Publications

Effective collaboration around knowledge management and organizational learning is a key contributor to improving the impact of international development work for the world’s most vulnerable people. But how can it be proven?

With only 10 years from the target date for the Sustainable Development Goals, nine of the world’s most influential agencies set out to show to the connection between the use of evidence, knowledge and learning and a better quality of human life. This book – a synthesis of stories, examples and insights that demonstrate where and how these practices have made a positive impact on development programming – is the result of the Multi-Donor Learning Partnership (MDLP), a collective effort to record the ways each of these organizations have leveraged intentional, systematic and resourced approaches to knowledge management and organizational learning in their work.

By illuminating why and how interventions work in real world settings, Implementation Research (IR) is a powerful tool for increasing the likelihood that evidence-based interventions, programmes and policies are successfully implemented. The insights that IR generates help bridge the 'know-do gap' – the gap between what we know works and what actually happens on the ground when we try to put a policy or intervention into place. IR is a means for increasing the likelihood of successful outcomes, reducing the risk of wastage and failure and accelerating programme and system improvements to reduce inequities and achieve desired results.

This paper, prepared by the Centre for Evidence and Implementation in collaboration with UNICEF, aims to promote a shared understanding of IR and its relevance to UNICEF's work.