Breaking down obstacles to impact evaluations in humanitarian settings
This was a hybrid event, with the opportunity to join in person in Washington, D.C. or online on Zoom.
Humanitarian settings have long been seen as a challenging context for the implementation of rigorous impact evaluations. The Humanitarian Assistance Evidence Cycle (HAEC) Associate Award addresses this challenge by working to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of emergency food security activities by increasing the demand for impact evaluations and the supply of researchers. Ensuring emergency programming is effective is vital to optimizing the use of often limited resources.
During this evidence dialogue, a panel consisting of operational and evaluation leaders representing USAID/BHA, implementing partners, and research entities discussed the work of HAEC thus far, providing insight into how the findings can be used to inform policy and research decisions. The event opened with a welcome from USAID’s new Chief Economist, Professor Dean Karlan, and featured an expert panel including:
- Gary Glass, Blumont, Director, Monitoring and Evaluation
- Suzanne Ammari, Save the Children/IDEAL, Activity Director (Acting)
- Aprille Knox, Senior Policy Manager, J-PAL Global
- Keith Ives, CEO, Causal Design
During this session, presenters shared about:
- The results of a recently completed evidence gap map, which outlines the current evidence base of impact evaluations in humanitarian settings.
- HAEC’s consultation process that was conducted with practitioners and stakeholders to understand the current barriers hindering the implementation of impact evaluations in humanitarian settings.
- The next stages of HAEC’s work which seeks to develop and strengthen the capacity of the humanitarian community to implement impact evaluations will be outlined.