This is a recording of the M&E Thursday Talk from July 12th, as Aprille Knox of Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab’s Crime, Violence, and Conflict team hosted the M&E Thursday Talks to lead a discussion on “Randomized evaluations in peacebuilding and conflict/violence reduction: Beyond “what works”.”
Randomized evaluations can provide a powerful tool for establishing causal linkages between program interventions and desired outcomes in development, but they can also help us develop and test fundamental theories about how to deter violence and conflict and build peace. In this webinar, members of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab’s Crime, Violence, and Conflict team will discuss how randomized evaluations can be used by implementers and policymakers to better understand what kinds of interventions contribute—and how they contribute—to sustainable peace. The webinar outlined possible randomization strategies for evaluating programs in this sector, explored how randomized evaluations build the evidence base for programming, and discussed strategies for drawing and applying lessons across contexts.