Promising practices
Curating a comprehensive global database of anti-slavery practices and outcomes to establish what works in the fight against modern slavery.
Promising practices
If we’re committed to eradicating modern slavery and achieving Sustainable Development Goal Target 8.7, it makes sense to gain a better understanding of “what works.” The Promising Practices Database aims to do just that: it was created in 2015 to collate evaluations of anti-slavery and counter-trafficking programs in a searchable format to determine what works – and what doesn’t – to eradicate modern slavery.
How we do it
The Database is set up so policy makers, donors, and program designers can quickly identify what works – and what does not – through a simple search by country, target population, type or sector of slavery, or type of intervention.
It currently houses 179 evaluations covering all forms of modern slavery, including human trafficking, forced labour, and forced marriage. It includes interventions such as community empowerment programs, cash transfers, training for police, awareness raising campaigns, case management among other initiatives and activities.
The Database is currently undergoing an update to include program evaluations published between 2015 and 2020. It is due for release July 2020.
Our targets
- Release updated database and overview findings.
- Produce policy papers drilling into specific interventions or types of modern slavery.
- Embed the database into the website- to make it more user-friendly and accessible.
Promising practices database
Standout findings
The number of anti-slavery evaluations are few, but continue to grow over time
While the evidence base is patchy, programs are being assessed and data is being collected. There are currently 179 evaluations in the Database and this number is expected to grow in the next iteration.
Project evaluation should be part of project development
It is important to use a cyclical approach to ensure that project design can build on prior learnings, and that relevant data is being collected during project implementation to support the assessment of impact at the end of the project.
We need to improve the quality of underlying program design
A clear theory of change and clearly articulated relationships between the program objectives and the activities being implemented are fundamental to evaluate the effectiveness and impact of a project.
We need more impact evaluation
Too few evaluations measure the impact on modern slavery.Most evaluations assess the progress of the program (achievement of activities or outputs) or the outcomes of the program (achievement of objectives or overall outcomes) but not how the program impacted modern slavery, such as by decreasing the number of people in slavery, or changing behaviours that allow slavery to occur. To truly understands what works, we need to conduct more impact evaluations either in hotspots of slavery or across a particular type of intervention.
We need to differentiate between types and qualities of evaluations
Evaluations are often opaque — it can be unclear which methodology and data sources were used. This undermines any conclusions made, while a clearer articulation of methods of analysis will allow more transparent conclusions to be drawn.
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