{{Aimed at building on the country’s development success, Rwanda is partnering with policy innovators from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).}}
Researchers and academics from The Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), based at MIT, will join Rwandan policy makers at a Decision Science Symposium on Tuesday, May 21, 2013.
Jointly, they will discuss best practice policy evaluation tools and draw on research undertaken by J-PAL in 21 countries across Africa, including Rwanda. J-PAL’s network of academics will share experiences and insights across health, education and agriculture.
“There is potential for us to learn from the rigorous impact evaluations that have been conducted not only in Rwanda but also in other East African countries and around the world,” said Amb. Claver Gatete, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning.
“In our mission to become a knowledge-based middle-income country by 2020, we need to embrace innovation, and adopt new ideas with the proven capacity to advance our economy and improve people’s lives.”
Dr. Rachel Glennerster, Executive Director of J-PAL at MIT said, “We are very excited by the strong commitment of the Rwandan government for evidence based policy and are delighted to be working with Rwanda on applying lessons from rigorous impact evaluations.
Rwanda is already implementing many of the proven programs we recommend, and it is encouraging to see this level of enthusiasm for expanding an evidence-based approach to policy.”
{{The Decision Science Symposium}}
The Decision Science Symposium will be held at Serena Hotel, Kigali on Tuesday May 21, 2013 and will begin at 9am. Amb. Claver Gatete, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning will open the event.
This will be followed by a presentation from Dr. Rachel Glennerster, Executive Director of J-PAL Global.
Dr. Lamin Manneh, Resident Coordinator of the UNDP will moderate a panel on health and education with the Minister of Education, Dr. Vincent Biruta and the Minister of State in Charge of Health, Dr. Anita Asiimwe.
A second panel on the use of agricultural technologies will be moderated by World Bank Country Manager, Ms. Carolyn Turk with Dr. Agnes M. Kalibata, Minister of Agriculture and CEO of Business Development Fund, Mr. Innocent Bulindi.
The symposium will be followed by a second day of meetings hosted at the Ministries of Agriculture and Animal Resources, Education, and Health. Each ministry will lead a discussion with J-PAL members on how evidence from their randomised evaluations research can be used to improve the impact of government policies and programs and speed up Rwanda’s development.
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