Chapter 9: Navigating Change in OIC Countries: Strengthening Socio-economic Resilience through Evidence-based Decision-making

This chapter examines the critical role of evidence in informing decision-making across Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member states, particularly those tackling fragility, and conflict. It navigates through the economic landscapes of OIC nations, connecting challenges and opportunities to evidence generation for effective policy and program formulation. Drawing from extensive field experiences in diverse OIC countries, the chapter analyzes the complexities of monitoring and evaluating interventions in social protection, inclusive growth, environmental sustainability, economic development, and gender equality.

Addressing the challenges posed by varied contexts, thematic areas, squeezing international aid, and shrinking civic space within the OIC member states, this chapter explores strategies to enhance the generation, reliability, and validity of gathered evidence to better understand what works and what doesn’t under what circumstances. It proposes pathways for maximizing evidence utilization in decision-making processes, with a particular focus on strengthening of the Voluntary Organization for Professional Evaluation (VOPEs). Additionally, it suggests the establishment of an OIC-specific evaluation network, named as the OIC Evaluation Network (OICEN), comprising representatives from all member states, alongside a dedicated secretariat for advocating for and taking actions on evidence generation, dissemination, and utilization in all the OIC member states.