International DevelopmentCoordinating Group

Supporting Evidence-Informed Policy

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International Development Coordinating Group

The International Development Coordinating Group (IDCG) is an international network of researchers, policymakers, practitioners and funders committed to evidence-informed policy in international development. The group supports, updates and disseminates systematic reviews of social and economic development interventions in low- and middle-income countries. IDCG is part of the Campbell Collaboration (C2), a research network that supports and disseminates high quality systematic reviews of social science evidence. The IDCG complements existing review groups within C2 in education, social welfare and crime and justice, and is supported by International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie).

Rationale for systematic reviews

Over the last decade, there has been an emphasis on the use of high quality evidence to inform international development policy and practice. Donors, implementing agencies and governments are under increasing pressure to demonstrate that their policies are informed by evidence. This has led to demand for rigorous evidence on ‘what works, for whom and in what contexts’.

Since 2000, several organisations have been established to meet the demand for high quality impact evaluation evidence. These include International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie), Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), Development Impact Evaluation (DIME) Initiative, Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), the World Bank Strategic Impact Evaluation Fund and Experiments in Governance and Politics (EGAP). The large number of studies and the need to ensure this evidence is readily available to policymakers in a useful format provide the rationale for systematic reviews.

The purpose of a systematic review is to summarise the best available research on a specific question by synthesising the results of all the existing high quality studies. A systematic review uses transparent methods to find, evaluate and synthesise the results of relevant research. The researchers define these methods in advance to ensure that the exercise is transparent and can be replicated. This is done both to ensure that Campbell reviews can be updated as new relevant information emerges, and to minimise bias.

Studies included in a review are screened for quality and the results extracted. The findings of all included studies are then combined in a synthesis. Peer review is a key part of the process; qualified independent researchers review the author’s methods and results.

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Scope of IDCG reviews

IDCG aims to support reviews across a range of sectors, focusing on social and economic development interventions to improve quality of life for people in low- and middle-income countries.

These sectors include:

• Economic growth and poverty reduction: agricultural and rural development, banking and finance (including micro-finance), investment climate reforms.

• Infrastructure provision and improvement: energy, water and sanitation, transport, including studies of willingness-to-pay.

• Social development: social protection initiatives such as food-for-work and direct transfers, interventions to improve social cohesion, participation and empowerment.

• Governance: interventions to improve transparency and accountability, de-centralised service management, tax reform, privatisation, performance-based financing.

• Nutrition: interventions to improve nutrition and nutrition-related health outcomes, including those that focus on dietary diversity, nutrition education and access to and use of health services; nutrition-sensitive interventions and programmes; multi-component and integrated programmes including nutrition interventions.

Other themes such as interventions in the areas of education, disability and public health are co-registered with relevant groups.

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Objectives and activities of the IDCG

The key objectives and activities of IDCG are:

1. To support the production and dissemination of high quality systematic reviews in the area of international development.

This entails: • Managing the editorial process for systematic reviews from title registration

to publication, including providing internal reviews, organising external peer review and providing advice to authors on how to deal with peer review comments.

• Providing guidance to authors on methods relating to search for relevant sources, language requirements, programme theory and conceptual models, study inclusion criteria, and methods of synthesis including meta-analysis.

• Developing methods appropriate for systematic reviews in international development.

2. Foster collaboration in the production of systematic reviews, develop and cultivate a diverse international network of individuals who contribute to and promote the production of Campbell systematic reviews in international development.

This entails: • Collaboration with other groups on the productions of systematic reviews,

including by co-registration.

• Featuring IDCG reviews in international fora, such as conferences, meetings and publications.

• Collaboration with other groups on methods development.

• Promoting the work of our systematic review authors.

3. Build capacity of researchers and policymakers to conduct and use systematic reviews, especially those based in low- and middle-income countries.

This includes: • Mentoring novice author teams registered with the group; helping teams locate

systematic review and meta-analysis specialists and substantive experts.

• Organising and participating in training events, such as the Dhaka Colloquium on Systematic Reviews held in December 2012. These events are conducted in collaboration with Campbell Collaboration’s existing pool of highly experienced systematic review trainers.

• All author teams are strongly encouraged to establish an advisory group of policymakers and practitioners to ensure their review is policy relevant IDCG helps teams locate relevant users and provides guidance on advisory group formation.

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Highlights from 2011-2012

Production of high quality reviews

IDCG was formally established in June 2011. As of June 2013, IDCG has 24 reviews ongoing and has published three reviews on a range of topics, including education, governance, social protection, agriculture, justice, health and nutrition. All IDCG review outputs are published in the Campbell Collaboration Library.

A sub-group dedicated to nutrition-related reviews has been set up under the leadership of Zulfiqar Bhutta from Aga Khan University, Pakistan. The group was borne out of a need for a sound evidence base on the effectiveness of nutrition specific and nutrition sensitive interventions, combined with a lack of consistent methodology within the current scope of nutrition-related systematic reviews.

Methodological development and guidance

IDCG officers have contributed to a special issue of Journal of Development Effectiveness (JDEff). The featured papers highlight why systematic reviews should be an important component of evidence-informed development policy and practice, and provide guidance on how to conduct reviews in international development (See appendix 2 for a full list).

IDCG has developed and published a number of resources for researchers. This includes both technical guidelines for protocols and reviews, as well as practical guidance documents on title registration and advisory groups.

Collaboration and capacity building

IDCG regularly hosts presentations and training workshops, including at annual Campbell Collaboration Colloquia. In December 2012, IDCG organised the Dhaka Colloquium on Systematic Reviews in International Development in collaboration with 3ie, BRAC University, Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR-B). The colloquium brought together 130 leading researchers and policymakers from 31 countries, expanding the community of users and producers of systematic reviews in international development.

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IDCG reviews

Interventions in developing nations for improving primary and secondary school enrolment of children: a systematic review

Anthony Petrosino, Claire Morgan, Trevor A. Fronius, Emily E. Tanner-Smith, Robert F. Boruch

The review synthesised evidence from a broad range of interventions aimed at increasing school enrolment and attendance in low- and middle income countries, including educational programmes and practices, new schools and infrastructure, health care and nutrition, information provision and training, and economic interventions (such as cash transfers, vouchers, and scholarships).

The review found that interventions to increase enrolment and attendance generally have positive but potentially small effects on enrolment and learning outcomes, with an average improvement of 3 to 9 per cent over the control group. Interventions that deal with improving school or community infrastructures showed on average greater positive effects on enrolment and attendance outcomes than other intervention types.

Whether these improvements are sizable enough to warrant further investments depends on additional considerations including baseline enrolment, attendance rates, and costs of interventions and their alternatives. The authors note that the review findings need to be interpreted with caution given the diversity of studies, samples, countries, interventions, and measures included in the review.

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Interventions to reduce the prevalence of female genital mutilation/ cutting in African countries Rigmor C Berg, Eva Denison

The review synthesised evidence on the effectiveness of interventions to reduce the prevalence of Female Genital Mutilation and Cutting (FGM/C) and the factors related to continuance and discontinuance of the practice.

The review finds a lack of rigorous evidence on the effectiveness of FGM/C abandonment interventions. The authors identified positive trends in the effectiveness of FGM/C abandonment interventions on knowledge, beliefs, intentions and prevalence of the practice. They find that the main factors that supported the practice were tradition, religion, and reduction of women’s sexual desire, while the main factors noted in connection with beliefs about abandonment of the practice were harm and medical complications, and prevention of sexual satisfaction. However, the authors stress the limited reliability of these findings given the poor methodological quality of the included studies and limited contextual information available. The authors conclude there is an urgent need for more rigorous evaluations of interventions to reduce the prevalence of FGM/C.

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IDCG team

IDCG is inter-disciplinary and international in composition and scope, comprising experienced systematic reviewers, international development researchers and users from policymaking bodies in low-, middle- and high-income countries.

The IDCG secretariat, based in London, is responsible for the day to day operations of the group. It includes Hugh Waddington and Birte Snilstveit (Editors), Shari Krishnaratne (Associate Editor), Martina Vojtkova (Managing Editor) and Jennifer Stevenson (Editorial Assistant). The members of the editorial team are experienced systematic review authors with expertise in different areas of systematic review methodology and international development (See appendix 3 for short biographies).

The secretariat is led by IDCG’s Co-Chairs Professor Howard White and Dr Peter Tugwell, who are internationally recognised experts on international development and evidence-based policy. They oversee the work of the group and approve all IDCG publications before they are sent to the Campbell Library.

IDCG is governed by an Advisory Board which oversees the activities of the group. All major decisions regarding the group are taken by the board in consultation with the Campbell Collaboration leadership. The board includes: • Zulfiqar Bhutta, Aga Khan University, Pakistan

• Rachel Blackman, Department for International Development, UK

• Luis Gabriel Cuervo, Pan American Health Organization / World Health Organisation, USA

• Santiago Cueto, Group for the Analysis of Development, Peru

• David de Ferranti, Results for Development Institute, USA

• Thea de Wet, Centre for Anthropological Research, University of Johannesburg, South Africa

• Marie Gaarder, Manager of Public Sector Evaluations, Independent Evaluation Group, World Bank

• Suzanne Kiwanuka, Centre for Systematic Reviews on Human Resources for Health, Uganda

• Tracey Koehlmoos, United States Marine Corps & George Mason University, USA

• Indran Naidoo, United Nations Development Programme, USA

• Michael Kent Ranson, Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research, World Health Organization, USA

• Sandy Oliver, The Evidence for Policy and Practice Information and Co-ordinating Centre, UK

• David Tovey, Cochrane Collaboration, UK

• Jeff Valentine, University of Louisville, USA

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Looking ahead

IDCG aims to register a minimum of ten new reviews each year, to achieve the target of fifty reviews during the first five years of operation. Editors will turn-around titles within four weeks, and protocols and systematic review reports in eight weeks.

The nutrition sub-group aims to register a minimum of five new reviews each year with a focus on policy relevance. The group will address key themes like acute malnutrition (moderate and severe) and maternal nutrition in the first year.

The IDCG Secretariat, with support from the Advisory Board, will focus on diversifying and enhancing the group’s funding base. This is important to continue producing reviews to short timelines and meet the increasing demand for editorial support, mentoring and quality assurance services.

The group aims to establish a satellite group based in a low- or middle-income country under the auspices of the coordinating group and will work to identify a suitable host institution.

Engage with IDCG

• Join IDCG mailing list: managing.editor.IDCG@c2admin.org

• Join SRs in International Development listserv: srs-in-internation-development@googlegroups.com

• Join IDCG as a peer reviewer if you have international development experience and/or expertise in systematic review methods.

• Join us to get peer review and methods support for your systematic reviews.

• Institutions can register with us for quality assurance of their reviews.

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Appendix 1Systematic reviews registered with IDCG

All published IDCG reviews, protocols and titles are available online from the Campbell Library.

Poverty alleviation and livelihood strategies

The effect of microcredit on women’s control over household spending in developing countries. Jos Vaessen, Johan Bastiaensen, Sara Bonilla, Nathalie Holvoet, Frans Leeuw, Ruslan Lukach, Ana Rivas.

What are the effects of women’s economic self-help group programs on women’s empowerment? A systematic review. Carinne Brody, Megan Dunbar, Shari Dworkin, Esther Mwaura-Muiri Wanjiku, Laura Pascoe.

Agriculture and small- and medium-enterprise development

The impact of land property rights interventions on agricultural productivity in developing countries: a systematic review. Ruth Hall, Donna Hornby, Steven Lawry, Aaron Leopold, Farai Mtero, Cyrus Samii. Farmer field schools for improving farming practices and farmer outcomes in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review. Hugh Waddington, Birte Snilstveit, Jorge Garcia Hombrados, Martina Vojtkova, Jock Anderson, Howard White.

Interventions for employment creation in micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in low- and middle-income countries Michael Grimm, Anna Luisa Paffhausen

The impacts of business support services for small and medium enterprises on firm performance in low-and-middle-income countries: asystematic review Lauro Gonzalez, Caio Piza, Linnet Taylor, Tulio Antonio Cravo, Samer Abdelnour

Transparency, accountability and governance

The impact of public information on the electoral behaviour of citizens and the decision-making of politicians in developing countries: a systematic review. Annette Brown, Vanya Slavchevska, Anjini Mishra. Community monitoring to curb corruption and increase efficiency in service delivery: evidence from low income communities. Ezequiel Molina, Ana Pacheco, Leonardo Gasparini, Guillermo Cruces, Malena Arcidiácono, Andres Rius, Lucio Castro, Paula Szenkman.

Crime and justice

The effectiveness of crop targeting as a drug control strategy. Lorraine Mazerolle, Jenna Thompson, Angela Higginson, Adele Somerville, Kathryn Ham.

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Community-oriented policing’s impact on interpersonal violent crime in developing countries. Angela Higginson, Lorraine Mazerolle, Jacqueline Davis, Laura Bedford, Kerrie Mengersen, Adele Somerville, Jenna Thompson, Kathryn Ham, Harley Williamson.

Education

Interventions in developing nations for improving primary and secondary school enrollment of children: a systematic review. Anthony Petrosino, Claire Morgan, Trevor Fronius, Emily Tanner-Smith, Robert Boruch.

Post-basic technical and vocational education and training (TVET) interventions to improve employability and employment of TVET graduates in low- and middle-income countries. Janice Tripney, Mark Newman, Kimberly Hovish, Chris Brown.

Environment and Climate Change

Impact of payment for environmental services and de-centralized forest management on environmental and host communities’ welfare: a systematic review. Cyrus Samii, Laura Paler, Larry Chavis, Parashar Kulkarni, Matt Lisiecki.

Social Protection

Interventions for promoting reintegration and reducing harmful behaviour and lifestyles in street-connected children and young people. Esther Coren, Rosa Hossain, Jordi Pardo Pardo, Mirella Veras, Kabita Chakraborty, Holly Harris, Anne J. Martin.

Community-based rehabilitation for people with physical and mental disabilities in low- and middle-income countries. Valentina Iemmi, K Suresh Kumar, Karl Blanchet, Sally Hartley, Gudlavalleti VS Murthy, Vikram Patel, Joerg Weber, Richard Wormald, Hannah Kuper. Conditional and unconditional cash transfers for health and nutritional outcomes in poor families in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review. Birte Snilstveit, Martina Vojtkova, Marie Gaarder.

Relative effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of conditional and unconditional cash transfers for schooling outcomes in developing countries: a systematic review. Sarah Baird, Francisco H. G. Ferreira, Berk Ozler, Michael Woolcock.

Interventions to promote the inclusion of adults with physical and sensory disabilities in employment: a systematic review Janice Tripney, Alan Roulstone, Carol Vigurs, Michele Moore, Elena Schmidt, Ruth Stewart

What are the effects of direct public transfers on social solidarity? asystematic review Andrea Vigorito, Andres Rius, Gustavo Pereira, Martin Leites, Gonzalo Salas

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Health and Nutrition

Interventions to reduce the prevalence of female genital mutilation/ cutting in African countries. Eva Denison, Rigmor C. Berg.

Nutrition interventions and programs for reducing mortality and morbidity in pregnant women and women of reproductive age: a systematic review. Philippa Middleton, Caroline Crowther, Tanya Bubner, Vicki Flenady, Zulfiqar Bhutta, Tran Son Thach, Zohra Lassi.

Feeding interventions for improving the physical and psychosocial health of disadvantaged children aged three months to five years: protocol for a systematic review. Elizabeth Kristjansson, Damian K Francis, Selma Liberato, Marik Benkhalti Jandu, Vivian Welch, Malek Batal, Trish Greenhalgh, Tamara Rader, Eamonn Noonan, Beverley Shea, Laura Janzen, George A Wells, Mark Petticrew

Strategies to increase the ownership and use of insecticide treated bednets to prevent malaria. Lana Augustincic Polec , Erin Ueffing , Vivian Welch , Elizabeth Tanjong Ghogomu , Jordi Pardo Pardo , Mark Grabowsky , Amir Attaran and Peter Tugwell.

Deworming and adjuvant interventions for improving the developmental health and well-being of children in low- and middle-income Countries: a systematic review and network meta-analysis. Vivian Andrea Welch, Shally Awasthi, Chisa Cumberbatch, Robert Fletcher, Jessie McGowan, Shari Krishnaratne, Salim Sohani, Peter Tugwell, George A. Wells

Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WSH) interventions to combat diarrhoea among children in developing countries: a systematic review of effectiveness and sustainability. Hugh Waddington, Zulfiqar Bhutta, Zohra Lassi, Jai Das, Howard White, Sandy Cairncross, Oliver Cumming.

Interventions to improve maternal, newborn and reproductive health in crisis settings. Chi Primus Che, Henrik Urdal, Umeora OUJ, Johanne Sundby.

Family and community interventions under IMCI strategy for reduction of neonatal and under-fives mortality among children in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review. Chandrashekhar Sreeramareddy, TN Sathyanarayana, Raghupathy Anchala, HN Harsha Kumar.

What are the effects of behaviour change communications strategies embedded in social marketing programs on health behaviours and related health and welfare outcomes? Jackie Leslie, Laura Gunn, Josip Car, Lambert Felix, Sarah Knowles, Roy Head, Eva Fleur Riboli-Sasco

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Appendix 2

IDCG Publications

Campbell International Development Coordinating Group: Protocol and review guidelines, Campbell Collaboration, 2012.

IDCG guidance for title registration, Campbell Collaboration, 2012.

International Development Coordinating Group: Guidance for establishing and managing Review Advisory Groups, Campbell Collaboration, 2012.

Birte Snilstveit, ‘Systematic reviews: From ‘bare bones’ reviews to policy relevance’, Journal of Development Effectiveness, Vol. 4, Issue 3, pp. 388 – 408, 2012.

Birte Snilstveit, S.Oliver and Martina Vojtkova, ‘Narrative approaches to systematic review and synthesis of evidence for international development policy and practice’, Journal of Development Effectiveness, Vol. 4, Issue 3, pp. 409 – 429, 2012.

Howard White and Hugh Waddington, ‘Why do we care about evidence synthesis? An introduction to the special issue on systematic reviews’, Journal of Development Effectiveness, Vol. 4, Issue 3, pp. 351 – 358, 2012.

Hugh Waddington, Howard White, Birte Snilstveit, J.G. Hombrados, Martina Vojtkova, Philip Davies, Ami Bhavsar, John Eyers, Tracey Perez Koehlmoos, Mark Petticrew, Jeffrey C. Valentine, and Peter Tugwell, ‘How to do a good systematic review of effects in international development: a tool kit’, Journal of Development Effectiveness, Vol. 4, Issue 3, pp. 359 – 387, 2012.

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Appendix 3

IDCG Team

IDCG Secretariat

Hugh Waddington

Editor, IDCG

Hugh Waddington is the founding editor of IDCG and Senior Evaluation Specialist at the Systematic Reviews office of the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie). He carries out research, editorial work, grant management and teaching activities, mainly relating to systematic reviews in international development. Prior to joining 3ie, Hugh was employed as an

ODI Fellow in the Ministry of Finance in Rwanda, and he has worked in a research capacity for the World Bank, UK National Audit Office, Save the Children and Sussex University. Hugh holds an MSc in Development Economics from Sussex University.

Birte Snilstveit

Editor, IDCG

Birte Snilstveit is an Editor of IDCG and an Evaluation Specialist at the Systematic Reviews office of the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie). She conducts research, manages systematic review grants and provides methodological support and quality assurance services to researchers conducting

systematic reviews. Birte also manages the 3ie database of Systematic reviews. She has co-authored several systematic reviews, as well as a number of papers on systematic review methods. She holds a MA in Political Economy of Development from University of Birmingham, UK and a BSc in Politics with Sociology from Aston University, UK. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Jennifer Stevenson

Editorial Assistant, IDCG

Jennifer Stevenson is the Editorial Assistant for the IDCG and an intern in the Systematic Reviews office of the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie). She holds a BSc in Economics and International Development from the University of Bath. Her past work experience include a yearlong placement

at the development economics consultancy Maxwell Stamp and a Policy Research internship at the charity, Action Against Hunger UK.

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Martina Vojtkova

Managing Editor, IDCG

Martina Vojtkova is the Managing Editor of IDCG and Research Associate at the Systematic Reviews office of the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie). She conducts research, manages systematic review grants and provides methodological support and quality assurance services to researchers

conducting systematic reviews. She is a co-author of a systematic review on the effectiveness of Farmer Field Schools and lead author of a Systematic Review gap map on the effectiveness of interventions to prevent and address HIV/AIDS. She also co-authored methodological papers published in the Journal of Development Effectiveness. Martina holds an MSc in Public Policy (2010) from University College London.

Michelle Gaffey

Editor, IDCG nutrition sub-group

Michelle Gaffey is currently a research coordinator in Global Child Health at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto and a PhD candidate in epidemiology at the University of Toronto. Her doctoral research is focused on investigating the dramatic improvement in child survival over the past decade in Malawi.

She has a MA in political economy of development from the University of Toronto and MSc in epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

Shari Krishnaratne

Editor, IDCG nutrition sub-group

Shari Krishnaratne is the Coordinating Editor for the IDCG Nutrition Subgroup and a Research Fellow at the Centre for Evaluation at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She has been involved with systematic reviews for eight years and has co-authored a number of reviews. She has also worked in

monitoring and evaluation within the non-profit sector. She is an Associate Public Health Nutritionist with the Association for Nutrition in the UK. She has an MPH in International Health from the Boston University School of Public Health and an MSc in Public Health Nutrition from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

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IDCG Advisory Board

David de Ferranti

President, Results for Development Institute

David de Ferranti is the President of the Results for Development Institute, and one of its co-founders. He has over thirty years of experience in leadership and management roles in the public and private sector, chiefly on international development and, earlier, U.S. public policy. David was the

World Bank’s Regional Vice President for Latin America and the Caribbean from 1999 to 2005, responsible for a $25 billion loan portfolio. At the Bank, David also oversaw its research and financial support in the areas of health, education, nutrition, and other social services. David has also served in the U.S. government, led research at Rand, and taught at Georgetown University as an Adjunct Professor. He is a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, Visiting Fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health, and advisor to a number of individuals and organisations, including the United Nations Foundation. David holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Princeton University and a BA from Yale University. He has published over 100 articles, papers, op-eds, book-length reports, and contributions to edited volumes. He serves on the board of numerous organisations, including the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Synergos, The Micronutrient Initiative, and the Rockefeller Foundation.

David Tovey

Editor-in-Chief, Cochrane Collaboration

David Tovey is the Cochrane Library’s first Editor-in-Chief. He was previously Editorial Director of the BMJ Group’s 'Knowledge' division, responsible for BMJ Clinical Evidence and its sister product, Best Treatments. After completing vocational GP training, he was senior partner in a large, inner city practice

in South London, and a postgraduate CPD tutor until 2003, when he joined the BMJ Group. He is a Fellow at the Royal College of General Practitioners.

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Howard White

Executive Director, 3ie

Howard White is the Executive Director of the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie), co-chair of the Campbell International Development Coordinating Group and Adjunct Professor, Alfred Deakin Research Institute, Geelong University. His previous experience includes leading

the impact evaluation programme of the World Bank’s Independent Evaluation Group, leading several multi-country evaluations and developing the overall direction of poverty training for 2,000 DFID staff at country offices around the world. Howard has worked extensively on development-related issues in countries across Africa and Asia, has published over 60 papers in internationally refereed journals and several books, focusing on aid effectiveness and poverty reduction, and continues to engage worldwide via workshops and training opportunities for policymakers on topics related to development effectiveness and impact evaluation. He is also Managing Editor of the Journal of Development Studies and the Journal of Development Effectiveness.

Indran Naidoo

Director, Evaluation Office, United Nations Development Programme

Indran Naidoo is the Director of the Evaluation Office of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the office responsible for the independent evaluation function of the UNDP. Prior to joining the UNDP, Indran worked as

the Deputy Director-General of Monitoring and Evaluation at the Public Service Commission (PSC) of South Africa, as well as various other posts at the same institution. He was part of a leadership team that helped develop the oversight systems for this independent constitutional body, which was reconfigured during the post-apartheid era. He served on elected board positions on the International Development Evaluation Association (IDEAS) and the South African Monitoring and Evaluation Association (SAMEA) of which he was also a founding member. Prior to joining the PSC he set up the country s first monitoring and evaluation system as Director of Monitoring and Evaluation in the Department of Land Affairs. He holds, amongst others, a post-graduate degree in Education from the University of South Africa, and a Doctorate in Evaluation from the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa.

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Jeffrey C. Valentine

College of Education & Human Development, University of Louisville, USA

Jeffrey Valentine is an associate professor at the Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology at the University of Louisville. A social psychologist by training, most of Jeffrey’s scholarly work involves systematic reviewing and meta-analysis

and improving the rigour with which systematic reviews are conducted and used in public policy. He has conducted and is currently working on several systematic reviews and meta-analyses on the effects of different interventions on enrolment and educational achievements. He is the co-editor of the Handbook of Research Synthesis and Meta-Analysis (2nd edition), former co-chair of the Methods Group of the Campbell Collaboration, current co-chair of the Campbell Collaboration’s Training Group, and a statistical editor in the Cochrane Collaboration’s Developmental, Psychosocial, and Learning Problems group. Jeffrey holds a BA in Psychology from the University of New Mexico, an MA in Psychology from the Northern Arizona University and a Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the University of Missouri.

Luis Gabriel Cuervo

Senior Advisor, Research Promotion and Development, Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO)

Luis Gabriel Cuervo is a qualified Clinical Epidemiologist (MSc) and Medical Doctor specialised in Family Medicine, with a keen interest in promoting access and better use of research

evidence to guide health care, especially in low- and middle-income settings. As a Clinical Editor at BMJ’s Clinical Evidence in London he contributed to debates and initiatives in this area and advised the World Health Organization and International NGOs including the Cochrane Collaboration. In September 2005, Luis Gabriel took office as Unit Chief of Research Promotion & Development of the Pan American Health Organization / World Health Organization (PAHO/ WHO) where he championed the development, and now the implementation, of the Policy on Research for Health endorsed by Member States (CD49.R10; 2009). Key aspects of his work include strengthening in both member states and WHO,the governance of research for health, as well as knowledge translation capacities to support health systems and make the best use of research to improve health with equity.

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Marie Gaarder

Manager of Public Sector Evaluations, Independent Evaluation Group, World Bank

Marie Gaarder is the Manager of Public Sector Evaluations at the Independent Evaluation Group of the World Bank. She has over 12 years experience managing operational and research projects with a development focus. Prior to joining

the World bank, she worked as Director of Evaluation at the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) of the Norwegian government’s development agency, Deputy Executive Director at the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie), social development economist at the Inter-American Development Bank, visiting researcher at the World Bank, and environmental consultant at Deloitte & Touche Consulting Group in Norway. Marie holds a Ph.D. in Economics from University College London, MSc in Economics from London School of Economics, and Masters in Arabic, Political Science and Economics from the Universities of Hamburg, Germany, and Oslo.

Michael Kent Ranson

Technical Officer, Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research, World Health Organization

Kent Ranson is a medical doctor and health economist. Before joining the Alliance at the WHO in 2007, he spent almost ten years studying and then working with the Health Policy Unit, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Over

a four-year period (2003-2006), he led a cluster randomised controlled trial that assessed, and implemented interventions to optimise, the impact of a community-based insurance programme in Gujarat, India. At the Alliance, Kent’s work includes identifying, initiating and supervising research programmes supported by the Alliance HPSR. This includes the Alliance’s work on developing systematic review centres in low- and middle-income countries and the 'Advisory Group on Health Systems Research'. Kent is also centrally involved in organising the biennial 'Global Symposia on Health Systems Research.'

Peter Tugwell

Professor of Medicine, and Epidemiology & Community Medicine at the University of Ottawa

Peter Tugwell is Professor of Medicine, and Epidemiology & Community Medicine at the University of Ottawa and holds the Canada Research Chair in Health Equity. In 2001, Peter took the post of Director for the Centre for Global Health at

the Institute of Population Health, University of Ottawa. He has built a research programme to facilitate the summarising and dissemination of systematic reviews

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of educational, health, legal and social strategies to improve health status and reduce health inequalities in individuals and populations. Peter is co-chair of the Campbell International Development Coordinating Group and the Co-Convenor of the Campbell and Cochrane Equity Methods Group. He is on the Executive Committee of the Cochrane Collaboration Steering Group and part of the Steering Group of the Campbell Collaboration. His publication record includes over 300 journal articles, monographs and book chapters, with a recent focus on research into the disadvantaged, global health and health equity, knowledge translation and the evaluation and development of educational strategies in the teaching of medicine.

Rachel Blackman

Research Uptake Manager, Research and Evidence Division, DFID

Rachel Blackman is a Research Uptake Manager at the UK Department for International Development (DFID). She has extensive experience with Systematic Reviews in international development through her prior role as the Systematic Review

Lead for DFID’s systematic review programme. Before joining the civil service, she wrote and edited a number of practical publications for grassroots development workers and organisations on a range of development topics and organisational development issues. She started her career as a Research Officer at the Poverty Research Unit, University of Sussex. Rachel holds an MSc in Poverty Reduction and Development Management from the University of Birmingham and a BA in Development Studies from the University of Liverpool.

Sandy Oliver

Deputy Director, Social Science Research Unit and EPPI-Centre, Institute of Education

Sandy Oliver is a Professor of Public Policy and Deputy Director at the Social Science Research Unit and the EPPI-Centre at the Institute of Education (University of London). Her research interests centre on participatory approaches to doing and using

research. She leads the EPPI-Centre’s support for four southern hemisphere review centres funded by the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research (WHO), for 20 DFID commissioned reviews and for review teams funded by 3ie, AusAID and DFID. She is an editor of the Cochrane Consumers and Communication Review Group, and a member of the WHO Expert Advisory Panel on Clinical Practice Guidelines and Research Methods and Ethics.

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Santiago Cueto

Senior Researcher, Group for the Analysis of Development

Santiago Cueto is a Senior Researcher at GRADE, where he coordinates the Peru component of the international study Young Lives/Niños del Milenio, and a member of the National Education Council in Peru. He holds a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from Indiana University in the United States

and has been a Visiting Researcher at the University of California at Davis and the University of Oxford. His main areas of interest are education and human development, particularly within a poverty context. At the Global Development Network’s (GDN) Annual Conference in 2003, one of his works was awarded the prize for best research project in the Education, Knowledge and Technology category. In 2010, the Psychology Association of Peru granted him the National Psychology Award.

Suzanne N. Kiwanuka

Review Coordinator, Centre for Systematic Reviews on Human Resources for Health

Suzanne Kiwanuka is a lecturer at Makerere University School of Public Health (Kampala, Uganda) and a health systems specialist with vast experience in health systems strengthening and knowledge translation through implementation research,

systematic reviews and policy briefs. For the past six years she has worked together with the Cochrane Centre (Effective Practices and Organization of Care Group, Oslo, Norway) and the Evidence for Policy and Practice Information and Coordinating Centre (EPPI-Centre, a part of the Social Science Research Unit at the Institute of Education, London). She was involved in synthesising policy relevant evidence on strengthening human resources for health, particularly in low- and middle- income countries. She has participated in evaluating the effectiveness of donor aid and its impact on the health system in Uganda and has been involved in designing, implementing and evaluating of research and programmes focusing on health systems research such as human resources, financing and information systems.

Thea de Wet

Director, Centre for Anthropological Research at the University of JohannesburgThea de Wet is Professor of Anthropology and Development Studies, and Director of the Centre for Anthropological Research at the University of Johannesburg. She has extensive experience of managing studies of child health and poverty. She acted as project manager of the Birth to Twenty longitudinal

child health and development study for the South African Medical Research Council and conducted the Young Lives childhood poverty survey of four countries. During

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the past seven years she has contributed to a number of World Health Organization ‘children and environmental health’ initiatives. Thea’s research expertise includes quantitative and qualitative research, as well as evidence based methodologies. Her newest projects focus on food security, urban agriculture, street traders and technology use.

Tracey Pérez Koehlmoos

Special Assistant to the Assistant Commandant & Senior Program Liaison for Community Health Integration, U.S. Marine Corps

Adjunct Professor, Department of Health Administration and Policy, George Mason University

Tracey Koehlmoos is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Health Administration and Policy at George Mason University, USA, specialising in health systems research. Until recently, she headed the Health & Family Planning Systems Programme at ICDDR,B in Dhaka, Bangladesh and lead the Centre for Systematic Review at ICDDR,B, which specialises in reviews of health policy and systems issues in the non-state sector and builds systematic review capacity across South Asia. She has served as a consultant to the World Health Organization, World Bank, World Food Programme, and most recently the Institute of Medicine, and has experience leading and mentoring international research teams in resource poor settings to ensure on-time and high quality delivery to development partners including DFID, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Government of Bangladesh. She founded the Centre for Control of Chronic Diseases in Bangladesh, which includes expansive research, education and knowledge translation and served on the Cochrane Library Oversight Committee.

Zulfiqar Bhutta

Founding Chair of the Division of Women and Child Health, the Aga Khan University, Pakistan

Zulfiqar Bhutta is the Noordin Noormahomed Sheriff Professor & Founding Chair of the Division of Women and Child Health, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan. Zulfiqar is an internationally recognised figure in child and maternal

health, and is currently an executive committee member of the International Paediatric Association and on the Board of the Global Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, a council member for the International Society for Infectious diseases, ISID, and designated Distinguished National Professor of the Government of Pakistan. His research interests include newborn and child survival, maternal and child undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies and he leads a large research group based in Pakistan with a special interest in research synthesis, scaling up evidence-based interventions in community settings and health systems research.

©Eddy Mbuyi/Oxfam

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