WB holds conference on Evidence-to-Policy workshop

Impact evaluation research and the evidence generated can help governments design and deliver programmes that successfully improve lives and reduce poverty, said participants at a senior level conference in the city on Wednesday. The senior-level Evidence-to-Policy workshop was organised by the World Bank, in partnership with the Government of Bangladesh, Innovations for Poverty Action, the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), and the Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA), said a press release. Participants, including senior government officials, civil society organisations and researchers, reviewed and discussed successful programmes for providing clean water and sanitation, promoting rural livelihood opportunities, and giving children the nutrition and skills they need to succeed in school and later in life. The day’s senior level session provided an opportunity for government officials and civil society members from Bangladesh to share experiences in promoting better service delivery to the poor using rigorous impact evaluation evidence and to discuss new approaches. Earlier, this week, the Strategic Impact Evaluation Fund held a three-day workshop in Dhaka for government officials from Bangladesh and the South Asia region, and focused on learning how to incorporate impact evaluation into programs to measure whether programs are having a real impact on people’s lives, according to UNB.