Launching the Collaboration for Inclusive Development Research

NIERA strategy session at the 8th Annual EASST Summit (Olive Aseno)

Please note that this an invitation-only event.

Investments in resources, training and career development opportunities for African scholars have expanded significantly in recent years, which (at least anecdotally) have helped increase African authorship in peer-reviewed journals and drive better policy outcomes on the continent. Yet several unanswered questions remain, including:

What is the state, and potential benefits, of “inclusion” for African Scholars in impact evaluation (IE) research?
What progress has been made to date, and what barriers remain?
Which actors are best positioned to address the remaining gap, and in what ways?

With support from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and an anonymous donor, CEGA and our close partner the Network of Impact Evaluation Researchers in Africa (NIERA) are working together to systematically document the state of inclusion in global development research while assessing the potential benefits (and costs) of promising inclusion strategies. We will additionally disseminate the results of our analysis, and conduct advocacy and outreach activities so that CEGA, NIERA, and others seeking to drive inclusion in global development research can strategically build on our investments.

Virtual Convening

On March 9th, from 7-9 am PST, CEGA and NIERA brought together a dedicated group of stakeholders over Zoom to create linkages; introduce CIDR; refine our research methods and agenda; and invite input related to four key focus areas (Higher Education, Training and Mentorship, Publication and Co-Authorship, and Policy Impact). Our community of practice included African Economic Research Consortium; J-PAL Africa; the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation; the Transfer Project; the Fund for Innovation in Development; USAID; the International Center for Evaluation and Development; Innovations for Poverty Action; Graduate Applications Innovation Network; BRAC; the African Population Health Research Center, the Mawazo Institute; Results for Development; AuthorAid; and the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office. We also had the participation of several US, Europe, and Africa-based scholars.

In advance of the convening, stakeholders read the research agenda and came prepared to share their thoughts. The group will later reconvene to continually update stakeholders and receive feedback, as well as to disseminate our findings.

Please contact our program team (emails at right) for more information.