Research, evidence and learning (REL)

Our approach

Christian Aid believes in shifting power and working in partnership, and these principles underpin the work of the Research, Evidence and Learning team, founded in 2016.

What we do

The Research, Evidence and Learning (REL) team aims to:

support the generation of high quality research and evidence in Christian Aid
enable and encourage the use of evidence in programme design, organisational learning, understanding our impact, policy development, and communication
shift power in the development research sector, advocating for research led by practitioners, designed for

We do this through four areas of work:

capacity development
programme research and learning
internal strategic reviews
influencing the sector by advocating for practitioner-led development research that includes diverse and marginalised voices.

Our research and reflections on practice

Research, practice reviews and impact assessments we have commissioned, supported or written

Capacity development

Learning resources, one-page guides and toolkits for practitioner and partnership research

Exploring a decade of change in Colombia and the UK

Learn more about our long-term study

Key resources

Balancing research and practice in an international NGO

Download

Investing aid money in research for impact – what’s needed?

Development research funders need to re-think what research for impact means, argues Head of Research, Evidence and Learning Kate Newman.

Resources for fair and equitable development research partnerships

Meet the team

All the members of the Research, Evidence and Learning team have worked in both academia and NGOs.

We:

bring together research skills and an understanding of practice
are experienced in applied, practical research and working in collaboration to develop research questions, choose research methods and plan for impact
champion practitioner research, capacity development and mutual learning.