Evidence use in policymaking: How to integrate policy evaluation into policy design
2019 PEP Policy Conference
June 1, 2019 | Cape Town, South Africa
On June 1, PEP hosted a high-level policy conference to conclude the 2019 PEP Annual Conference, held May 29 to June 1 in Cape Town, South Africa. The theme of the Policy Conference was “Evidence use in policymaking: How to integrate policy evaluation into policy design.” The event aimed to help developing country researchers implement strategies to promote and facilitate the use of evaluation and research-based evidence in policy design in their home countries.
Using scientific evidence to inform policy decisions is widely recognized as a best practice at the national and international levels. However, it remains largely underutilized in government practices. This is true of developed and developing countries.
When it comes to evaluation, policymakers tend to focus on the accountability purpose of evaluation, which is often misconstrued as punitive. Policy influence is more likely to happen when policymakers are incentivized to learn: when they see evaluations as sources of insight, and not merely tools to hold them accountable.
PEP invited policy actors, development partners and international experts from around the world to participate in this special policy conference to explore the role of independent evaluators and local knowledge producers in strengthening the link between evaluation and policy. The discussions concentrated on the policy needs and perspectives that researchers should understand to support decision-making effectively.
The event featured a keynote presentation by Dr Santiago Levy on Integrating Policy Evaluation into Policy Design, and two panel discussions. The first panel discussion led on from the theme of the keynote presentation. The second, discussed Promoting the Use of Evidence to Inform Policymaking. The audience had an opportunity to ask questions and add comments at the end of each session.
Welcome remarks and official opening
Dr Mustapha Nabli, Chair of the PEP Board of Directors (2013-2019):
Research is not just about good technical skills … it needs to be put to policy use to change people’s lives.
Martha Melesse, Acting Program Leader of the Employment and Growth Program, International Development Research Center (IDRC, Canada)
[PEP] has grown to be a network of southern researchers and practitioners that has made an enormous contribution to both deepening knowledge and evidence, and making sure that research is really linked to policy and makes a difference to the lives of poor people.
Rudi Dicks, Outcome Facilitator for Employment through Inclusive Growth, Department of Planning Monitoring and Evaluation in the Presidency, South Africa
Any decision that is meant to affect the lives and welfare of populations should be based on the best available knowledge. We are gathered in this room today because we are all dedicated to producing this knowledge.
Keynote address
Dr Santiago Levy, Senior Fellow (non-resident) with the Global Economy and Development Program at the Brookings Institution and member of the PEP Board of Directors, gave the keynote address. Dr Levy drew on his vast experience of policymaking and policy analysis—in particular, his time at the Ministry of Finance of Mexico where he was the main architect of Progresa, Mexico’s incentive-based education, health, and nutrition program for the poor—to deliver an engaging presentation on Integrating Policy Evaluation into Policy Design.
He spoke about the importance of having good, reliable evidence available to decision makers when they need it, and advocated for investing in data collection.
We spent probably over $100 million [gathering data on Progresa] and it was the best investment we ever made … otherwise you are spending billions of dollars on something and you don’t know whether it is working.
In particular, he said that program evaluation must be built into the program design, from the outset. He explained that evaluating the program from the start allows the policymakers to know whether it is operating as expected and having the expected impact, and what to adjust to sustain and scale up the program.
If policymakers are really committed to serious policymaking, they’ve got to make evaluation essential from the beginning.
Looking forward, Dr Levy suggested that evaluating individual programs is not sufficient to ensure they will improve the lives of the most vulnerable population groups.
We now need look at how to evaluate multiple programs interacting with each other. The techniques to do this are very different and it is very difficult but essential.
