Transferability of Research Findings: Lessons From the BCURE (Building Capacity for the Use of Research Evidence) Program for Implementing EBPM (Evidence-Based Policy Making) in Non-Western Countries

Abstract

The DFID-funded BCURE (Building Capacity for Use of Research Evidence) Program has generated important research findings on the determinants for the demand of evidence use in six countries: Bangladesh, Kenya, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, South Africa and Zimbabwe. What is the relevance of these research findings on the capacity gap in public administration for other non-Western countries? The BCURE Program targeted interventions at the individual, interpersonal and organizational levels, and across three impact pathways, namely the ministry, across government, and Parliament. BCURE specified a detailed Theory of Change (ToC) and used the realist evaluation approach, and specified CIMOs (Context-Intervention-Mechanism-Output) to understand the contexts under which the mechanisms operate successfully. BCURE found three ways of working that were successful across the six countries. First, in the promotion of Evidence-Based Policy Making (EBPM), it is important to understand the politics. Second, the proponents of EBPM must build capacity at different levels of government. Third, the proponents must accompany change, and not impose it.