Current Research Projects

Buy-ins allowing any USAID office to fund development research in any sector in any USAID interest country count toward the $50M buy-in authorization. Current buy-in research projects ($14M in obligations within the first year):

1. Private Sector Engagement Evidence and Learning: five-year grant to support USAID’s new policy for private sector engagement with evidence-based learning and best practices (UND, Purdue) Research Team Working Group

2. South Sudan Psychosocial Impact Evaluation: One-year grant to evaluate the impact of a UNICEF led program to consider psycho-social aspects of the education of traumatized children (IU, Purdue, Makerere). Research Team Working Group

3. Kenya ‘Tusome’ Case Study: one-year grant to examine the process of scaling up of Kenya’s early grade reading program from 2011 to 2018 to enable USAID to better understand the scaling up process and to foster replication (Makerere, CRS, U. Nairobi, UND). Research Team Working Group

4. Cultural Restoration Program for Northern Iraq: a research and extension project under negotiation for Iraqi Kurdistan (UND, Purdue, IU). Research Team Working Group

5. Multi-Country Study on Inclusive Education: a three-five-year study on the most effective mechanisms for inclusive education for learners with disabilities in Malawi, Nepal, and Cambodia (IDP). Research Team Working Group

6. Evaluation of Somalia’s Accelerated Quality Learning Project: A five-year adaptive management and evaluation project for effective alternative education models that target out-of-school learners (Purdue, Makerere, SDRI). Research Team Working Group

7. Self-Reliance Learning Agenda: A one-year meta-analysis on aid effectiveness, specifically focusing on USAID’s contribution to capacity and commitment in its operating countries. This study feeds into a broader research agenda (Texas A&M, UND).

8. The Voices of the Indigenous People of Uganda: This 2-year project aims to build the capacity of local Ugandan universities and researchers to undertake and translate development research that will inform subsequent interventions to strengthen the voices of Uganda’s indigenous peoples (Makerere).

9. Applied Nutrition Research and Capacity-Building in Laos: A four-year project that focuses on capacity building to support enhanced nutrition research in Laos (Purdue, IU). Research Team Working Group

10.  Trafficking in Persons in South Africa: A research project to provide evidence to the Government of South Africa and USAID on the nature and magnitude of trafficking in persons for public policy debates on human trafficking (University of Missouri). Research Team Working Group