Evidence and Lessons from Latin America (ELLA II) Project: This is Comparative Study research project on Analyzing accountability of the Executive Bodies to the legislative Authorities in Africa and Latin America: A Comparative Study to derive Lessons learned. The core objective of the project is that policy makers, policy influencers and practitioners in Africa and Latin America Countries Learn from Comparative Evidence From the two regions in order to inform their policies and practice, and ultimately to reduce poverty. OSSREA signed a contract agreement with Practical Action Consulting (PAC) to implement ELLA II Project.  It is a four year research project (Spt. 2014 to Jan.31, 2017) between OSSREA and a Latin American Partner which is Centre for the Implementation of Public Policies for Equity and Growth (CIPPEC) – a research think tank based in Argentina.

ELLA mixes research, exchange and learning to inspire development policies and practices that are grounded in evidence about what works in varied country contexts.

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.