From March 20-22, the Zambian Ministry of Health, with support from USAID, DFID, and the Population Council, convened the first national Evidence for Impact research symposium.​ The theme of this year’s symposium was “Translating Research into Gains in Primary and Community Health in Zambia.” The focus of the symposium was on reproductive, maternal and newborn, child, and adolescent health and nutrition services (RMNCAH-N) in primary care and community settings.

On March 19, The Harvard Humanitarian Initiative team, represented by Dr.Vandana Sharm and Rebecca Hemono; and the IPA Myanmar team, represented by Alexander Fertig and Thein Zaw Oo; hosted a workshop for the validation of the preliminary results of external evaluation of the multi-country Disaster and Emergency Preparedness Program (DEPP) with the implementing partners and other relevant stakeholders.The presentation included findings from the different countries where evaluations took place but focused the discussion on Myanmar.IPA Myanmar was in charge of the evaluation, conducting two surveys, each having two rounds of data collection.

On Friday, March 16, 2018, the Ministry of Development and Social Inclusion (MIDIS), held their first workshop for the AYNI Lab Social (AYNI Lab), a new social innovation lab focused on solutions that are cost-effective, evidence-based, and scale-able.IPA and J-PAL LAC have partnered with MIDIS to form AYNI Lab and are developing the Lab’s capacity to conduct randomized evaluations and impact evaluations and designing a protocol for data management.AYNI Lab aims to promote innovation and rigorous evaluation in public policy. The workshop featured proposals to improve economic inclusion in urban, rural, and Amazonian regions.