Policy Brief: Evidence based policy-making in the Caribbean

There is much advocacy in the Caribbean regarding the need for evidence-based policy making, that is – policy making that is based on timely and reliable data regarding a particular economic and/or social problem, to promote good governance and facilitate enhanced policy and programme outcomes. However, the reality remains an elusive one for many Caribbean policy makers, who implement policies based on ideas, as well as ad hoc or outdated data. Outside of the Caribbean, the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States of America are countries where policymakers and managers have adopted a policy of developing and implementation of intervention programmes designed to improve domestic social problems based on scientific evidence, which have been shown to produce positive results. Within the developing world, Singapore adopted an evidence based approach to policy making, particularly in the area of education and training. Proponents of evidence based policy making advocate for the incorporation of rigorous research and data gathering into public policy discussions and public sector processes for policy planning, development, implementation and evaluation. Among the critical issues required for evidence based policy making are a focus on framing of key problems to be addressed, identification of the methodology for gathering and assessing reliable evidence, communicating and transferring knowledge into decision making, and monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of programme delivery.