2018 PEP annual conference - India
The 2018 PEP Annual Conference was held June 7-13 in Bangalore, India. The event brought together 125 researchers, practitioners, international experts, representatives of donor and international organizations, and policy actors from 43 countries for a highly successful event.
As PEP’s second Annual Conference under the second phase of the Policy Analysis on Growth and Employment initiative (PAGE II), research teams at different project stages participated to present their progress, findings, or new proposals. PEP Resource Persons, staff and experts provided intensive training sessions tailored to the methodologies being used and to the different project stages. The conference concluded with a high-level Policy Forum on the theme "Women, Children and Climate Change: Designing an economic policy research agenda".
Find out more about the event’s objectives and activities below, and in the souvenir program.
Presentations of ongoing research projects & new proposals
Through the second phase of the PAGE II initiative, PEP is supporting projects led by local researchers in more than 30 developing countries. These projects aim to provide analysis of policy issues related to growth and/or employment using one of the four methodologies applied in PEP research.
The 29 teams currently being supported under the first round of PAGE II were invited to present reports on the progress and findings of their research work conducted over the past year (2017-2018). A further 21 research teams, shortlisted for the second round of PAGE II, were invited to send two representatives to present their research proposals prior to final selection. All the teams discussed their presentations with an audience of their peers and PEP-affiliated international experts. These sessions provided valuable feedback to the teams to improve their reports or proposals.
Technical training sessions
A key part of PEP’s mission is to build and improve the technical knowledge and ability of developing country researchers. As well as gathering researchers for project presentations, PEP also provided a series of intensive training workshops on the different research methods, techniques, and tools that funded researchers use in their projects.
During these sessions, the researchers who were invited to present new proposals received advanced technical training on how to apply cutting-edge research methods and analytical tools for microeconomic analysis and macro-micro policy simulation. The workshops included theory and practical work, guided by PEP Resource Persons and experts in the methodologies being taught. Meanwhile, the workshops for researchers using the CBMS methodology included monitoring the sustainable development goals and poverty mapping, reflecting the teams’ progress. All workshops included innovations fostered through the experience of PEP-supported research and initiatives.
To complement the scientific training and ensure the outreach of PEP research findings, PEP provides attending researchers with intensive (one-day) workshops reviewing best practices for policy outreach and communications to be integrated into the research projects. During these workshops, PEP's Communications and M&E staff discuss key guidelines and practical tips to help 1) shortlisted grant applicants prepare their policy engagement strategy, and 2) grantees with concluding projects prepare the effective dissemination and communication of their findings.
Finally, PEP Resource Person Professor Bruno Larue conducted a scientific writing workshop (for all attending researchers) providing practical advice on writing a paper and getting it published in peer-reviewed journals.
2018 Best Practice Awards
The PEP Best Practice Awards reward PEP-supported project teams who have made outstanding efforts to engage and link their research with policy and decision-making at home, while pursuing the highest standards in terms of scientific and technical quality.
This year, prizes were awarded to the highest-achieving team in each of the two research groups that have reached the final stage of their research cycle.
- The 2018 PEP Best Practice Award for the macro-micro policy modelling group was presented to Wamadini dite Minata Souratié, Farida Koinda, and Rasmata Samandoulougou from Burkina Faso, for their project examining the impacts of “Agricultural policies on women’s employment and income”.
- The 2018 PEP Best Practice Award for the microeconomic analysis group was presented to Yesuf M. Awel, Jonse Bane Boka, Hiywot Menker, Ajebush Shafi, Eleni A. Yitbarek, and Mulatu Zerihun, for their project providing evidence from urban Ethiopia on “Financial inclusion, gender disparity in risk appetite, and micro and small enterprise performance”.
2018 PEP policy conference
Women, children and climate change: Designing an economic policy research agenda
On June 13, PEP hosted a high-level policy forum to conclude the 2018 PEP Annual Conference. More than 130 people from 43 countries attended, including researchers, international experts, stakeholders, donors, and decision makers, to define priority issues for an effective and inclusive policy research agenda on “women, children and climate change”.
The discussions concentrated on how children and women in developing countries are affected by and respond to climate change effects, as well as the policy needs and perspectives that researchers should understand before engaging in related studies.
The event featured panel discussions focusing on Children and Climate Change, and on Women and Climate Change. The expert panellists provided an overview of the importance of policy research and policy action on these topics as well as highlighting key knowledge gaps. Following each panel discussion, a breakout session of table discussions organised by research methodology gave the audience an opportunity to review and propose research solutions to the highlighted knowledge gaps.
Read about the outcomes from the 2018 PEP Policy Forum or download the full Policy Forum report (PDF).
The 2018 PEP Annual Conference was held at the Chancery Pavilion in Bangalore and organized thanks to support from the UK Department for International Development (DFID, or UK Aid) and Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC).
