Pooja Wagh (Financial Inclusion Program Coordinator, IPA) hosted a workshop on “Gathering Rigorous Evidence to Inform Financial Product and Program Design” for practitioners on the use of rigorous evaluations to inform the design and test the effectiveness of financial products and programs.The workshop was part of the 2014 Citi-FT Financial Education Summit, supported by the Citi Foundation and organized in partnership with the Pearson Foundation and the Financial Times.

IPA Bangladesh, BRAC, and WaterAid Bangladesh organized an event titled "Impactful Sanitation Policy" at the BRAC Centre in Dhaka on November 5.The conference featured Mushfiq Mobarak (Yale; Co-chair, J-PAL’s Urban Services Initiative, IPA affiliate) as the keynote presenter, along with Shoraez Shahjahan (Country Director, IPA Bangladesh) and Shamim Ahmed (Head of Policy and Advocacy, WaterAid).Mushfiq shared results from his project, “Bolstering Demand for Sanitation in Bangladesh,” which found that subsidies had a large impact on latrine adoption.

Lucia Sanchez (SME Initiative Director, IPA) traveled to Mexico in November to meet with stakeholders in the SME sector.Her meetings included a conversation with Mexico’s Ministry of Economy, the National Institute of Entrepreneurship (INADEM), and Unidad de Productividad Económica to explore ideas for an evaluation of SME support services provided through the National Entrepreneurship Fund.They also discussed evaluating a new program that provides business funding and training to beneficiaries of the Prospera cash transfer program who have started small businesses.