Aishwarya Lakshmi Ratan (Global Financial Inclusion Initiative Director, IPA) participated in a roundtable with leading policymakers, industry representatives, and thought leaders from the public, non-profit, and private sectors to discuss the status and role of standard-setting bodies with respect to financial inclusion.

IPA and J-PAL in collaboration with Instituto de Estudios Avanzados en Desarrollo (INESAD), held a Seminar on November 12 in La Paz, at 18:45pm Salón Real 2 del Hotel Camino Real (C.Capitán Ravelo Nro.2123) under the title: “Improving social programs with evidence in Bolivia”. The first presentation will focused on the importance of using and generating rigorous evidence in public policy.The relevance of causal evidence to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of public policy was discussed as well as, randomized impact evaluations as the most rigorous methodology to generate evidence on the impact of social programs.

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.