Evidence use and good governance

Evidence use in the executives, parliament, civil society and media leads to better choices, influence on policymaking and effective implementation

The WCDoA demonstrated that evidence use is important for improving development outcomes in government. It can trigger policy shifts and resource allocation when applied without external influences. However, the data must be disaggregated to reflect the realities of different stakeholders (interested and affected) for effective utilisation. As different types of evidence respond to different questions (for example, a solid research report may be an enabler, but not sufficient for evidence use) and therefore evidence synthesis is needed to justify decisions.

It is important to note that many factors can constrain evidence-informed policymaking, resulting in different outcomes when implemented. Literature shows that specific contexts and traditions, political priorities, individual beliefs and preferences, social values and available resources all play a role. This means that some intervention decisions could be based on perceived short-term opportunities, without any systematic planning and review of the best evidence for an effective approach.

The evaluation process to generate evidence should not just be construed as an evidence-extracting exercise. It should be dialogical and reflexive. Making sense of the experiences of programme staff and beneficiaries will help them to develop deeper understanding and insight. Practitioners can celebrate evaluation evidence use as the way to go towards sustainable interventions, but it is only one criterion for policymaking and rarely gives an uncontested solution to complex public problems, especially in a developing and culturally diverse country, such as South Africa.