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Jonas Leo Heirman

Italy

Jonas Leo Heirman Member since 16/10/2019

World Food Programme

Evaluation Officer (Impact Evaluation)
Jonas Heirman leads WFP’s impact evaluation activities. He is responsible for developing and implementing WFP’s new impact evaluation strategy. Prior to joining WFP, Jonas worked for the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) in various capacities, including the UK Advisor to the Board of Directors at the African Development Bank (AfDB), and as the Adviser and senior responsible owner for the impact evaluation portfolio in DFID’s Research and Evidence Division. Before DFID, Jonas worked in various research and evaluation capacities, including at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) and European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM). Jonas holds a Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) in Development Studies from the University of Oxford, and Masters of Science (MSc) in Public Policy and Human Development from Maastricht University, and B.A. in political science from Hope College.

My contributions

  • Blog

    Resilience in complex food crises: The case for building better evidence

    In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to almost double this figure to a projected 265 million. Long-term projections indicate that food security will be increasingly affected by future change in climate, through increasing temperatures, changing precipitation patterns and greater frequency of extreme weather events. Complex and recurring food crises, driven by conflict, extreme weather events and economic shocks, have challenged the humanitarian community to think beyond meeting immediate food needs. An integrated approach to food assistance, which also focuses on people’s ability to...
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  • Blog

    Cash-based transfers in crisis: Why more evidence is needed to support women in crisis, and what we’re doing about it

    [1] These disasters carry particular consequences for women and girls, who are more likely to experience gender-based violence, assume additional care and labour burdens, or adopt negative coping strategies as a result. Meanwhile, cash-based interventions are rising in popularity as a preferred option of humanitarian aid delivery. Cash-based transfers have long been a focus of study, starting when Mexico’s Progresa and its experimental evaluation design first made waves in the late 1990s. Since then, evidence has been building almost as rapidly as cash-transfer programmes have expanded...
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  • Blog

    Five Myths about Impact Evaluation in the Humanitarian Space

    Humanitarian contexts are too difficult for impact evaluations Yes, conducting an impact evaluation becomes particularly challenging in crisis- and conflict-affected settings, but it can be done. The evaluation of Impacts of the World Food Programme’s interventions to treat malnutrition in Niger found that children who received both food for assets (FFA), and treatment and prevention assistance were 20 percent less likely to suffer moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) than children receiving no assistance. The World Bank’s impact evaluation of Afghanistan’s National Solidarity Programme – with...
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