Completed RAND Europe Research on International Development

Evaluation suggests next steps for Dance4Life
21 Nov 2018
Dance4life, an international youth initiative to raise awareness and promote prevention of HIV/AIDS, developed and piloted a new programme and implementation model. An evaluation of the pilot found many successes but also areas where improvements could be made.
Social media in Africa presents double-edged sword
05 Nov 2018
The spread of social media in Africa has brought many economic and political benefits, while also equipping terrorist groups with a tool for recruitment and propaganda. Researchers examined the links between social media use and online radicalisation in six African countries, drawing on primary Twitter data analysis.
Supporting the OECD Review on Evaluation and Assessment in Morocco
23 Jul 2018
As part of a larger OECD effort, RAND Europe researchers analysed the strengths and challenges of Morocco's current approach for teacher appraisal and provided four actionable policy recommendations as well as advice for implementing improvements.
Evaluating the Impact of EU R&D into PRNDs
21 Feb 2018
EU-funded research and development into poverty-related and neglected diseases has had a significant impact on strengthening research capacity in low- and middle-income countries, but its effects on encouraging universal health coverage is less clear.
Democracy & Rule of Law Programmes Offer Value for Money
14 Jun 2017
An analytical study of EU programmes to support democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms found that they had clear objectives and offered value for money that the European Commission invests.
Supporting Brazilian Regulation to Encourage Private Investment
09 May 2017
Regulatory frameworks enable a business environment that encourages private investment. Researchers prepared a roadmap for logistics infrastructure investments for the Brazilian Ministries of Planning and Finance.
Assessing the Effectiveness of Conditional Cash Transfers as a Development Mechanism
02 Nov 2016
Conditional cash transfer programmes (CCTs) are seen as particularly effective in low- and middle-income countries, but relatively little is known about the interface between the supply of services and programme administration and specific human development outcomes. RAND Europe assessed the effectiveness of CCTs through a two-year grant from UK Economic Social Research Council and Department for International Development.
Next Steps for UNICEF's Emergency Education Response Programme in Jordan
29 Sep 2016
An evaluation recommends that UN agencies, donors, partners, and the Jordanian government develop and implement a strategy to manage the influx and education of child refugees. Jordanian and refugee children both will benefit from expanding the Jordanian education system's safety, quality and performance.
Strategic Review of 3ie, the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation
12 Sep 2016
RAND Europe examined the past performance of 3ie, considered the possible future trends that will determine the environment within which 3ie might be operating, and explored three scenarios for the future to understand potential future options for 3ie.
Could the Strengthening of Health Systems in Africa Improve Industrial Development?
22 Oct 2015
The performance of health systems is a key determinant of the inclusiveness of economic growth. Exclusionary, poor quality health care worsens impoverishment, while inclusive health care redistributes the benefits of growth toward the poor and ill. With Kenya and Tanzania as case studies, RAND Europe is exploring the extent to which unexploited potential synergies between industrial development and health systems can strengthen and contribute to faster and more inclusive growth.
Exploring the Future of Driving in Developing Countries
15 Oct 2015
The level of automobility, or travel in personal vehicles, varies among countries. By determining the factors besides economic development that have affected automobility in developed countries, researchers can predict how automobility might evolve in developing countries such as Brazil, Russia, India, and China.
Mapping the Diversity of Employment Interventions in South Asia
14 Oct 2015
The World Bank commissioned RAND Europe to conduct a stocktaking exercise to map the diversity of employment interventions in South Asia. In addition, RAND conducted a scoping review of international evidence on the impact of interventions.
Developing a Research Impact and Performance Management System for Oman
11 Aug 2015
Researchers designed a system through which The Research Council of Oman can measure the performance and impact of its funded research today and in the future. The team also collected data to set a baseline for a subset of the performance and impact indicators developed for the system.
The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative's Capacity Building Activities in East Africa
30 Jul 2015
The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) helps to bridge the gap between scientific and technological potential and the needs of low income populations in low and middle income countries. RAND Europe evaluated its capacity-building activities — including training, advocacy and broader community engagement activities — in Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda.
Mid-Term Review of the Strategic Impact Evaluation Fund (SIEF)
10 Jul 2015
At the request of the Department for International Development, researchers conducted a mid-term review of SIEF and drafted recommendations to support the future development of SIEF and to help ensure that SIEF can generate an impact in the future.
Improving Infant and Maternal Health in Rural Nigeria
18 Mar 2015
The Better Obstetrics in Rural Nigeria (BORN) Study examines the effectiveness of the MSS. A nested qualitative study led by RAND Europe evaluated nine primary care clinics that appeared to be having differing success in terms of recruitment/retention of midwives and uptake of services.
Evaluation of the Nigerian Midwives Service Scheme: Barriers and Facilitators to Implementation
05 Mar 2015
The Better Obstetrics in Rural Nigeria (BORN) Study examines the effectiveness of the MSS. A nested qualitative study led by RAND Europe evaluated nine primary care clinics that appeared to be having differing success in terms of recruitment/retention of midwives and uptake of services.
Exploring the Current State of Health Research in Sub-Saharan Africa
19 Sep 2014
While funding is the key problem, clinical researchers seeking to combat infectious diseases in sub-Saharan Africa cite the lack of policymaker understanding of the importance of their work as a major barrier, above lack of human resources and lack of infrastructure.
Evaluating the Wellcome Trust's African Institutions Initiative
12 Sep 2014
An evaluation of the Wellcome Trust's African Institutions Initiative (AII) shows several successes as well as recommendations for the future. The AII funds consortia to build sustainable, independent health research capacity at African universities and research organisations, to promote research collaboration and to train individuals for research careers in Africa.
Local Context is Key in Successfully Using ARVs to Prevent HIV/AIDS
31 Mar 2014
The Mapping Pathways project, in which RAND Europe is a partner, explores the complex issues surrounding the use of antiretroviral (ARV) therapy as HIV prevention. The second phase of the project produced a report that brings together scientific evidence and community perspectives on four strategies for ARV-based HIV prevention and emphasises how local context shapes perception of evidence. Three subsequent workshops examine the local context in greater detail.
RAND Europe Supports Humanitarian Centre's Global Health Year and Report
29 Oct 2012
The Humanitarian Centre and its partners released its 2012 Cambridge International Development Report, Partnerships for global health: pathways to progress; RAND Europe researchers Sonja Marjanovic and Emma Pitchforth, among others, supported this effort and contributed to the report. RAND Europe looks forward to continuing its relationship with the Centre in 2013, as their focus turns toward poverty and sustainability.
Does Transferring Cash to Women Improve Household Well-Being?
03 Jul 2012
Many cash transfer programmes designate women and mothers as transfer recipients, on the assumption that doing so will lead to better outcomes. RAND undertook a systematic review for the UK Department for International Development to assess whether transferring cash to women rather than men in low- and middle-income countries has a greater impact on household well-being.
How Effective Are Provider Incentives in the Health and Social Protection Arena?
05 Apr 2012
The World Bank is interested in the linkages between governance, service delivery and human development outcomes. The Human Development Chief Economist's Office has asked RAND Europe to determine if OECD countries have been effective at using provider incentives in health and social protection policy areas, as their experiences may be able to inform programmes used in developing countries.
Understanding the Impact of ICTs in the Middle East and North Africa
30 Nov 2011
Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) help to empower citizens and transform economic life. An important policy challenge is to identify and harness the benefits while mitigating the risks created by the new technologies. At the World Bank's request, RAND Europe helped develop a framework for thinking about ICT use in MENA. The report builds on an earlier research which benchmarked indicators for the knowledge economy in the region, analysing associations between indicators of ICT diffusion and development.
Transferring Health Innovation from South to North
25 May 2011
Normally, technology transfer involves developed countries forging ahead with innovation while others adopt technologies in their wake. This is an exploratory study of health technologies explicitly developed for developing countries being transferred from South to North. While it concludes that many of the factors key to successful transfer are highly contextual, it will be of interest to policymakers who find their concerns beginning to overlap (such as in relation to cost).