3ie and DEval map the evidence on peacebuilding interventions

It has been estimated that over 1.8 billion people, close to a quarter of the world’s population, live in fragile contexts. A new evidence gap map shows that the evidence base on peacebuilding interventions in these contexts is growing, but fractured. The International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) developed the evidence gap map “Building peaceful societies” in collaboration with DEval and with financial support from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

The map finds significant geographical evidence gaps, and the distribution of studies does not overlap much with the most fragile countries and the major recipients of ODA. For example, of the 10 most fragile countries according to the 2019 Fragile States Index, only the Democratic Republic of Congo and Afghanistan have substantial evidence bases, while no or very few studies were identified for other fragile states that receive significant ODA investments – such as Syria, Yemen or Somalia.