00About the initiative
Evidence4Dev
An open discovery infrastructure for development evidence: research, datasets, projects and indicators, connected and traceable to their sources.
01What it is
A place to find the evidence shaping development.
A layer over evidence that already exists
Research, datasets and development projects are published all the time, in repositories, ministry pages, NGO reports and spreadsheets. Finding the connections between them usually means starting over each time. Evidence4Dev records those connections once, as metadata, and points back at the original source rather than copying it.
One model, seven kinds of record
Research, datasets, projects, indicators, organisations, countries and topics share the same field structure. Descriptions behave consistently across types, so you can move from a study to its dataset, to the project behind it, without a new search each time.
This page describes the initiative as it is being built, not a finished product.
02How it treats evidence
Four rules the catalogue is built around.
Open by default
Metadata is public even where the underlying data is restricted. Licences and access conditions are recorded on the record, not buried in a download page.
Traceable to a source
Every record names where it came from and who deposited it, so a claim can be followed back to the publication, repository or registry that holds it.
Linked, not siloed
Studies point to their datasets, projects point to their evaluations, and organisations connect to everything they produce. Links are the product.
Built with the Global South first
Coverage starts with Africa and the Global South as the starting point, not a later expansion, and grows through partnerships with local institutions.
03Where it stands
Honest status, phase by phase.
Two phases are underway: the foundation is in place and the public website is live. Later phases have not started, and the catalogue pages stay empty until real records exist.
- 0In place
Foundation
Repository, documentation and development environment ready, with DNS, hosting, HTTPS and the evidence4dev.org domain in place.
- 1Live
Public website
This site, live at evidence4dev.org: landing page and catalogue routes. Listing pages show the interface with an empty index.
- 2Not started
Backend, auth and catalogue
Contributor and editor roles, submission, review and publishing.
- 3–5Not started
Dataset, research and project catalogues
Seeded with roughly 50–100 research records, 20–50 datasets and 10–20 projects, quality over volume.
- 6Not started
Search
Search → filter → open record → inspect source → discover related evidence.
Build order follows the project roadmap: no later phase is started before the current one works.
04Take part
Evidence only works if people can find it.
Deposit a dataset, point us at a repository, or help describe what is already published.