Location: Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

On March 23, 2023, IPA Francophone West Africa and the Ministry of National Education and Literacy of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the co-construction of an embedded evidence laboratory for Education (Ed lab), located within the Ministry.

The Ed lab is made up of a mix of IPAs and Ministry staff, working together within the Ministry to implement activities aimed at strengthening the use and value of evidence. It aims to be an innovative framework for creating and using evidence to design, test, and upscale evidence-based education policies in line with the recommendations and reforms of the Etats Généraux de l'Education Nationale. The Ed lab's work plan includes diagnosing the M&E System and mapping existing data, building the Ministry's capacity in effective M&E tools and systems, conducting capacity transfer workshops, as well as providing ongoing technical assistance in the use of evidence for effective educational policies and programs.

The formalization of the partnership between IPA and the Ministry is the result of a long collaboration dating back to 2016. It has not only helped IPA to have a good understanding of the education ecosystem in Côte d'Ivoire but also to identify the priorities of public decision-makers.

As part of this collaboration, IPA has generated evidence for the education sector in Côte d'Ivoire to inform programs. These include the research projects on encouraging parents to be involved in their children's education via SMS and the process evaluation combined with research as part of the Transforming Education in Cocoa Communities of Côte d'Ivoire initiative.

The use of evidence in decision-making is a national priority in the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire. The government voted on a bill (article in French) on the evaluation of public policies, which was adopted by the parliament on December 14, 2022. This law aims at institutionalizing evaluation to strengthen the culture of transparency and accountability within the public administration, in order to ensure the efficacy of public action.

Useful links:

• (in English) IPA Francophone West Africa and Côte d’Ivoire's Ministry of Planning and Development Hold Joint Conference
• (in French) Évaluation des politiques publiques sur la protection sociale : Un atelier initie pour renforcer les capacites des acteurs (in French)
• (in French) Evaluation des politiques publiques : un atelier pour renforcer les capacités des acteurs / protection sociale