IPA Looking Ahead in 2026: A Letter from Our Executive Director, Annie Duflo

Dear Friends,

As we conclude our 2025 Strategic Ambition, IPA’s core commitment remains unwavering: to create a world with more evidence and less poverty. Looking ahead, we are doubling down on our work with and in service of LMIC governments. These partnerships with governments, while not the only ones, will play a key role in advancing IPA’s three impact pathways: 1) scaling evidence-based approaches; 2) creating lasting systems change; and 3) building an evidence pipeline. To bolster our impact and that of others, we are also integrating data science and engineering into our research agendas and into our core capacities and services, innovating research methods to answer a wider range of questions better, faster, and cheaper, and putting existing data into wider use.

MOVING EVIDENCE TO POLICY

Embedded Labs Impact on CBN Agent Banking Guidelines

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Embedded Evidence Lab plays a key role in strengthening data- and evidence-based consumer protection and financial inclusion policy. Embedded within the CBN’s Consumer Protection Department, its systematic analysis of consumer complaints—especially the growing volume of grievances linked to agent banking operations—contributed to strengthening an understanding of operational risks, service gaps, and patterns of consumer harm. These findings contributed to CBN’s recent revision of the Guidelines for Agent Banking and Agent Banking Relationships in Nigeria, including shaping the content of those revisions to ensure that the updated guidelines effectively address the real challenges consumers face in the rapidly expanding agent banking ecosystem.

Promoting Healthy Parenting Practices to Reduce Violence Against Children: Evidence From Jamaica

In collaboration with the World Bank and the Jamaica Early Childhood Commission, researchers Helen Baker-Henningham, Lelys Dinarte-Diaz, Shawn Powers, Saravana Ravindran, and Manisha Shah conducted a randomized evaluation in Jamaica to measure whether a virtual program for caregivers promoting healthy parenting practices reduced violence against young children in the short and medium term. Results revealed that the program improved caregivers' attitudes toward violence against children, disciplining behavior, and emotional well-being, while their children had fewer emotional problems. Results overall suggest that virtual programs can be a low-cost and scalable method to strengthen caregiver-child relationships in contexts with elevated levels of violence against children.

Work with IPA 

Featured Job Opportunities

Grants Manager
Provide grants and contracts support and oversight to an assigned portfolio of country offices from pre-award through close-out
​​​
Financial Reporting Officer
Provide strategic and technical support to country offices on grant budgeting, financial management, and donor financial reporting

Program Coordinator, Peace & Recovery
Support IPA’s Peace and Recovery Program (P&R) with administrative coordination and communications, with opportunities for growth within the program