Presenting on using evidence to increase social impact at the ICED conference

On July 9-12th, IDinsight team members led a workshop and participated in panel discussions at the International Centre for Evaluation and Development Conference (ICED) in Accra, Ghana to share learnings on using evidence to increase social impact. Under a conference theme of “Responsibility and Accountability: Strengthening Evidence Generation, Dissemination and Use to Improve Policy Reforms,” development stakeholders discussed and debated best practices around evidence-informed policymaking.

IDinsight’s Associate Director Maxwell Oteng and Senior Manager Martin Gould led “Beyond Impact Evaluation: Choosing the Right Evidence Tool,” a daylong workshop attended by more than 20 participants from a variety of backgrounds and countries. Rather than adopting a one-size fits all approach to monitoring and evaluation, the workshop explored how organizations should choose the right monitoring tool (for example ­– process evaluation, evidence review, impact evaluation, etc.) for their context and constraints in order to improve their programs.

Oteng also moderated a panel called “No more Business as Usual: Maximizing Government Through Learning Partnerships,” focused on IDinsight’s Learning Partnerships in Ghana and Malawi.  The panel members also included Gould, Andrew Asibey of Ghana’s Ministry of Monitoring and Evaluation and Laurent Kansinjiri of Malawi’s Social Cash Transfer Program (SCTP).

IDinsight team members were also involved in panel discussions on “How GIF-funded innovations are generating evidence to inform scale-up decisions” and “Supporting Evidence-Informed Policy Making through Capacity Strengthening.” In the former, Associate Kondwani Mumba discussed how our Nano information system (IS Nano) in Zambia is collecting data quickly and cheaply using the latest technology to inform traditional leaders’ decision making. In the latter, Oteng discussed our Learning Partnership in Ghana and how capacity building can amplify the impact of embedded teams.

We also presented an exhibition table with a banner and flyers highlighting our Learning Partnerships, services, and IS Nano project.

The workshop was met with positive feedback:

“It was greatly enriching. I look forward to future engagements with your highly resourceful team.” – Louis Sitsofe Hodey Measurement Learning and Evaluation Unit, ISSER, University of Ghana

“It was great being part of the events that IDinsight organized at the E2A conference. Keep up the good work.” – Dr Petrina Petrina Nandjila Mwetulundila, Project coordinator: Capacity Building UCCB, University of Namibia