Behavioural science in development co-operation: The United Kingdom’s approach

Challenge

Human behaviour, institutions and systems must change on a massive scale if we are to achieve the ambitious 2030 Agenda. But changing human behaviour is complex. Since 2000, approaches from the behavioural and social sciences had been adopted piecemeal by UK agencies across government, culminating in the establishment of the first Behavioural Insights (BI) Unit at the Cabinet Office in 2009.

These efforts inspired the adaptation of behaviourally informed experimental work in international development, particularly at the UK Department for International Development (DFID). Influenced by the World Bank’s 2015 Mind, Society and Behavior report, DFID recognised that cognitive constraints, social norms and mental models significantly influence decision making by stakeholders, implementers and development practitioners.

In 2021, DFID merged with the Foreign Office to form FCDO, which continued to invest in behavioural capacities. However, while behaviourally informed approaches were being used by parts of the organisation, they were not yet fully adopted across the FCDO.

Approach

FCDO has adopted a five-pronged approach to institutionalise behaviourally informed approaches:

• A clear mandate: Support from senior leaders, and resources for dedicated behavioural science experts (plus technical and scientific expertise, and strategic planning and management expertise), have ensured behavioural science informs FCDO’s programme and policy work.

• A culture of learning: To foster a culture of learning, experimentation and trust-building, FCDO introduced the Methods, Mechanisms and Mindsets approach to “reframe risk” and incentivise iterative and adaptive ways of working. Adaptive management allows FCDO to better learn and adapt during programme implementation, while documenting the advantages of adaptive and experimental approaches.

• Context: Adjusting internal rules, regulations and procurement processes for adaptive management has allowed behavioural science to underpin key organisational priorities and approaches.

• Collaboration: To promote behavioural science within the organisation and beyond, FCDO partnered with the World Bank and United Nations Innovation Network, and with UK government departments such as the Government Communication Service International (GCSI) in the Cabinet Office and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). Internally, FCDO innovation and health networks set up the COVID-19 Behaviour Change Forum to enable FCDO experts from headquarters and country offices to exchange lessons on appropriate and behaviourally informed local responses to COVID-19 with implementors, private sector partners and academics.

• Capacity: FCDO has developed a framework for assessing capabilities, including behavioural science, across four levels: awareness, foundation, practitioner and expert. FCDO has also invested in developing the behavioural science capacity of external partners, for example through the Global Innovation Fund and the COVID-19 Hygiene Hub.

Results

• Behavioural expertise established within the governments of Indonesia, Guatemala and Bangladesh, through support from the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) and Global Innovation Fund.

• A behaviourally-informed government-led national sanitation campaign in rural United Republic of Tanzania (hereafter ‘Tanzania’), developed through a formative, UKAid-funded research project which provided considerable insight into sanitation behaviours and informed creative intervention design.

• Behavioural enhancements to cash transfer programmes in Kenya, Ghana and Tanzania, developed and tested jointly with Ideas42 and the Global Innovation Fund and the countries’ social protection agencies. Lab-in-the field evaluations indicate a 7-percentage point (pp) and 3pp increase in intention to invest and an 8pp and 5pp increase in savings in Kenya and Tanzania respectively.

• A Behaviour Change Forum created during the COVID-19 pandemic by FCDO experts, which brings together a wide range of stakeholders from within and outside government to support priority development challenges with multi-disciplinary peer learning, evidence sharing and connections.

• An internal community of practice on behavioural science nurtured by the offices of the FCDO’s Chief Economist and Chief Scientist, as well as several internal staff development and external events.