Childhood poverty and evidence-based policy engagement in Ethiopia

Abstract

This paper explores efforts to bridge multi-disciplinary research and policy engagement to tackle childhood poverty in developing country contexts, based on the experiences of Young Lives, an international longitudinal policy research project. It focuses on a case study involving the utilisation of research evidence on childhood poverty to shape policy debates about Ethiopia’s second generation Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (2006-10). The discussion is situated within theoretical literature on the knowledge/policy/practice interface which supports the reconceptualisation of policy making as a non-linear dynamic process. It pays particular attention to the importance of understanding the political and policy contexts of Southern countries rather than simply importing Northern-derived models of advocacy. It concludes by teasing out generalisable lessons for translating research into social policy change.

Copyright 2008 Oxfam GB. This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Development in Practice on 20/05/2008, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/09614520802030433 Published as: Jones, Nicola, Bekele Tefera and Tassew Woldehanna (2008) “Childhood poverty and evidence-based policy engagement in Ethiopia”, Development in Practice 18 (3): 371-384. The article is reproduced in accordance with the self-archiving policies of Taylor& Francis.