Making smart policy: using impact evaluation for policy making - Case Studies on Evaluations that Influenced Policy

Impact evaluation has blossomed in recent years as a powerful tool for enhancing development effectiveness. The numbers of both evaluations and methodologies have multiplied very quickly. This growth, however, has been uneven both geographically and across sectors, leading to questions of how to bolster impact evaluation in regions and sectors where it is least common and perhaps most needed. Additionally, as methods mature and the collection of evidence accumulates, the conversation is expanding to include reflection on how we – development practitioners, policy makers, and researchers alike – can assure that impact evaluation reaches its potential for influencing project and policy design. A key question is, how can we strategically use scarce evaluation resources more effectively? That is, how can we ensure that impact evaluations are better utilized and more influential?