CEDIL conference 2023 Programme

The Centre of Excellence for Development Impact and Learning (CEDIL) 2023 conference:  Innovations in Impact Evaluation: What Have We Learned?

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Tuesday 21 – Friday 24 February

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About the conference

Programme

Tuesday 21st February 2023

The future of impact evaluation: methods, ethics, and ownership

12.00 GMT – 13.30 (GMT)

(1hr 30mins)

Impact evaluations are embracing a broader range of methods to answer questions not readily answered by randomised controlled trials (RCTs). The session will reflect on CEDIL’s work and that of others in developing innovative methods to examine the impact of interventions.

Session participants will share their observations and reflections on the following questions:

  • What has worked or not worked in carrying out impact evaluations?
  • What methods have been used to complement or extend the relevance of usefulness of RCTs?
  • What is the likely trajectory of current trends in impact evaluation?
  • Will evaluation prove to have been a fad?
  • How relevant and useful have impact evaluation findings been to decision-makers?
  • Have researchers from the Global North dominated the field and how have partnerships with implementers/decision-makers developed?
  • What do we now have in the impact evaluation toolbox?
  • What would we like to do to move the field forward in the next 10 years?

 

Chair: Howard White, Research Director, CEDIL

Panellists:

Annie Duflo, Executive Director, Innovations for Poverty Action

Arianna Legovini, Director of the Development Impact Evaluation (DIME), World Bank

Timothy Lubanga, Commissioner for Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E), Office of the Prime Minister, Uganda

Gonzalo Hernandez, Director of the Multidimensional Poverty Peer Network

Wednesday 22nd February 2023

Making innovative methods matter

12.00 – 13.15 (GMT)

(1hr 15mins)

This session will focus on the innovative methods that presenters have used for evaluations, including their work on CEDIL. Each presenter will give a quick overview of the innovations they have worked on and consider:

  • What are innovative methods being used in impact evaluation?
  • What can these methods tell us that existing methods could not?
  • What difference could these methods make to evidence being relevant to decision-makers?
  • How could we promote the uptake of these methods by researchers?

 

Chair: Macartan Humphreys, Professor of Political Science at Columbia University, honorary professor at Humboldt University Berlin, and director of the Institutions and Political Inequality group at the WZB Berlin

Panellists:

Matt Juden, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Nazmun Ratna, Associate Professor in Development Economics, Lincoln University VIEW SLIDES

Claudia Ringler, Senior Research Fellow, Transformation Strategies Department of the International Food Policy Research Institute VIEW SLIDES

Douglas Glandon, Lead Evaluation Specialist & Leader, Methods Development, 3ie VIEW SLIDES

Thursday 23rd February 2023

Evaluations in humanitarian contexts: developing innovative and collaborative strategies

12.00 – 13.15 (GMT)

(1hr 15mins)

The world continues to grapple with the effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic, with additional pressures coming from the war in Ukraine, and many other conflicts and natural disasters.

Over the last several years, researchers have been working on developing innovative methods for identifying whom to help and how to do so most effectively with the limited resources available. Researchers have found new ways to collect and analyse divergent data sources for improving learning. Importantly, they have learned several lessons on how to develop collaborative strategies, in partnership with humanitarian practitioners and implementers, for generating useful evidence to inform decision-making.

This session will present the work that CEDIL has supported in evaluating and synthesising the evidence on humanitarian interventions. Speakers will present their work and share their key insights and reflections, which will be followed by a moderated panel discussion.

Chair: Chris Porter, FCDO

Panellists:

Jeannie Annan, Chief Research and Innovation Officer, International Rescue Committee

Marcella Vigneri, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine VIEW SLIDES

Ghassan Baliki, Program Director: WelfareF40 ISDC – International Security and Development Center gGmbH, Germany

Alan de Brauw, IFPRI

Friday 24th February 2023

What have we learned about supporting the use of innovative methods to generate evidence?

12.00 – 13.30 (GMT)

(1hr 30mins)

This session will provide an opportunity to share the important learning from CEDIL and reflect on the advances made in addressing the gaps identified in evaluation and evidence synthesis. The session will highlight our key insights from the programmes of work that looked at evaluating complex interventions, enhancing evidence transferability and increasing evidence use.

Presentations from CEDIL directors and from FCDO will reflect on the lessons learned from CEDIL and consider these questions:

  • Did we have realistic objectives?
  • What did we achieve? How did we fail?
  • What did we learn? What did we learn specifically from our programmes of work?

Speakers will also reflect on the emerging themes in the sector, as well as look ahead to share their perspectives on what a future research agenda may look like. 

Chair: David Ameyaw

Panellists:

Sian Rasdale, Chief Statistician, FCDO

Howard White, Research Director, CEDIL VIEW SLIDES

Edoardo Masset, Deputy Research Director, CEDIL

Radhika Menon, Research Uptake Lead, CEDIL VIEW SLIDES