From November 14-16, 2022, IPA held an invite-only Cross-Country Education Lab Learning Exchange in Kigali, Rwanda. During this private event, IPA convened education policymakers and partners from several countries to enable cross-country learning on key topics related to evidence-informed policymaking and embedding evidence-informed decision-making in government units.

IPA's objectives for the cross-country learning exchange were as follows:

• Observe, participate, and exchange best practices on evidence-informed policymaking and creating embedded evidence labs, including co-creating research, MEL strategies, and using evidence in policy
• Learn from policymakers’ experiences launching and institutionalizing embedded evidence labs in Ghana, Rwanda, and Zambia and how they are leveraging the labs to build a culture of evidence-based decision-making
• Explore potential lab activities and how they might be useful to Ministries of Education, including disseminating evidence, data mapping, developing monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) tools, creating research coordinating committees, and scaling up evidence-informed programs.

Session topics included: creating and institutionalizing embedded evidence labs; developing theories of change for labs; and practical tools for conducting lab activities such as data mapping and MEL training; developing research and learning agendas; and providing technical assistance on the path to scale with examples from various contexts.