Translating Emerging Evidence for Impact

Wednesday | February 21, 2024 | 9AM GMT+1

According to Nigeria’s 2022 Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), about 63 percent of Nigerians (133 million people) experience poverty when factors such as employment instability, access to education, living conditions, and health are taken into account. These statistics highlight that the work of poverty alleviation requires an intersectional approach to both financial and social inclusion.

As part of IPA’s work of evidence-based generation, IPA Nigeria hosted the Nigeria Evidence Summit on Wednesday, February 21, 2024, in Abuja. This event served as a platform to share and discuss robust evidence that can inform the policies and programs of the current administration in social protection, education, and financial inclusion. Through this summit, IPA shared the latest research findings and evidence with policymakers and decision-makers in Nigeria to showcase effective approaches as a first step toward supporting the new administration with high-quality data and evidence in priority sectors.

Topics

• Social Protection: Cash transfers and assets for women’s economic empowerment, Graduation programming, Youth employment - Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and apprenticeship models.
• Education: The role of households in supporting early childhood education, Intersection between women’s economic empowerment and childcare.
• Financial Inclusion: Financial products (gender-responsive) such as savings, insurance, mobile money, and microcredit.
• Consumer Protection: Enhancing trust and confidence in financial services & Women's economic empowerment.

The Evidence Summit opened with a welcome address by Funmilayo Ayeni (Country Director for IPA Nigeria) and an introduction to IPA by Claudia Casarotto (Chief Global Programs Officer for IPA), followed by opening remarks by Prof. Fatima Waziri – Azi, Ph.D., the Director General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP). Attendees then participated in sessions on financial inclusion, education, and social protection, which included evidence presentations on each topic; moderated discussions on the applications of the evidence to policy and practice; and an interactive Q&A. The Evidence Summit then concluded with remarks by Emeka Eluemunor (Regional Director for IPA West Africa). The event received local media coverage from The Exodus News and TV360 Nigeria.

IPA Nigeria was established in 2019 in response to growing local demand for evidence. IPA is working with the Central Bank of Nigeria to protect consumers from financial risk. We also support the Nigerian government to reduce human trafficking by working with NAPTIP to develop and deliver more effective, evidence-based policies and programs to combat sex trafficking. To gain further insights about our research and policy impact, please visit IPA Nigeria’s page.

For more information on this event, please email info-nigeria@poverty-action.org with the subject 'Nigeria Evidence Summit'.