News

The 2020-21 edition of Improving Lives Through Evidence is published.

The Jobs and Opportunity Initiative is launched in Brazil (JOI Brazil) to evaluate innovative strategies that address the country’s most pressing employment challenges. 

J-PAL South Asia launches the Indian Scholars Program to strengthen ties with India-based researchers. 

The second cohort of thirteen Master's in Data, Economics, and Development Policy (subsequently renamed Data, Economics, and Design of Policy) students arrive safely at MIT.

The Digital Agricultural Innovations and Services Initiative, a partnership between J-PAL and CEGA, is launched to support innovative, policy-relevant research on the availability, quality, and reach of bundled digital agricultural solutions and services for small-scale agricultural producers. 

J-PAL continues to respond to Covid-19.

J-PAL's research network grows to include 261 affiliated professors and 274 invited researchers.

The 2021-22 edition of Improving Lives Through Evidence: Trusted Partnerships for Growth is published, outlining key achievements and priorities for the coming year.

J-PAL launches its eleventh sector, Social Protection, and an accompanying Social Protection Initiative to generate rigorous evidence on the effectiveness of social protection programs and to help partners apply evidence to decision-making. The new sector and initiative are chaired by Benjamin Olken (MIT) and Rema Hanna (Harvard). 

In partnership with Egypt's Ministry of Planning and Economic Development, J-PAL MENA launches the Egypt Impact Lab to strengthen the effectiveness of Egypt’s poverty alleviation policies through rigorous evaluation and innovation.

J-PAL South Asia launches the Alliance for Scaling Policy Impact through Research and Evidence (ASPIRE) to strengthen the culture of evidence-based policymaking in India.

Community Jameel and Co-Impact Lab announce a landmark partnership for J-PAL’s expanded Evidence to Policy work, with a particular focus in Africa, LAC, MENA, and South Asia. 

J-PAL's research network grows to include 294 affiliated professors and 424 invited researchers.

J-PAL celebrates its twentieth anniversary. 

The 2023 edition of Improving Lives through Evidence is published.

J-PAL launches the Learning for All Initiative to generate evidence to identify education solutions for parents, schools, and governments.

J-PAL Europe launches the Displaced Livelihoods Initiative to help advance sustainable livelihoods for displaced and host communities.

J-PAL renames the MicroMasters® Program in Data, Economics, and Development Policy to the MicroMasters® Program in Data, Economics, and Design of Policy (DEDP) to reflect the expanded curriculum, which includes a Public Policy Track.

J-PAL South Asia launches the Solutions and Advancements through Research for Water and Air (SARWA) to increase access to clean air and water for millions of Indians.

J-PAL partners with University Mohammed VI Polytechnic (UM6P) and forms the UM6P-J-PAL Agricultural Lab for Africa (UJALA) to design and implement rigorous impact evaluations of policies and programs that improve food security in sub-Saharan Africa. 

J-PAL's research network grows to include 324 affiliated professors and 632 invited researchers.

The 2023-24 edition of Improving Lives Through Evidence is published, outlining key achievements and priorities for the coming year.

J-PAL Europe launches the Humanitarian Protection Initiative to help improve the protection of conflict-affected populations.

J-PAL Africa, the City of Cape Town, and Community Jameel launch the Water, Air, and Energy (WAE) Lab to to generate evidence-based solutions aimed at improving access to clean air, water, and reliable energy for Capetonians.

J-PAL's research network grows to include 359 affiliated professors and 667 invited researchers.

J-PAL publishes the 2024-25 edition of Improving Lives through Evidence, outlining key achievements and priorities for the coming year.

Global Executive Director Iqbal Dhaliwal reflects on the end of USAID and the many collaborations between USAID, J-PAL, and members of our research network to pilot, evaluate, and scale innovative solutions to alleviate poverty.

J-PAL, with Community Jameel, launch the Alliance for Data, Evaluation, and Policy Training (ADEPT), a global network of universities, governments, and other members working to empower the next generation of policymakers, decision makers, and researchers with the tools to innovate, test, and scale the most effective social policies and programs.

J-PAL launches The Evidence Effect, a new resource on the future of global development, offering a series of practical lessons and examples of effective ways to improve the lives of people living in poverty.

J-PAL and the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC) launch the Emissions Market Accelerator (EMA), a new initiative that helps governments in the Global South design, build and implement cap-and-trade markets to reduce pollution.

J-PAL's research network grows to include 392 affiliated professors and 766 invited researchers.

J-PAL publishes the 2025-26 edition of Improving Lives through Evidence, outlining key achievements and priorities for the coming year.

Pictured above, our AI team launches the AI Evidence Playbook at the India AI Impact Summit in February, a practical reference for policymakers, practitioners, and donors investing in or developing AI-enabled programs. It explains how to identify where AI can best help, how to design AI-enabled programs to work in their intended contexts, and how to evaluate programs to build evidence that helps prevent wasted resources and harm.

Our full-day session at the India AI Impact Summit brought together senior government officials leading national AI strategies, researchers evaluating cutting-edge AI applications, and leaders from global tech companies, nonprofits, and key funders. Together, they explored promising uses of AI across education, health, governance, and labor, focusing on what works and what must change for AI to deliver sustained impact at scale.

J-PAL launches the Evidence for AI in Health (EVAH) initiative to help guide the responsible use of AI for health in sub-Sarahan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. EVAH is supported by the Wellcome Trust, Gates Foundation, and Novo Nordisk Foundation, delivered in partnership with J-PAL and the African Population and Health Research Center.