As the UNICEF Office of Research-Innocenti, we conduct research to inform policymaking and implementation. This project brief summarizes our work on research capacity building and evidence synthesis.

1. PROJECT BRIEF
Research
Capacity Building
and Evidence Synthesis
How do we ensure that key
policy and programming
decisions are informed by
the best available evidence
on children?
©
UNICEF/UNI337289/Pouget

2. Overview
Evidence is key to understanding the barriers that
prevent children from enjoying their rights and to
finding solutions to overcome those barriers.To
catalyse change and achieve results for the most
disadvantaged children, it is vital to generate,
communicate and promote the use of evidence and
data on child well-being.
UNICEF Innocenti supports a range of capacity building
activities to help staff and partners commission,
undertake, communicate and use research on child
rights in development cooperation programmes.
Evidence synthesis can be described as the process
of bringing together information and knowledge
from a range of sources to inform debates and
decisions on specific issues. Products such as
systematic reviews and evidence gap maps are
increasingly recognized for their significant role in
knowledge management and evidence translation
efforts.To help UNICEF make the right decisions for
children’s well-being, we work to improve knowled-
ge and awareness of evidence synthesis, and to
illustrate its added value in decision-making.
Approach
To build our research capacity, we develop and
deliver training, both online and in-person, on topics
such as Managing research at UNICEF; Formulting
research questions andTerms of Reference; Research
design and methods; Critical appraisal; Ethics in
Evidence Generation; and Research uptake and
impact.
We also provide advice and guidance on methodo-
logy, impact evaluation and evidence synthesis, and
participate in expert advisory groups for projects
commissioned by partners in UNICEF
.
Goal
To ensure high-quality research and methods –
that are fit for purpose – this work develops and
strengthens UNICEF’s evidence ecosystem. It aims to
support and raise the capacity of UNICEF colleagues
and external partners to be intelligent producers,
commissioners and users of evidence.
Project Highlights
PROJECT BRIEF
Contact Info
Kerry Albright
Chief, Knowledge Management
kalbright@unicef.org
The Impact of Social Protection
on Gender Equality in Low and
Middle-Income Countries (2021)
How does the impact of social
protection programmes differ across
gender?What are the risks versus
the benefits of social assistance,
social insurace, care services and
labour market programmes? How
do the outcomes vary depending
on intervention, implementation
and design?This systematic review
of reviews aims to generate a clear
picture of the differential impact of
social protection on women and
men and translate this knowledge
into policy actions that improve
gender equality outcomes across
the life-course.
Shivit Bakrania
Knowledge Management Specialist
sbakrania@unicef.org
Blended delivery of the Research
Management and Methods
training course (2021–2022)
In response to an unparalleled
demand for support and capacity
building on research management
and methods, we are developing
a blended delivery training course
to be delivered both online and
in-person.This includes new
modules on ‘Academic Publishing
and Plain Language Writing’ and
‘Thinking and Working Politically’,
and the decentralized delivery of
training through a ‘Training of the
Trainers’ course.
Rapid Review Guidance during
COVID-19 (2021)
In the immediate aftermath of the
COVID-19 outbreak, which forever
changed the information landsca-
pe, UNICEF urgently needed
evidence to inform its response
and ensure that children were
protected from harm. In response,
Innocenti embarked on a series
of rapid reviews – a rapid form
of evidence synthesis – that also
provides guidance and minimum
standards.