Generating Demand For and Use of Evaluation Evidence in Government Health Ministries

This article examines Demand-Driven Evaluations for Decisions (3DE), a programme piloted in Uganda and Zambia in 2012-2015. It aims to answer evaluative questions raised by policy-makers in Ministries of Health, rapidly and with limited resources. The article assesses whether the 3DE model was successful in supporting and increasing evidence-based policy-making, building capacity and changing the behaviour of Ministry staff.

The authors find that 3DE had a very limited contribution to improving evidence-based policy-making, capacity and behaviour in both countries. The evaluation recommends a focusing of objectives and a more strategic approach to stengthening evaluative demand and capacity. 

The lessons learned are likely to apply in other low- and middle-income settings, such as the importance of supporting evaluative thinking and capacity within wider institutions and understanding the political economy of evidence use and its uptake.