FAQs ABOUT THE POLITICS OF EVIDENCE CONFERENCE

Who is it for?  Development practitioners who work towards changing the power relations and structures that create and reproduce inequality, patient injustice and the non-fulfilment of human rights, site and who are interested in the current debates about the positive and negative effects of the ‘evidence’ and ‘results’ discourses on locally-owned and transformational development.  We define development practitioners as people working in the international development sector – in a bilateral/ multilateral agency/ international NGO, viagra as staff member or consultant; or employed by a government department or a non-governmental organisation in a low-income or middle-income country that receives financial aid.  Or s/he might be located in a university/ think tank partially funded by the sector, a private sector consulting company or a philanthropic foundation.

Does submitting a conference application form mean automatic acceptance?  No.  The resources we have found mean that the event is small and  thus to make the conference as useful as possible for the limited number of participants we are selecting applicants whose work focuses on the conference topic (from their descriptions  in the application form of the experience they are keen to share or contribute at the conference).  Incidentally, we know less than half people who have a confirmed place.

Is it an academic conference?  No.   The venue is at the Institute of Development Studies but – in the tradition of the Participation, Power and Social Change team at IDS that is hosting the conference – our approach is participatory and practise-based.  The conference will be a mix of in-depth case-based sessions and topic-focused group discussions, where all participants’ experiences will be shared.

What is the programme? We are modifying the detailed draft programme we developed last year to reduce theoretical discussions to one in-depth framing session, and ensuring most time is spent on practical experiences. We will have a limited set of questions that are emerging from the debates to focus the conference and come to robust conclusions. We will be inviting some participants, based on different location within the development sector and topic, to prepare their cases in the form of brief presentations. Our own background work on the issues and examples are also shaping the conference programme, the final version of which will be posted shortly.  We can already confirm the opening plenary session will be a diverse panel of contributors, including Ola Abu Alghaib (Stars of Hope) and Iqbal Dhaliwal (MIT Poverty Lab), chaired by Duncan Green (Oxfam) who hosted January’s Great Evidence Debate.

Are there still places? Yes. A few.  A lot of people have told us they are intending to register but haven’t got around to it yet. Please hurry to make sure you get a place!

Can you waive the fees?  We have waived fees for a small number of participants who have volunteered as rapporteurs. Organisations that have supported the Conference preparations are entitled to nominate two participants free of charge.  Because the conference is on a low budget we are afraid we are not able to offer a waiver to anyone else.