31 Ivorian civil servants complete ENSEA and J-PAL programme on public policy evaluation
ABIDJAN, CÔTE D'IVOIRE – 16 JANUARY 2026
Community Jameel congratulates 31 civil servants in Côte d'Ivoire on completion of the public policy evaluation programme at the École nationale supérieure de statistique et d'économie appliquée (ENSEA), delivered in partnership with the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL).
A graduation ceremony for the cohort – the fourth since the programme's launch – was held at ENSEA in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.
Embedding a culture of evidence in the Ivorian civil service
Supported by the Agence française de développement (AFD), the programme equips civil servants with the skills to conduct rigorous impact evaluations, helping ensure that social programmes are effectively designed to reduce poverty and improve lives.
Taking a hybrid approach, the programme balances technical training with practical application.
Participants first complete the online Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) course 'The challenges of global poverty'.
Instructors on the MIT course include J-PAL co-founders and Nobel laureates Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo.
In-person programme modules include an incubator, where learners receive hands-on advice to workshop evaluation priorities from their ministries.
At today's ceremony, the cohort presented five impact assessment projects developed through the programme to address real-world policy challenges in Côte d’Ivoire.
A central pillar of ADEPT
ENSEA is a founding member of the Alliance for Data, Evaluation and Policy Training (ADEPT), a global network of campuses and partners dedicated to training the next generation of researchers and decision-makers.
Convened by J-PAL and Community Jameel, ADEPT's institutional members include the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and Insper in São Paulo.
Nader Iskandar Diab, head of programmes at Community Jameel, said: "Empowering policymakers with the tools to measure what works is fundamental to effective governance.
"Through the ADEPT network and our long-standing partnership with J-PAL and ENSEA, we are proud to support Côte d’Ivoire’s commitment to evidence-based policy.
"These 31 graduates represent a growing community of innovators who are placing data at the heart of the fight against poverty."
A sustainable future for policy evaluation
The ceremony today marked the launch of the fifth cohort, which saw over 400 applications, reflecting growing demand for evaluation expertise in the region.
ENSEA also announced the upcoming launch of a dedicated master’s degree in public policy evaluation to further deepen the country's technical capacity.
