On December 9 and 10, the Vice-Presidency of the Dominican Republic, the Cabinet for Coordination of Social Policy, the National University of Costa Rica, and Innovations for Poverty Action co-organized the workshop "Impact Evaluation: A Methodological View of the Advances in Social Protection in the Past Decade in the Dominican Republic."

The workshop gathered policymakers in the social protection sector and aimed to encourage policymakers to make use of rigorous evidence in their decision-making and share experiences of the implementation of impact evaluations in the country. 

At the event, Sebastian Chaskel, IPA Country Director for Colombia and the Dominican Republic presented on a panel about the relationship between academic research and policy impact. Research Coordinator Maricha Friedman and Laura Pulecio presented on the Moving Beyond Conditional Cash Transfers and the Conditional Cash Transfers and Commitment Savings Accounts projects that are being implemented in the country.

Professor Catherine Rodriguez from the Universidad de los Andes presented on impact evaluation methodologies, and IPA implemented a case study method to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the various methodologies.

At the event, Rosa María Suarez, Technical Director of the  Cabinet for Coordination of Social Policy, presented on the Dominican Social Protection system, and Professors Arlette Pichardo and Fernando Ramirez from the National University of Costa Rica presented the results of two evaluations that use quasi-experimental methodologies.

This event was supported by the IPA Colombia and Dominican Republic Country Office in fulfillment of its mission to promote evidence-based decision-making in the public and non-profit sectors in the Dominican Republic.