BACKGROUND
The field of impact evaluation has grown rapidly over the last two decades, generating a wealth of evidence on whether development interventions work. But there are still substantial gaps in the field:
Most evaluation evidence is concentrated in a small number of middle-income countries and a few sectors, such as health, education and social protection, meaning there are significant thematic and geographic evidence gaps.
There are methods gaps, since those methods that are generally accepted as rigorous often cannot be employed in certain contexts, such as rapid emergencies, or with certain initiatives like peace-building programmes.
There is a gap in evidence synthesis methods for development contexts, as the time and resources required to undertake systematic reviews are not always practical, and other methods are limited in the range of evidence they can use and the policy questions they can address.
Despite an increasing emphasis on research uptake and impact, there is an evidence translation gap, as research on the effectiveness of different approaches to stakeholder engagement and influence is still limited.
TEAM
The Centre’s work is led by a Directorate with research and programme management arms. Intellectual leadership, strategic direction and technical guidance is provided by a team based at the London International Development Centre. This team draws on the expertise of an Intellectual Leadership Team, which is composed of independent experts and five consortium partners:
- The International Initiative for Impact Evaluation
- The Campbell Collaboration
- The Centre for Evaluation at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
- The EPPI-Centre at University College London
