Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL)

#DEDP master’s alumni pursue roles within research, policy, and implementing organizations—but their work shares a common goal of tackling poverty using evidence-based approaches. Hear about what DEDP master's alumni Tomáš Dulka, Helena Wajnman, and Chuka Dean E. have accomplished since graduating: https://lnkd.in/eEbK6PJk Learn more about their career trajectories in our alumni spotlight: https://j-p.al/8c7

📢 Aditi Namdeo, our Director of Strategic Initiatives, took part in a lively discussion on "IndiaAI: Real World AI Solutions" at the Global IndiaAI Summit hosted by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) in New Delhi on July 3-4, 2024. Namdeo emphasized the role of the government in jointly developing a socio-technical framework. She also stressed the need for AI collaborations, bringing together developers, tech giants, policymakers, donors, and evaluators under one roof. The summit is a part of the Government of India’s efforts to create and advance the responsible development, deployment, and adoption of inclusive AI systems. The panel also hosted Jayesh Ranjan, Special Chief Secretary, Government of Telangana, Sanket S Bhondve, Joint Secretary, MeitY, Alpan Raval, Chief ML Scientist, Wadhwani AI; Amrita Mahale, Head of Product, ARMAAN; Vishal Sunil, CTO of Rocket Learning; Vivek Raghavan, Co-Founder, Sarvam AI; Manu Chopra, CEO, Karya; Priya Nagpurkar, Vice President, Hybrid Cloud and AI Platform, IBM Research and Srujana Merugu, Principal Scientist, Amazon.

⚽ Yesterday was a big day for soccer worldwide. Did you know playing soccer has helped people in post-conflict settings strengthen ties between groups? Learn about Salma Mousa's research in #Iraq as we unpack the evidence ⬇️ https://bit.ly/4bIzKlM

“Hi Dr Duflo! In your Nobel speech, you said that you want to make everyone understand poverty. Do these books do that?” In a room full of authors, academics, and artists, a young boy in round green plastic spectacles asked what Nobel Laureate Esther Duflo declared the “best question of the evening.” “Children are natural social scientists,” Duflo said as she delved into her motivation for writing ‘Poor Economics for Kids,’ a series of picture books that tells the story of Nilou and her friends. These stories – the daily lives of these children – are the lived experience of millions around the world.  Developed with Cheyenne Olivier, an award-winning illustrator, Duflo gently introduces children to the multidimensional realities of poverty and inequality with empathy and a touch of magic. Adults will enjoy these books as much as the kids will! In a rich visual reimagination of the world, the authors infuse the universal feeling of childhood into a succinct exploration of global poverty. The books series break stereotypes to elegantly illustrate themes such as education, health, nutrition, and migration, among others. The books are published in English as an anthology by Juggernaut Books and in Bengali, Hindi, Kannada, Tamil, and Marathi by Pratham Books. Duflo and Olivier launched the book series in packed auditoriums in Kolkata, Bengaluru, and Delhi on the 8th, 10th, and 11th of July in a series of panel discussions, moderated by Abhijit Banerjee, Roopa Pai, and Paro Anand respectively. The questions asked by curious attendees, both adults and children, to Duflo and Olivier were stunningly expansive in their range: from using AI to combat poverty, to the artistic inspiration behind the illustrations, to the technical innovations required to publish high-quality books at a relatively low price. Children were particularly impressive with their thoughtful questions on some of the biggest issues of our times. “Making people empathize with the struggles of those experiencing poverty is a lifelong journey,” said Dr Duflo, as she mused upon the decades of research and travel that she consolidated to develop these playful – and profound –  stories. Read more about the book series in The Telegraph: https://lnkd.in/gpyKTuW9 Pictures by The French Institute / IFI (Institut français India) and J-PAL South Asia

🎓 Alumni of the #DEDP master's program at Massachusetts Institute of Technology pursue many paths to shape the future of evidence-based policymaking. Learn how two alumni, Nouf Abushehab and Brian Daza, are combining their passion for research with a commitment to alleviate poverty by pursuing PhDs: https://j-p.al/12b

We had a fantastic week hosting our annual Evaluating Social Programs training! Alongside J-PAL North America, we welcomed participants from across the globe to dive deep into how to rigorously measure social impact. Explore our other course offerings: https://bit.ly/3RPoi0v

As of 2020, approximately 2 billion people worldwide still do not have access to safely managed drinking water. In our newest Policy Insight, we reviewed the evidence from eight randomized evaluations across six countries of interventions to increase the adoption of proven point-of-use (POU) and point-of-collection (POC) clean water strategies. 💧 Key takeaway: Providing POU and POC water treatment devices and products for free increases the share of households drinking chlorinated water. However, many households still do not use chlorine regularly even when it is free. In some cases, combining subsidies with nudges can increase usage. 💧 Key takeaway: Targeting subsidies for POU products to the households most likely to use them can reduce wastage and further increase the cost-effectiveness of delivering fully-subsidized chlorine. 📖 Read the Policy Insight to learn more: https://bit.ly/3W85BI1

It was great to celebrate the graduates from the #DEDP master's program with Massachusetts Institute of Technology economics faculty, J-PAL staff, and alumni from all 5 cohorts of the program earlier this month! 🎓 🏛️ Learn about the master's program: https://bit.ly/3yUhXtQ

This past Monday, our team participated in the "Inclusion Policy Lab: Scientific Evidence at the Service of People" event, hosted by Ministerio de Inclusión, Seguridad Social y Migraciones: https://lnkd.in/edDMYg7G The event, held in Madrid, disseminated the results of pilot social inclusion programmes evaluated by Spain’s novel Inclusion Policy Lab. Minister Elma Saiz Delgado, Secretary-General for Inclusion Monica Martinez Bravo, and Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) co-founder and Nobel Laureate Abhijit Banerjee were among the event’s speakers. Researchers and implementing partners who had collaborated with the Lab also gave firsthand accounts of what this large scale evaluation effort looked like concretely on the ground. The Inclusion Policy Lab, established in 2021, aims to rigorously evaluate pilot social inclusion programmes supporting the poverty alleviation effects Spain’s national minimum income scheme. In collaboration with CEMFI, J-PAL Europe has contributed to 32 randomised evaluations of such programmes addressing various aspects of social inclusion, such as academic tutoring for students at risk of social exclusion, personalised jobseeker support, and measures to increase the uptake of social benefits. Learn more about the Lab here: https://lnkd.in/dS9gXmTV J-PAL provided technical support to the Ministry, ensuring adherence to rigorous scientific standards, and promoted the uptake of lessons learned from these evaluations into the social policymaking process. CEMFI coordinated a group of 18 international researchers and assisted with programme design, implementation, and evaluation. This collaborative effort underscores our commitment to ensure that policies aiming to promote social inclusion in Europe are informed by rigorous evidence, and we look forward to continuing this collaborative work. To learn more about these efforts visit our website: https://lnkd.in/eRJqpZwJ

The third and final day of the PSE-CEPR Policy Forum focuses on Global Poverty. It started with an introduction by Abhijit Banerjee (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, CEPR - Centre for Economic Policy Research) on the speakers and today's programme. The conference was then followed by new presentations of research papers by guest speakers and PhD students. Topics included : ➡️ Social Protection: Evidence from Indonesia, by Rema Hanna (Harvard Kennedy School, CEPR) ➡️ Unconditional Cash Transfers: A Bayesian Meta-Analysis of Randomized Evaluations in Low and Middle Income Countries, by Dean Karlan (Northwestern University, USAID, CEPR) ➡️ Should cash transfers be universal, basic, or income?, by Paul Niehaus (UC San Diego) #PSE #CEPR #PSECEPRPolicyForum