Building Evidence for Decision-Making (BE4D)

2T9B6TC Tanzania, Kilimanjaro;
Irrigation of bean crop in a large-scale agricultural breeding station for seed production.

Problem

USAID, its missions, and partners sometimes struggle to make use of data, evaluation findings, and research.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has a long-standing commitment to evidence-based decision making. However, the agency, its missions, and partners sometimes struggle to make use of data, evaluation findings, and research. Input from local beneficiaries and communities, results from gender analyses, and other evidence does not always inform program design due to time constraints and a lack of capacity and resources. Moreover, evaluations are often not part of the design phase of programming and therefore rigorous methods for evaluation and research are often not used.

USAID’s Bureau for Inclusive Growth, Partnership, and Innovation (IPI) provides global assistance for inclusive growth, expanding partnerships, and innovative solutions to complex development challenges and key USAID priorities. These include gender equality, inclusive development, and local and private sector partnerships across the agency. To ensure investments have the desired impacts and result in more effective programming, USAID IPI needs data, evidence, and learning to identify what does and does not work and why. It also needs support in adaptive management and use of evidence for design.

Solution

NORC is leading USAID’s BE4D consortium to promote the use of evidence and data for decision-making.

NORC is leading USAID’s Building Evidence for Decision-Making (BE4D) Activity consortium, consisting of the Dexis Consulting Group, ECODIT, the International Development Group, the Iris Group, and the Training Resources Group, to promote the use of evidence and data for decision-making. We work in close collaboration with USAID to generate evidence in a systematic manner and support its integration into activity design, implementation, and adaptive management. Our services include:

Literature and evidence reviews
Design workshops
Evaluation design support
Performance evaluations
Impact evaluations
Assessments
Gender landscape assessments
Activity performance management planning support
Support in data visualization and Geographic Information Systems
Knowledge management and dissemination
Trainings and workshops
Collaborating learning and adapting approaches

Result

BE4D aims to improve the performance, learning, and sustainability of evidence-based development projects and activities.

NORC and its consortium partners aim to improve the performance, learning, and sustainability of evidence-based development projects and activities for USAID/IPI centers and cross-cutting hubs and USAID Missions and Operating Units working in partnership with USAID/IPI. These include: