an introduction to odi, rapid and evidence based policy

An introduction to ODI, RAPID and Evidence Based Policy

2

RAPID Programme www.odi.org.uk/rapid

SMEPOL, Cairo, February, 2005

Overseas Development Institute

• Britain’s leading development Think Tank

• £8m, 60 researchers (100 staff)

• Research / Advice / Public Debate

• Rural / Humanitarian / Poverty & Aid / Economics (HIV, Human rights, Water)

• DFID, Parliament, WB, EC

• Civil SocietyFor more information see: www.odi.org.uk

3



RAPID Programme• Research

• Research-Policy Links

• Communications

• Knowledge Management

• Advisory work

• Workshops and seminars

• Evaluations

• CSO Partnership Programme www.odi.org.uk/rapid

4



RAPID aims to help people to:

• Understand how policy processes work?

• Identify what the problems are.

• Work to improve the availability and use of evidence.

“If we want to change the world, we must first understand it.” Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General

Our Goal

5



Background• Greater need for evidence due to ….

– Opening up of policy space– Economic complexity due to globalization & liberalization

• But … – Policy processes remain unclear, unparticipatory, etc.– Gaps between formulation & implementation.– Research capacity remains weak in many countries.– Policy systems vary across the world.

• Researchers and policymakers still often seem to live in parallel universes.

6



RationaleEvidence can help• Identify issues / problems for policymakers • Prioritize between issues• Develop strategies• Improve effectiveness of interventions• Assess whether a strategy is working

7



Getting Evidence (UK Govt.)

• ‘…good policy making draws on all forms of evidence which include: expert knowledge; published research; existing statistics; stakeholder consultations; previous policy evaluations; the Internet; outcomes from consultations; costing of policy options; output from economic and statistical modelling.’

(Strategic Policy Making Team, 1999)

8



Evidence-Based Policy – key texts• Modernizing Government, UK Cabinet Office

• The Magenta Book: Guidance Notes on Policy Evaluation, Chief Social Researcher’s Office

• Getting the Evidence, NAO

• Government Action Plan, Small Business Service

• Better Policy-Making, Bullock

• Evidence-based policy, Nutley

• Policy-based evidence, Sanderson

• Speaking Truth to Power, Bardach

9



SBS: Use of Evidence

10



Challenges of EBP• Lack of awareness of the value.• There is no evidence base to draw on! • Policy processes are problematic

(coherence, cosultation, etc) • Implementation is problematic due to:

– Lack of capacity– New types of accountability resisted by

Ministers or risk averse civil servants.

11



…parallel universes?

• Speed• Superficiality• Spin• Secrecy• Scientific Ignorance

Vincent Cable (MP, UK): www.odi.org.uk/RAPID/Meetings/Evidence

Policy makers in the UK cannot be evidence-based because they operate in an environment characterised by :

12



The Opportunity

The results of household disease surveys informed processes of health service reform which contributed to a 43 and 46 per cent reduction in infant mortality between 2000 and 2003 in two districts in rural Tanzania.

IDRC TEHIP Project

13



HIV Prevalence

0%

6%

12%

18%

24%

30%

36%

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000

HIV

Prev

alen

ce

Thailand Kampala, Uganda KwaZulu Natal, South Africa

Source: UNAIDS

Any Questions?

an introduction to odi, rapid and evidence based policy

Documents