This Week - Global Experts Meet in Bangkok
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GLOBAL EXPERTS MEET IN BANGKOK TO ADDRESS WHAT WORKS TO COMBAT POVERTY
For Immediate Release
Bangkok, August 28, 2012 - More than 250 researchers, policymakers and development practitioners will converge in Bangkok from August 30th - September 1st to share evidence and ideas about what works to combat global poverty. For three days, experts will present results from new studies, sharing them with government officials, other researchers, and NGO leaders. The Impact and Policy Conference: Evidence in Governance, Financial Inclusion, and Entrepreneurship is unique because it not only presents evidence about successes and challenges, but also pairs up researchers with policymakers and organizations that address poverty to develop new ideas and provides funding to the most promising ones.
Speakers will include distinguished government officials, such as S.Y. Quraishi, Former Chief Election Commissioner of India, and Secretary Teresita Quintos-Deles, Presidential Advisor on the Peace Process in the Philippines, as well as researchers from Harvard Business School, Yale University, and other leading organizations. They will address topics ranging from the role of finance, markets, and human capital in fostering entrepreneurship and development; how technology and innovative product design can improve access to financial services; why aid money can fail to make it to the poor; and how publicizing independent audits of elected officials can change election outcomes.
Betty Wilkinson, Lead Financial Sector Specialist of conference host Asian Development Bank said "Financial inclusion, small business development, and good governance are critical for inclusive growth. When rigorous evaluations show us what works, policymakers have evidence they can use in their efforts to reduce poverty.†Annie Duflo, the Executive Director of Innovations for Poverty Action, one of the conference co-organizers, said "We’re very excited to bring top researchers together with those who have on-the-ground knowledge from countries around the world and fund them to test new ideas together.†Pam Flaherty, President & CEO of the Citi Foundation, which is funding research partnerships in the area of financial capability, said "We are pleased to join many of our partners at the Impact and Policy Conference that are working with us to surface, test, and evaluate innovative approaches to build financial capability and promote positive financial behaviors.â€
The Impact and Policy Conference: Evidence in Governance, Financial Inclusion, and Entrepreneurship will take place at the Imperial Queen’s Park Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand from August 30-September 1, 2012, and is jointly sponsored by the Asian Development Bank, Innovations for Poverty Action, Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the Citi Foundation.
Additional information, including the full agenda, can be found at
Follow the conference on Twitter at #PolicyImpact
About Innovations for Poverty Action:
Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) is dedicated to discovering what works to help the world’s poor. Established in 2002, IPA designs and evaluates programs in real contexts with real people, and provides hands-on assistance to bring successful programs to scale. IPA partners with researchers in top universities and implementing organizations around the world to ensure that poverty-fighting activities are supported by the utmost methodological rigor. IPA shares the evidence generated with development practitioners, policymakers and donors, and provides technical assistance and support to governments and non-governmental actors to implement successful programs and bring them to scale around the world. IPA has ongoing research operations in 48 countries across Africa; North and South America; and South and South East Asia. Additional information can be found at www.poverty-action.org.
About the Asian Development Bank:
ADB, based in Manila, is dedicated to reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth and regional integration. Established in 1966, it is owned by 67 members -- 48 from the region. In 2011, ADB approvals including cofinancing totaled $21.7 billion.
About the Citi Foundation:
The Citi Foundation is committed to the economic empowerment and financial inclusion of low- to moderate-income individuals and families in the communities where we work so that they can improve their standard of living. Globally, the Citi Foundation targets its strategic giving to priority focus areas: Microfinance, Enterprise Development, College Success, and Financial Capability and Asset Building. In the United States, the Citi Foundation also supports Neighborhood Revitalization programs. The Citi Foundation works with its partners in Microfinance, Enterprise Development, and Neighborhood Revitalization to support environmental programs and innovations. Additional information can be found at www.citifoundation.com.
About the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab:
The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) is a center within the Economics Department at MIT, with a South Asia regional office at the Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR), Chennai and in Delhi. J-PAL's mission is to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is based on scientific evidence. J-PAL works to achieve this by conducting rigorous impact evaluations, building capacity, and informing policy.
For More Information, Contact
Jeffrey Mosenkis, Innovations for Poverty Action +1-203-772-2216 x240 or here.
August 28, 2012