J-PAL LAC Government Partnerships Expansion in Brazil and Mexico

Due to their capacity to reach millions of persons, governments are primarily responsible for providing services in most low-and middle-income countries. However, significant gaps in the effectiveness of social spending persist despite increases in available evidence and data that can offer insights into how to fight against poverty and gender inequality. Therefore, building a culture of evidence-based decision-making is particularly relevant to improve people’s lives

As part of a global effort to support governments in laying the groundwork to take evidence-informed policies and programs to scale, J-PAL LAC aims to help policymakers in Brazil and Mexico overcome institutional barriers and disincentives to engage with evidence and data meaningfully through the Government Partnership Expansion.

The first stage of the  Government Partnership Expansion consisted of a selection process to identify government institutions interested in incorporating the use of evidence into their work. Through the partnerships, government organizations strengthen their capacities to generate and use evidence and data while incentivizing evidence-based policymaking to reduce gender inequality.

Selected governments establish a partnership agreement with J-PAL LAC and academics from the J-PAL network that might include several activities. The following are examples of the type of activities that a partnership could have:

Types of activities that a government partnership could have

 

The selected partnerships receive available resources from the J-PAL LAC team in terms of time of existing staff allocated to the development of the selected activities or hire, onboarding and supervising temporary staff for specific responsibilities in the partnership plan.

ONE EXAMPLE OF OUR GOVERNMENT PARTNERSHIPS

Since 2020, Mexico City Women's Secretariat (SEMUJERES) and J-PAL LAC have run a collaborative effort to design and pilot an intervention to reduce intimate partner violence and prevent femicide. J-PAL affiliated professors Gustavo Bobonis (University of Toronto), Manishah Shah (UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs), and Claudio Ferraz (University of British Columbia and PUC Rio) work closely with embedded staff to run a pilot of a gender norms change program.

This collaboration has made progress in institutionalizing an evidence-based policymaking culture among SEMUJERES' civil servants. For example, based on an extensive review of evaluations done in other countries, SEMUJERES modified the 2022 operational rules of the conditional cash transfer program “Bienestar para las Mujeres en Situación de Violencia" (Wellbeing for Women Experiencing Violence). Likewise, SEMUJERES designed baseline and end surveys to start retrieving administrative records to understand the effect of conditional cash transfers on women's wellbeing. These surveys were based on J-PAL's research resource, A Practical Guide to Measuring Women's and Girls' Empowerment in Impact Evaluations.

Finally, J-PAL LAC carried out a seven-day gender lens training for SEMUJERES staff focused on building capacities through understanding what randomized impact evaluations are and how they are designed and used. In addition, during the training, participants reviewed the Theory of Change methodology and the operationalization of instruments for measuring complex concepts, such as empowerment.

Learn more about our other government partnerships>>

WORKING WITH J-PAL

The path for implementing new government partnerships

J-PAL LAC has a standard process for building governmental partnerships with organizations at the federal, state, and municipal levels in Brazil and Mexico. Each partnership is different, but usually includes technical support (we typically call it technical assistance) and connections to J-PAL's network of researchers to develop one or more evaluation ideas around issues relevant to public policies.

Mexican Partnerships

J-PAL LAC announced the start of the Government Partnership Expansion project in Mexico in a webinar to more than fifty governmental organizations with potential interest in joining J-PAL LAC partners. After a six-month selection and outreach process, the Decision Committee for Mexico chose three ministries and public institutes to establish partnerships. The Government Partnerships team is formalizing those alliances (further details will be forthcoming soon). 

We are also deepening our existing partnership with the Secretariat of Women of Mexico City, with whom we will implement a pilot program based on rigorous evidence.

Brazilian Partnerships

In Brazil, the presentation of the Government Partnerships Expansion project took place in April 2023. The introductory training had the participation of almost ninety representatives from nineteen governmental institutions at the three federal levels. After this phase, individual conversations were conducted with each of the institutions interested in developing partnerships, and together with the Brazilian Decision Committee, we have identified seven potential institutions. More details will be released soon.

Founding partners:
Community Jameel
Co-Impact
Brazilian regional partners:
Tide Setubal Foundation logo and Vale logo