No more ‘Business as Usual’: Maximizing Government Impact through Learning Partnerships Panel Session 5.2 - Evidence to Action Conference and Exhibition 2019

IDinsight helps leaders use data and evidence to combat poverty worldwide Our vision is to change millions of lives by transforming how the social sector innovates, learns, and improves Further description. That means being involved in the entire chain a policymaker might face: from helping innovate and develop new policies; test, evaluate, and learn about which policies actually work; to improving by taking action based on what the evidence says. We combine academic rigor with responsiveness to client needs in order to see lives transformed. Photo: Farmer shells cashews in Andhra Pradesh, India. Credit: Nidhaan Jain.

OUR SERVICES ARE DEMAND-DRIVEN AND FOCUS ON IMPACT FIRST Decision-focused evaluation Process evaluation Monitoring Machine learning Data analytics Program diagnosis & design support Landscape & evidence review Preference elicitation Capacity building SERVICES IDinsight started with the idea of taking a powerful but complex tool that had mostly been used by academics – rigorous impact evaluation – and tailoring it to the needs of decision-makers. In working closely with governments and nonprofits to identify and answer their most important questions, we realized the need to expand our toolkit to include other methods for evidence-based decision-making. While decision-focused evaluations (DFEs) are still our most common service, we've found that including a package of services in our projects can maximize our potential for impact. Photo: ITNs survey team in Zambia. Credit: Jeff Steinberg. Photo: ITNs survey team in Zambia. Credit: Jeff Steinberg.

we work ACROSS A RANGE OF sectors Full list of sectors: Agriculture Animal Farming Aquaculture Cash Transfers Digital Identity Education Energy Environment Finance Financial Inclusion Governance Government Services Health Livelihoods (Multi-sector) Nutrition Sanitation Social Protection WASH Agriculture | Education | Energy | Financial Inclusion Governance | Health | Nutrition | Sanitation Photo:Markeshaw Dessie, an IDinsight data collector (right) conducts a survey about asset ownership in Wogera district, Amhara, Ethiopia. Credit: Ali Hakim

Our Global REACH – projects and offices IDinsight was founded in 2012. Since then, we have grown to more than 150 people. Our work spans three continents and nine offices. We also have IDinsight staff working long-term out of Accra, Ghana; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Lilongwe, Malawi. Our largest office is Delhi, with nearly 60 people. 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Offices: Dakar, Johannesburg, Lusaka, Manila, Nairobi, New Delhi, San Francisco, Washington DC

governments face challenges in using data and evidence to inform policy Dynamic and urgent decision-making environment Strong interest in data and evidence for decision-making Mismatch between demand for and supply of evidence Lack of in-house capacity to generate evidence Need for new approach Government decisions are often made fast Strong interest in using data and evidence for decision-making Mismatch between demand for evidence, and supply of evidence Traditional timelines for generating evidence are often too slow Traditional arms-length approaches to evidence generation can be limited by a lack of contextual knowledge Sometimes the in-house capacity to generate evidence is unavailable or insufficient/weak

Learning partnerships aim to address these challenges Responsive, embedded team Wide range of M&E tools Learning Partnerships Evidence generation within constraints Build capacity and culture for data and evidence Imbedded team available to respond to decision-relevant evidence needs as they arise Make available a range of tools for responding to decision-makers’ questions Tailor evidence generation to operational, political, time, etc. constraints of governments Build capacity and a culture to use data and evidence.

IDinsight learning partnerships Malawi Ministry of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare Ghana Ministry of Monitoring and Evaluation Learning Partnership with the Ministry of Interior of Morocco their efforts related to *Phase III of the National Initiative for Human Development*! Program 3: Including youths in the labor force and improving their revenue**• Program 4: Improving the human capital development of upcoming generations* IDinsight was contracted directly by the Ministry of Interior* (another first for IDinsight!) *to support the implementation of Program 3 and Program 4* for an initial phase (phase d’«Inception ») for a duration of 13 weeks. The Ministry of Interior helps coordinate all the different public and private actors involved in the implementation of the INDH in rural areas and is also responsible for monitoring and evaluating progress across the different programs. Zambia Ministry of Community Development and Social Services Morocco Ministry of Interior

Panelists Andrew Asibey, Senior Technical Advisor to Minister Ministry of Monitoring and Evaluation, Government of Ghana Laurent Kansinjiro, Deputy Director Social Cash Transfer Program (SCTP), Ministry of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare, Government of Malawi Maxwell Oteng, Associate Director IDinsight, Ghana Martin Gould, Senior Manager IDinsight, Malawi