Philippines theory of change workshop
Working from within Governments to Encourage Evidence-Informed Decision-Making
February 28, 2019

(Editor's note: The title of this post has been updated.)

IPA pursues many strategies to move evidence to policy impact, but one that engenders particularly meaningful partnerships is to work from within governments, whether through embedding staff within government offices or facilitating the institutionalization of an “evidence unit” within a ministry. For example:
Devex on New Grant to Scale Up Teaching at the Right Level
Media Coverage
January 28, 2019
Devex reports on Co-Impact's first round of grant awards, including a grant to scale-up Teaching at the Right Level, a collaboration between, IPA, J-PAL, Pratham, and a host of other governments and organizations to improve primary and remedial education beyond Zambia to across Africa.
VoxDev Features IPA Study Training Teenage Girls in Zambia in Negotiation
Media Coverage
January 03, 2019
In a video for VoxDev, Corinne Low, an Assistant Professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, highlights an IPA study she and a team of researchers conducted evaluating the impact of teaching teenage girls in Zambia negotiating skills to advocate for furthering their education.
Vox Covers IPA & J-PAL Work on Teaching at the Right Level in Zambia
Media Coverage
January 03, 2019
Meagan Neal, a former J-PAL Policy Associate, writes about how IPA evidence on a remedial education approach known as Teaching at the Right Level helped the government of Zambia scale-up pilot programs to improve basic math and reading skills in primary school students.
Quartz Features IPA Research on Growth Charts in Zambia
Media Coverage
February 10, 2018
Quartz reports on IPA findings in rural Zambia that simple, low-cost growth charts reduced malnutrition. Among previously malnourished children, the charts reduced stunting by 22 percentage points, and they appear to be a cost-effective tool to reduce physical growth deficits in this context. Read more about the evaluation here.
IPA Peace & Recovery Program Launches First Call for Expressions of Interest
Announcement
August 15, 2017
The Peace & Recovery (P&R) Program at Innovations for Poverty Action is launching its first request for proposals, through an Expression of Interest (EOI) Form available now. Expressions of Interest are due on September 15, 2017. The P&R Program is designed to support field experiments and related research in several broad areas:
From the Huffington Post Blog: Why We Love Science
Media Coverage
July 26, 2016
Some of the smartest people in the world are thinking about international development. But we have to make sure their good ideas don’t get stuck inside the ivory tower. USAID helps scientists bridge the gap between their research and implementation on the ground. Recently, a group of researchers funded by USAID’s Development Innovation Ventures program studied community health worker recruitment.
Maximum Diva Female Condom ad
Building Innovative and Evidence-Based Family Planning Programs for the Next Generations
January 22, 2016

 

Next month, a new and improved contraceptive product will be marketed to urban, young adults with some disposable income, using billboards, Facebook, and WhatsApp messages. These millennials are living in Lusaka, Zambia, and right alongside this marketing campaign will be a group of health researchers who know that making a new product available doesn’t mean it’ll actually get used. The product is the Maximum Diva Women’s Condom, a new and improved female condom, with a better design, in a sleek new package and at a slightly higher price point.
IPA Girls Negotiation Study in Zambia on NPR
Media Coverage
October 08, 2015
National Public Radio's Morning Edition went to Zambia to report on IPA's study there adapting the Harvard Business School's negotiation curriculum for girls there. The project is exploring whether equipping girls with negotiation skills can better help them navigate the many challenges they face and stay in school.
Climbing Down from the Ivory Tower
Media Coverage
August 06, 2014
Nava Ashraf explains why it makes sense for field researchers to co-produce knowledge with the people they study and serve.
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Interrupting the Cycle of Hunger in Zambia
Günther Fink, Kelsey Jack
June 25, 2014
 
Growing up in the California Bay Area with temperate weather year round, seasonality to me meant the difference between putting on a t-shirt or a light sweater in the morning. However, here in Eastern Zambia, seasonality affects a lot more than just clothes: the vast majority of people are subsistence farmers, the economy is largely agrarian, and, because agriculture relies on the rains, there is only one harvest each year. 
 
 
IGC Video on Health Workers in Zambia
Media Coverage
June 03, 2014
London School of Economics' International Growth Centre recently produced a short film featuring our researchers Nava Ashraf and Oriana Bandiera discussing IPA's study on recruiting and motivating health workers in Zambia. Read more about the film at LSE's website, and find more details on the study here.  
Rx: Human Nature
Media Coverage
April 30, 2013
Over the past decade, governments and institutions the world over have spent roughly $9 billion annually to combat public health scourges such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, and waterborne illnesses. Yet more than 13 million people die each year, mostly in developing countries, from medical conditions for which effective prevention or treatment exists. Why?
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On the International Day of the Girl, Negotiating a Better Future
Nava Ashraf, Kathleen McGinn
October 11, 2012
 
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Me, You, Together, Build: Helping Zambian girls negotiate better futures
Nava Ashraf, Kathleen McGinn
May 09, 2012

In 2010, when I was role-playing with classmates in a graduate school Negotiations course, I never thought I would soon be facilitating a similar program in a secondary school in Zambia.

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