CLEAR South Asia M&E Webinar Series

See the videos and agendas of past webinars.

As host of the CLEAR South Asia Regional Centre, J-PAL South Asia organizes a webinar series on fundamental topics in monitoring and evaluation (M&E).

Session 16: Implementation Science: How can M&E be better integrated into the implementation of programmes and policies? - February 22, 2017
  • Yamini Aiyar (Senior Research Fellow and Director of the Accountability Initiative (AI)) - Opening Remarks
  • Chirag Bhimani (Deputy Environmental Engineer, Gujarat Pollution Control Board) - ‘Opportunities and challenges of incorporating M&E data into decision-making’
  • Burak Eskici (Post-Doctoral Fellow, J-PAL South Asia at IFMR) - ‘Systems thinking in policymaking, and the role of a researcher’
  • General Q&A and Discussion
Session 15: Bridging the Quantitative-Qualitative Divide: Mixed Methods in Impact Evaluations - March 16, 2016
  • Urmy Shukla (Senior Training Manager, CLEAR/J-PAL South Asia at IFMR) -  ‘How can Qualitative Methods Improve Learnings from RCTs?’
  • Purnima Menon (Senior Research Fellow, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)) -  ‘Integrating Insights from Quantitative and Qualitative Research in the Context of Evaluations of a Large-scale Nutrition Program’
  • General Q&A and Discussion
Session 14: Gender and Vulnerability “Evaluation Frameworks and Learning for Adolescent Programs” - June 15, 2015
  • Mallika Samaranayake (President, Community of Evaluators (CoE) South Asia and Chairperson, Institute for Participatory Interaction in Development)
  • Sonal Zaveri (Secretary, Community of Evaluators (CoE) South Asia and Senior Evaluation Specialist)
Session 13: What can we learn from evaluations? Exploring the Generalizability of evaluation findings - April 17, 2015
  • Qayam Jetha (Senior Policy and Training Associate, J-PAL South Asia) - Opening Remarks
  • Heather Lanthorn (Evaluation Specialist, 3ie) - External validity clues in development: on what to look for and how
  • Urmy Shukla (Capacity Building Manager, CLEAR/J-PAL South Asia) Are good results enough? Thinking systematically about identifying factors that influence the transfer and scale-up of programmes
  • General Q&A and Discussion
  • Closing Remarks 
Session 12: Qualitatively Measuring "Women's Empowerment": Lessons From South Asia - February 16, 2015
  • Urmy Shukla (Capacity Building Manager, CLEAR/J-PAL South Asia) - Opening Remarks 
  • Yamini Atmavilas (Program Officer, Measurement, Learning and Evaluation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) - Beyond Focus Group Discussions (FGDs): Using Qualitative Methods and Analysis for Gender-Focused Evaluations
  • Madhu Joshi (Senior Advisor, Gender and Governance, Centre for Catalyzing Change) - Evaluating the Evolution of Women in Panchayats as Leaders
  • Urmy Shukla - General Q&A and Discussion
  • Closing Remarks 
Session 11: Gender, Evaluation, and Empowerment Series on Empowering Adolescent Girls - August 7, 2014
  • Anusuya Banerjee (Policy Manager, J-PAL South Asia) - Opening Remarks 
  • Rachel Glennerster (Executive Director, J-PAL) and Shahana Nazneen (Program Director, Sponsorship Program, Save The Children Bangladesh) - Practical Tips for Measuring Girls Empowerment: The Example of Kishoree Kontha Programme
  • Sheepa Hafiza (Director, Gender Justice and Diversity and Migration Program, BRAC) and Rashida Parveen (Senior Programme Manager, Adolescent Development Programme, BRAC Education Programme) - Measuring Gender Norm Changes : Learning from Practice 
  • Anusuya Banerjee - General Q&A and Discussion
  • Closing Remarks 
Session 10: Experiences in Evaluating Projects Aimed at Ending Violence Against Women - April 22, 2014
  • Urmy Shukla (J-PAL South Asia) - Opening remarks
  • Shailesh Acharya (Community of Evaluators South Asia) - Introduction of speakers
  • Anju Pandey, Shrijna Dixon, and Dr. Shreyasi Jha (UN Women) - Evaluating Anti-Human Trafficking Programme: Lessons from the Field
  • Dr. Priya Nanda (International Council for Research on Women) - Making 'It' Visible: A Feminist Lens
  • Anjali Dave (Centre for Equity for Women, Children, and Families) - Intent and Reality: An Evaluation Study of Special Cells for Women, Maharashtra
  • Dr. Sonal Zaveri (Community of Evaluators South Asia) - Remarks 
  • Discussion   
  • Urmy Shukla - Closing Remarks
Policy Dialogue on Global Experiences in Institutionalizing Government M&E Systems - February 25, 2014
  • John Floretta (J-PAL South Asia) and Dr. A.K. Shivakumar (National Advisory Council of India) - Opening remarks
  • Dr. Ajay Chhibber (Independent Evaluation Organisation)
  • Dr. Gonzalo Hernández Licona (Mexican National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy) - The demand for information (evidence) in Mexico
  • Dr. Gabriela Pérez Yarahuán (Universidad Iberoamericana) - Institutionalizing Government Monitoring and Evaluation Systems in Latin America: Recent Developments and Challenges
  • Marc Shotland (J-PAL Global) - Research + Government Partnerships 
  • Discussion 
  • Diva Dhar (J-PAL South Asia) - Closing remarks
Session 9: Defining and Measuring Women's Empowerment - The South Asian Context - February 13, 2014
  • Dr. Shreyasi Jha (UN Women) - Opening remarks
  • Dr. Tarun Jain (Indian School of Business) - Measuring gender attitudes among children: Lessons from large scale survey in Haryana
  • Urvashi Wattal (Catalyst Management Services) - Qualitative research with children on gender norms
  • Dr. Charity Troyer Moore (Institute for Financial Management and Research) - Behind the veil: Measuring female empowerment in Madhya Pradesh, India
  • Katherine Hay (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation) - Closing remarks
  • Discussion
Session 8: Understanding and Measuring Women’s Empowerment - November 26, 2013
  • Diva Dhar (J-PAL South Asia) - Opening remarks
  • Dr. Shreyasi Jha (UN Women) - Measuring empowerment through global indices: challenges to creating comprehensive universal definitions
  • Dr. Priya Nanda (International Council for Research on Women) - Frameworks for measuring women’s economic empowerment
  • Discussion
  • Dr Leena Sushant (Breakthrough) - Closing Remarks 
Session 7: Scaling Up Social Programs - July 15, 2013
  • CLEAR South Asia - Opening remarks
  • Richard Kohl (Centre for Large Scale Social Change) - Scaling Up
  • Q&A and discussion
  • Case study examples and discussion
  • Closing Remarks
Session 6: Systematic Evaluations - May 15, 2013
  • Systematic Review of Water Supply and Sanitation Evaluations, by Hugh Waddington (3ie)
  • Systematic Review of Farmer Field Schools Evaluations, by Birte Snilstveit (3ie)  
  • Systematic Review of Education Evaluations, by Howard White (3ie)  
  • The Cochrane Public Health Satellite, by Dr. Ruhi Saith (University of Oxford) 
  • Closing Remarks by John Floretta (J-PAL South Asia)
Session 5: Equity-Focused Evaluation Methods - February 21, 2013
Session 4: Evaluation Methods - November 23, 2012
Session 3: Best Practices in Data Collection - September 7, 2012
Session 2: Theory of Change - May 18, 2012
Session 1: Innovative Techniques and Technologies for Data Collection - March 16, 2012 
  • Mitesh Thakkar (Fielddata) - Real Time Monitoring Using Mobile Technology
  • Radhika Jain (J-PAL South Asia) - Innovative Techniques to Measure Health Outcomes
  • Gaurav Chiplunkar (J-PAL South Asia) - Use of Geographic Information System (GIS) for Data Collection
  • Manish Naithani (Sambodhi) - Computer Assisted Data Collection
  • John Floretta (J-PAL South Asia) - Closing Remarks