t worry. We’re keeping up the newsletter and organizing some important workshops this year. As always, your feedback is welcome and I would particularly appreciate news related to improving the generation and use of impact evaluations in the service of promoting development. Write me at [email protected]

Best Wishes,


William D. Savedoff
Senior Fellow
Center for Global Development

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