ELLA (Evidence and Lessons from Latin America) mixes research, exchange and learning to inspire development policies and practices that are grounded in evidence about what works in varied country contexts.

ELLA is led by Practical Action Consulting Latin America (Soluciones Prácticas Consultoría), based in Lima, Peru. Since it began in 2010, ELLA has involved a wide range of development research and practice organisations from Latin America, Africa, South Asia and the UK.

During the current phase of ELLA (2014-17), PAC Latin America has teamed up with the with the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), at Sussex University in the UK, and twelve research centres (independent think tanks, university departments and university-affiliated centres) from Latin America and Africa.

The Latin American and African research centres are working in pairs to deliver the joint research, exchange and learning programmes on six different themes identified as a rich source of development lessons:

• Fedesarrrollo, Colombia and DPRU, Cape Town University, South Africa – Informality and Inclusive Growth;

• GRADE, Peru and the Tegemeo Institute, Egerton University, Kenya – Land Tenure in Pastoralist Societies;

• Grupo Faro, Ecuador and ACODE, Uganda – Oil and Gas Local Content;

• CIPPEC, Argentina and OSSREA, Ethiopia – Accountability of the Executive to Legislative Bodies;

• FundaUngo, El Salvador and Ibadan University, Nigeria – Community Based Crime Prevention;

• Fundar, Mexico and CEGENSA, University of Ghana – Domestic Violence.

The programme:

• Conducts rigorous research, synthesising existing evidence and researching evidence gaps, undertaken by researchers from countries in the ‘global south’
• Organises and runs exchange and learning programmes – called ELLA Learning Alliances – that connect these researchers and the users of the research, across these countries, to enable the debate of evidence and lessons;
• Supports the growth of topic specific networks to promote continuous learning between individuals, organisations and countries – through the joint research and the exchange and learning programmes.
• Geographic Focus: To date ELLA has been orientated to researching and sharing evidence and lessons from Latin America with people, organisations and countries in Africa and South Asia. This remains a strong focus, but the programme has evolved to allow more ‘multi-way’ research and sharing, to facilitate the exchange of lessons between very varied country contexts.

Thematic Focus: Thematically, ELLA has focused on economic development, governance and environmental management, and within these areas on themes and topics in which Latin America is perceived to have valuable lessons to share with the rest of the developing world. Specific topics have been identified through a research process involving surveys and discussion with potential research users, expert interview, and literature review.

CIPPEC, Argentina and OSSREA, are researching Accountability of the Executive to Legislative Bodies (Horizontal Accountability); 

For more information visit: ella.practicalaction.org