As development budgets are being reshaped, the question of what role evidence can play is all the more pressing. The Smart Buys Alliance (SBA) offers a collaborative solution: pooling the expertise of leading research institutions and agencies to promote the most effective interventions.
The Smart Buys Alliance brings together bilateral development agencies, including Norad, Sida, and the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and leading research organizations, including CGD, J-PAL, CEGA, IPA, and GPRL, to identify the most cost-effective uses of development funding and to make that evidence easier to act on. The Secretariat of the Smart Buys Alliance is coordinated by Coopération Globale.
Smart buys are development interventions that have demonstrated exceptional cost-effectiveness and impact through rigorous evaluation. When adapted to local contexts, they are highly scalable and effective. The alliance is intended as a standing infrastructure, allowing for continued coordination among involved stakeholders with a unified, rigorous approach to evidence use. The Smart Buys Alliance’s work runs across three pillars:
- new Smart Buys lists in priority sectors
- practical implementation support for agencies applying the findings
- a community of practice for agency staff
The Smart Buys Alliance is modeled after the Global Education Evidence Advisory Panel (GEEAP)’s approach that identifies the most cost-effective ways to improve foundational learning. It pioneered the smart buys list that policymakers around the world now use to guide education spending.
The Smart Buys Alliance is part of CGD’s Evidence initiative. CGD’s Evidence Initiative includes various evidence advisory panels that synthesize evidence and make recommendations for effective knowledge use and evidence-based decision-making, including the Global Advisory Panel on Skills (GAPS), GEEAP, and SBA.
For more information, contact the SBA Secretariat coordinated by Coopération Globale at [email protected].
