Independent research & practical ideas for global prosperity

Rigorous Evidence: Key to Progress Against World Poverty?

Oct 29, 2008

The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), established by Congress in 2004 to administer a major new U.S. development assistance effort, has undertaken a concerted strategy to address this evaluation gap, sponsoring rigorous independent evaluations of its funded projects so as to build scientifically-valid evidence about "what works." On October 29, the nonprofit, nonpartisan Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy, in collaboration with MCC, will host a forum with leaders of the development policy and research community on MCC's evidence-based approach. The forum's purpose is (i) to discuss the approach, including some initial results and MCC's new web-based effort to make the results public in a transparent and timely way; (ii) to explore whether the MCC approach can help spark rapid, evidence-driven progress in development assistance, similar to that which has transformed other fields such as medicine and U.S. welfare policy; and (iii) to seek input and suggestions on the approach from forum participants.

The forum will feature the following speakers:
Franck Wiebe, Chief Economist, Millennium Challenge Corporation
Mark Lopes, Senior Policy Advisor to Senator Menendez (Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on International Development and Foreign Assistance)
Dan Levy, Lecturer in Public Policy, Harvard's Kennedy School of Government
Ruth Levine, Vice President for Programs and Operations, and Senior Fellow, Center for Global Development
Ron Haskins, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution
Rachel Glennerster, Executive Director, Poverty Action Lab at M.I.T.
Jon Baron, Executive Director, Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy

Wednesday, October 29, 2008
12:00p.m.--3:00 p.m.
Lunch will be provided

at
Council for Excellence in Government
1301 K Street, NW, Suite 450 West, Washington DC

We ask that you RSVP by October 24.
Space is limited. If you have questions, please contact Leslie McElligott.

Click here for additional background on the event, including the agenda.