Leading evidence-based labor policies in Morocco

This first training event, led by the Morocco Employment Lab (MEL), gathered senior officials from key labor market institutions.

Designed for senior officials and policymakers working on labor markets policies and programs, the training took place on October 5th and 6th, and was the first event led by the Morocco Employment Lab (MEL) since its launch in August 2020. During each two hour-session, a dozen senior-level officials from various institutions, such as the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training, the unemployment agency (ANAPEC), the Ministry of Finance, the National Human Development Initiative (INDH), the agency for vocational training (OFPPT), and the Ministry of Industry, were introduced to how rigorous evaluations can be used to identify cost-effective programs and policies to improve labor market outcomes. 

The training included lectures by Professor Rema Hanna, Faculty Director of Evidence for Policy Design (EPoD) and Professor at the Harvard Kennedy School, and Professor Bruno Crépon, Professor at ENSAE and Ecole Polytechnique, alongside interactive Q&A sessions and breakout discussions. The training covered a series of topics: “Why and when a rigorous evaluation of social impact is needed,” “Key components of high-quality, rigorous evaluations,” and “Overview of existing evidence in the labor market sector,” with a focus on how methods and results can be applied in Morocco.

Participants started identifying the key priorities and challenges that will feed into identifying promising impact evaluation projects to inform their programming. The upcoming "Smart policy design and implementation (SPDI): frameworks for analyzing employment policy” workshop on October 13 will allow participating organizations to further the initial discussions to jointly design impact evaluations with a set of researchers using the SPDI framework.

Speakers

Rema Hanna
Jeffrey Cheah Professor of South-East Asia Studies, Harvard Kennedy School

Bruno Crépon
Professor of Economics, ENSAE Paris, Ecole Polytechnique 

Florencia Devoto (Moderator)
Director of the Morocco Employment Lab