Challenge Fund For Evidence Use

About the initiative

The Challenge Fund for Evidence Use, conducted in partnership with the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) and supported by the Gates Foundation, is one of Southern Voice’s initiatives focused on connecting research and policy action. It brings Southern leadership to the forefront by supporting innovative collaborations among researchers and evidence users.

This project uses a flexible, adaptive model focused on evidence use, with Southern Voice serving as a funding intermediary. It ultimately opens a space for Global South teams to lead research and engagement activities that directly integrate knowledge production within policy and practice.

Over 12 months, six teams from Africa, Asia, and Latin America designed and implemented evidence-to-action strategies to improve gender-equity outcomes in their respective contexts. They engaged closely with key stakeholders and adapted their approaches to local needs and opportunities as they evolved. Click on the images at the bottom of the page for a closer look at each project.

Exploring Evidence to Action Strategies

The Fund’s design drew on early findings from Southern Voice and IDS’ ongoing work on equity in research for development, which underscored the importance of Southern leadership in defining research priorities, flexibility in implementation, and valuing outcomes beyond tangible outputs.

Learning has been integral to this initiative. Regular “Learning Weeks” and other exchanges allowed us to collectively surface insights, to enhance both future evidence-to-action initiatives in the Global South, and the funding programmes that support them. These will be highlighted in forthcoming outputs.