This one-day conference marked the launch of J-PAL’s regional office for Africa at the University of Cape Town in South Africa.

Conference on Lessons Learned from Scientific Evaluations in Africa
by the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL)
Cape Town, South Africa • 17 January 2011

This one-day conference marked the launch of J-PAL’s regional office for Africa at the University of Cape Town in South Africa and brought together more than 120 researchers, policymaker and development practitioners from 23 countries across Africa to present and discuss findings from rigorous evaluations of social programmes and their practical applications to pressing social problems in Africa. During the conference, researchers presented results from randomized evaluations in six panels, paired with the policymakers and practitioners who implemented the projects. The evaluations covered educational quality, youth programs, and health service delivery.

With more than 70 evaluations in 17 African countries, J-PAL affiliates have already been focused on Africa, and the establishment of a regional office will support increased work in capacity building, policy outreach, and locally-rooted research.

Launch Dinner 16 January, 2011
Trevor Manuel, Minister in the Presidency, South Africa, provided a keynote address at the opening launch dinner. Read his speech here.

View the J-PAL Africa Launch Book below:
Conference Book

View press coverage of the event here.

View the entire Conference Programme and individual presentations below:

Conference Programme

School-Based Deworming: A Best Buy for Education
• Panel Chair: Karen Levy, Senior Director at IPA and Regional Director, Africa at Deworm the World
• Researcher: Sarah Baird, Assistant Professor of Global Health, George Washington University, USA
• Practitioner: Margaret Ndanyi, Head of School Health and Nutrition, Government of Kenya

Youth and Social Cohesion
• Panel Chair: Lawrence Edwards, Associate Professor, School of Economics, UCT
• Researcher: Bruno Crépon, Associate Professor, ENSAE and École Polytechnique, France
• Practitioner: Martin Hirsch, President, L’Agence du Service Civique, France

Menstruation Cups: Reducing Barriers to Girls’ Education?
• Panel Chair: Johan Muller, Deputy Dean: Research, Director of the Graduate School in Humanities, UCT
• Researcher: Rebecca Thornton, Assistant Professor of Economics, University of Michigan, USA

Back to Basics: Remedial Education
• Panel Chair: Ursula Hoadley, Senior Lecturer, School of Education, UCT
• Researcher: Annie Duflo, Research Director, Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), USA
• Practitioner: Rukmini Banerji, Director of Programmes, Pratham, India
• Practitioner: Stephen Adu, Deputy Director General, Ghana Education Service

Showing up is the First Step: Improving Service Provider Attendance
• Panel Chair: Clara Delavallade, Senior Lecturer, School of Economics, UCT
• Researcher: Martina Björkman Nyquiest, Assistant Professor of Economics, Bocconi University, Italy
• Practitioner: Frances Nsonzi, Independent consultant, Uganda

No Margin, No Mission? Motivating Community-Based Health Service Delivery
• Panel Chair: Murray Leibbrandt, Director of SALDRU and Professor, Department of Economics, UCT
• Researcher: Nava Ashraf, Associate Professor, Harvard Business School, USA
• Practitioner: Mannasseh Phiri, Executive Director, Society for Family Health (SFH), Zambia

Concluding Remarks
• Panel Chair: Kamilla Gumede, Executive Director, J-PAL Africa
• Abhijit Banerjee, Ford Foundation International Professor of Economics, MIT, USA
• Esther Duflo, Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics, MIT, USA