Blog

Cape Town’s 2017 water crisis prompted the City government to look at its data differently. Behind the millions of meter readings and billing records lay unanswered questions: How successful were the water conservation efforts across different areas in Cape Town? What does equitable water pricing...

Artificial intelligence promises to help governments meet challenges and deliver better for citizens. AI tools could be leveraged at multiple points in the public financial management cycle—from collecting revenue through taxation, to spending those revenues on public services. They could also make...

High-quality early childhood education is essential. Randomized evaluations show that simple, low-cost activities, like reading, singing, and playing, can boost children’s cognitive, language, social, and motor skills. How can we deliver high-quality preschool education at scale?

En Belém, Brasil, donde confluyen los ríos de la Amazonía y los bosques ayudan a regular la temperatura del planeta, la COP30 del mes pasado fue una cumbre singular y un llamado claro a la acción. El cambio climático no es solo una crisis ambiental, sino también una crisis de desarrollo: las...

In October 2025, Cape Town hosted the CGIAR Gender in Food, Land, and Water Systems Conference, bringing together researchers, policymakers, and donors to chart actions for closing gender gaps in agriculture. J-PAL staff attended and presented in one of the key plenaries over the three days.

AI has the potential to improve access to and quality of health care. However, evidence on the real-world impacts of AI solutions on providers and patients is scarce. Closing these evidence gaps is key to ensuring policymakers can responsibly scale AI that supports healthcare workers and patients.

¿Pueden los programas de capacitación empresarial ayudar a que los microemprendedores rurales prosperen? Una nueva evaluación de Trafkintunkimun, un programa de formación para emprendimientos rurales en el sur de Chile, muestra que los participantes mejoraron sus prácticas de negocio y los ingresos...

On October 8, J-PAL Southeast Asia hosted a workshop gathering several of Indonesia’s zakat management organizations (Organisasi Pengelola Zakat or OPZ) to explore how zakat, faith-based charitable funds, can further support poverty alleviation through the Graduation approach. In this blog we...