The Global Development Institute Lecture Series

#GDILecture@GlobalDevInst@Guijti @OxfamGB

Evidence for Influencing

Balancing research integrity and

campaign strategy in Oxfam

Dr. Irene Guijt

Head of Research and Publishing

Oxfam Great Britain

GDI Lecture, ManchesterDecember 13, 2017

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For people who want the truth

evidence is adequate

but for those who don’t want the truth

overwhelming evidence is inadequate. Adv Thuli Madonsela (former public protector)

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1. Why does evidence matter to us?

2. How do we go about it?

3. What are the challenges?

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1. Why does evidence matter to us?

Essential to know what to do with

who and how… but never enough

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What is influencing?

‘systematic efforts to change power relations,

attitudes and beliefs, the formulation and

implementation of official

policies, laws/regulations, budgets, and company

policies and practices, in ways that promote more

just and sustainable societies without poverty’

Oxfam International's National Influencing Guidelines

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What is evidence?

Evidence

Data, information

presented in support of

an assertion.

Evidence-informed

The purposeful and

systematic use of the

best available

evidence to inform,

e.g. the various

options for influencing

strategies and policy-

making.

Evidence generation in OGB

Research Team in Campaign,

Policy, Influencing Team

Programme impact

evaluators

Action research in

programmes

Policy advisors

Private sector

policy advisors

Market insightsTechnical

specialists

Monitoring

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Credible Relevant Impactful

Relevant campaigns & programmes

High quality campaigns & programmes

Partner of choiceLeverageAccess

Risk management Thought leadership

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Key Research Team Functions

1. Undertake forward looking trend and context

analyses

2. Influence and support planned campaigns,

programmes and media

3. Strengthen research quality, incl data

assurance

4. Engage externally to inform & be informed

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Oxfam is huge so this stuff happens

in lots of places and ways

• Around 9,300 staff

• 20 affiliates

• 90+ countries

• Global, regional and national programmes and policy

work on:• Economic justice

• Gender justice

• Climate justice

• Right to be heard

• Humanitarian response

• Refugee and migration policy

• Natural resources and livelihoods

• ….

23-24 October 2017, Soesterberg, the Netherlands

EVIDENCE FOR INFLUENCING

CONFERENCE

#OxfamEvidence

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2. How do we go about it?

Doing, brokering, checking

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Evidence has its limits

Decision-makers are influenced by many individual,

institutional and societal factors and actors

• So evidence is vital but (rarely) sufficient on its own to achieve

change

• Effective research needs to be:

• Credible

• Well-timed - to take advantage of (existing or created) windows of

opportunities

• Carefully framed and communicated

• Propositional - with policy solutions packaged up & hooked to

recognised problems & policy maker’s value

• Supported - by other campaigning or wider influencing strategies

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The Influencing Journey

• What needs to change?

• Who has power to make the change, and who

and what influences them?

• How to achieve change

• Context in which we try to achieve change

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Research Priorities

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Nexus

Synthesis Trends

Propositional

Voice

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Diverse types of evidence and

knowledge product

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And many knowledge productsInequality: statistical input to Davos 2018; National inequality reports;

Strong input on constructing/correcting CRI Index; Fiscal sector and

inequality; perceptions research

Gender justice; Gender –equitable fiscal policies; Unpaid care

economic narratives; How to diagnose and shift social norms; Women’s

collective action and transformative leadership

Influencing; Evidence for Influencing Conference; Meta-review of what

works for policy change; Behavioural change paper (gender, WASH);

Blog series; populism paper

Human Economy: joint framing paper; WeAll governance paper and

foundation member; Arrival book (forthcoming)

People’s voice work: Displaced people’s agency (CAR case study, 2

more in MENA); M&S study on impact of commercial decisions on

workers’ rights; SenseMaker manual

And more … (lots and lots of sign-off, data checking)

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Case 1. Unpaid Care and

Economic Narratives

work by

Anam Parvez and Martin Walsh

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Why they matter

Narratives can express values

and worldviews, including

true and false beliefs

Narratives can be very

persuasive and spread

rapidly and widely

Can be equally difficult to

counter, change or replace

e.g. right-wing populist narratives

Campaigning organisations

use research and classic

influencing strategies, e.g. by

generating new and

persuasive evidence and

zooming in on key audiences

to change the terms of debate

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1. Understanding our change audiences better

2. Understanding what kind of arguments would be most

effective and what evidence is needed

3. Identifying potential partners

4. Capacity building

5. Questioning our own narratives

Examples of influencing outcomes

informed by economic narratives

research:

• Policy briefing for national

governments/economic policy-makers

• International Development Forums-

Skoll World Forum

• Capacity building for influencing: Pan

Africa Dialogue

Using research on narratives for

influencing

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1. Identify problematic narratives

on UCW and its link to

economic development that

need to be shifted

- UCW is not relevant/only has a negative

influence on economic development;

addressing UCW is not central to achieving

health, education and economic policy

objectives

- Evidence type: statistical

Unpaid care: an ignored economic

policy concern

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2. Identify potential

opportunities within existing

narratives

- Recognition of the importance of investing

in health, education in existing economic

narratives - showing links with unpaid care

work

- SDGs

- Women’s participation in paid work

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3. What are persuasive

transformative narratives?

- Unpaid care work has a crucial economic

value and is a significant component of

local, national and global economies and

economic wellbeing ($10 trillion of output

per year)

- Inadequate provision of care results in costs

to the society, economy, companies and the

government (20% higher prevalence of

mental health for carers, $17.1 billion a year

cost to employers)

- Potential partners: gender departments at

IFIs, feminist economists

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Case 2: Oxfam

research for Patents

and Access to

Medicines campaign

work by Ruth Mayne

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1. What needs to change?

Solutions (Oxfam campaign)

• greater flexibility of WTO patent rules for developing countries

• an end to rich and corporate bullying of poor countries

• systematic price reductions by pharmaceuticals in LICs

• increased funding for LICs to purchase essential medicines & R&D

Evidence to investigate & address counter arguments

• companies say poor health systems are the main cause of lack of

access to medicine not patents, patents are needed to reward

innovation, etc.

Problem & Causes• millions of people in poor countries die &suffer due to lack of

access to life saving HIV/AIDs and other medicines

• high prices due to unfair WTO patent rules & company pricing

policies/business models, lack of R & D into neglected

disease, weak health systems, poverty

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2. Who needs to take action

Power analysis & research to identify who has the power and

capabilities to achieve change and who and what influences them

• Formal duty bearers : WTO member governments

• Key influencers:

• Opponents:

• Big pharmaceutical companies : GSK as possible positive

industry leader; Pfizer as ‘bad guy’

• Rich country governments - UK, US

• Supporters: people suffering from HIV/AIDS, investors, many

developing country governments, scientists

• Opponents: swingers – EC

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3. How to achieve change

Power & systems analysis, plus additional research to

understand & identify:

• Wider system influences and contextual opportunities

• Decision-making processes of duty bearers and key influencers

• Mix and sequencing of research and complementary influencing

strategies/tactics - informed by above & power analysis

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What went into the evidence mix?

Secondary data from existing credible sources and data

bases e.g. UNAIDs, WHO

• Qualitative/case study research from:

• Primary data e.g. Oxfam case study in Uganda

• Secondary data e.g. from Oxfam country programmes & credible partner

organisations – MSF, Jamie Love, Treatment Action Aid in South Africa,

partners in Brazil and Thailand

• Stakeholder workshops, consultations, horizon scanning

• Oxfam campaign & influencing guides

• Research, evaluations, theories of change

• Peer review & research by academics

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Multiple knowledge products

Foundational research for campaign launch Feb 2001

• Overarching public facing campaign report: Patent Injustice: How

World Trade Rules Threaten the Health of the Poor, Feb 2001

• Technical briefing: Fatal Side Effect: Medicine patents under the

Microscope, Feb 2001

• Company briefing paper: GlaxoSmithKline: Dare to Lead – public

health and company wealth, Feb 2001

• Country case studies e.g. Make vital medicines available for poor

people: Bangladesh, Feb 2001

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Follow up briefings

Related to new contextual developments & openings

• South Africa vs the Drug Giants – Feb 2001 (plus update April 2001)

• Drug companies vs. Brazil: The threat to public health, May 2001

• WTO Patent Rules and Access to Medicines : The Pressure Mounts,

June 2001

• US Bullying on Drug Patents: one Year after Doha – Nov 2002

• TRIPs and Public Health: The next Battle – March 2002

• Public Health at Risk: How a US bilateral free trade agreement

could threaten access to medicines in Thailand – 2006

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How evidence

helped influencing

• Provided high quality of research to:

• Undermine intellectual foundations of company’s influence over

government policy

• Strengthened hand of developing country governments &

emboldened them to take action at the WTO

• Demonstrated viable alternatives

• Used powerful human framings that helped humanize & popularize

the issue contributing to a huge public outcry and media coverage

around the world

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3. And what about the challenges?

Plenty of them, internal and external

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Evidence and data alone

won’t change hearts and minds

• Alliance building

• Advocacy

• Media pressure

• Public campaigning

• Taking strategic advantage of windows of

opportunity

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Challenges galore

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Many Demands

• Ensuring focus around long term questions vs agility to

respond to emerging needs

• OGB needs vs needs of OI/country offices/other affiliates

• Campaigns (in all their diversity) vs programmes

• Globally focused pieces of work vs nationally focused efforts

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Foundations for a solid and

persuasive evidence base

• Capacity• Training on research quality pitfalls

• Expanding our capacity

• Standard raising and sharing• ToRs sign-off

• quality check and peer review

• research guidelines and case studies

• Formats beyond publications

• Confederation wide

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Now over to you - question time!