Investing in social cohesion can play a critical role in improving the effectiveness of development and humanitarian programs. This is particularly true in the current context, characterized by a range of ongoing crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and the global economic slowdown, which are exacerbating social fragmentation, fueling tensions within and between individuals from a diversity of communities, and weakening social contracts. 

On December 5, IPA, The World Bank, and Mercy Corps organized a conference on social cohesion. The goal was to disseminate evidence and lessons learned on strategies to measure and reinforce social cohesion while highlighting operational implications for policymakers and practitioners.

Watch the full conference here.
 

Session 1: Strengthening Social Cohesion - Welcome and Overview 
 

During the first part of this all-day event, practitioners, researchers, and policymakers presented evidence about the strategies that have shown promise in strengthening social cohesion, and the measurement approaches they have been using to track progress.

Session 2: Learning from Social Cohesion Innovators: Promising Practices for Operations and Programming 
 

Session 3: Yes, You Can Measure Social Cohesion! Strategies for Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning 
 

During the second part, panelists and participants collectively reflected on these insights' operational and programming implications, and articulated priorities that could guide future programming and learning.

Session 4: The Frontiers of Social Cohesion Measurement  
 

Session 5: Filling Evidence Gaps and Advancing Learning on Social Cohesion 
 

Conference organizers closed the conference with reflections and remarks, highlighting major themes and lessons from the day and directions for future collaboration between implementers, researchers, and policymakers.

Session 6: Bridging the Gaps Between Theory, Evidence, and Practice