Translation of EBP to Developing Country Contexts

Undoubtedly the translation of EBP to developing country contexts represents a considerable challenge. It is important to note that there is a considerable diversity of cultural, economic, and political contexts which make it especially difficult to draw valid generalisations. We try to highlight here a few of the issues that may matter in some countries.

First, some developing countries often have a more troubled political context. There are many places with limited political freedoms or no democratic spaces. There may be less public representation, weak structures for aggregating and arbitrating interests in society and weak systems of accountability. Although the number of 'democratic' regimes has more than doubled, from under 40 to over 80 between 1976 and 1999, many developing countries remain undemocratic and many countries have deficits in these areas, even if they are seen as democratic in form (Hyden, Court and Mease, 2004).

Second, at an extreme level, some developing countries are characterised by conflict - whether civil war or low intensity conflicts - which make the idea of evidence-based policy limited in application. While conflicts today are fewer in number than 10 years ago, they remain relatively common (particularly in Africa).

Third, developing countries tend to be more politically volatile. Political volatility tends to have a negative impact on the use of evidence in policy processes.

In addition to general democracy contexts, some other specific issues are relevant here. Academic freedom is an critical context issue for evidence-based policy. Similarly, media freedom is also a key factor for communicating ideas into policy and practice. Also, civil society plays a part in most political systems - it is where people become familiar and interested in public issues and how rules tend to affect the articulation of interests from society. Key issues here include the conditions under which citizens can express their opinions, organise themselves for collective action and compete for influence. There is also much evidence to suggest civil society is an important link between research and policy (Court and Maxwell, 2005).

It has often been commented that policy processes tend to be centralised and often less open in developing countries, especially in terms of policy formulation (Grindle and Thomas, 1991). However, the implementation component of policy processes can also have major barriers to evidence use. Many commentators note the problems with accountability, participation, corruption and the lack of incentives and capacity to draw in evidence in policy implementation.

Hornby and Perera (2002) argue, as a result of his research on Sri Lanka, that there are a number of factors which make using EBP in developing countries more challenging. These include the lack of performance management within many developing countries; the lack of indicators at the political level or that monitor the equality of service provision, the quality of service or the efficacy of service delivery; the lack of institutional mechanisms; and the fact that political research isn't routinely carried out in developing countries, just on demand, and therefore there is a lack of ongoing evaluation.

These factors affect evidence-based policy on both the supply and demand side, as well as the relationship between them. In terms of the supply of evidence, stable and open political systems allow evidence to be freely gathered, assessed and communicated. In terms of demand, democracies imply a greater accountability of governments and therefore a greater incentive to improve policy and performance. Democratic contexts also imply the existence of more open entry-points into the policymaking process and there are fewer constraints on communication. In contrast, autocratic regimes often tend to limit the gathering and communication of evidence and have weak accountability mechanisms. For example, a case study from Uruguay charted the negative effect the dictatorship had on the use of research in health policy (Salvatella et al, 2000: 67-76).

It is clear that in some contexts, the real challenge is not around evidence based policymaking but about the general challenges of political context. In an increasing number of countries, however, the context is improving. In many, there are thresholds that have been reached that merit a greater focus on evidence-based policy. Chile, for example, in many ways provides an 'ideal' case example where research and local technical expertise often contribute to improving policy frameworks within the context of a democratic polity. So too in Tanzania, which has often used the evidence base to improve policy and practice despite its very low income - we highlighted one such good news case above. In such contexts, many of the tools and approaches we propose are worth considering. They would, of course, need to be adapted to make them relevant to local context.

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