Contact: Jennifer de Vallance, (202) 484-4692

More than a billion people around the world live in extreme poverty. Against a backdrop of decades of international aid and programs, evidence-based research to assess programs and measure results provides a promising approach to improve the lives of the most vulnerable populations in developing countries. The need for rigorous research in the international arena is great. To help meet that need, Mathematica has created the Center for International Policy Research and Evaluation (CIPRE). CIPRE builds on Mathematica’s international experience and proven ability to combine strong methodological expertise while working collaboratively with diverse stakeholders including donor organizations, governments, foundations, and agencies, as well as international and local implementing partners.

“In an increasingly globalized world, funders and policymakers tackling major problems have a real need for quality, objective research-based information,” explains Anu Rangarajan, vice president at Mathematica and director of the center. “CIPRE can help fill that need. Our approach blends capacity and methodology with the ability and experience to work closely and flexibly with funders and local implementers to understand and design evaluations that take into account the realities of field implementation.”

More than 35 staff members including researchers, statisticians, and survey specialists, combine strong technical, analytic, language fluency, and management skills with experience conducting evaluations in a variety of developing country contexts. In addition, our staff have a deep substantive understanding of the program and policy areas that are the focus of many international evaluations, including education and training, health and nutrition, water and sanitation, democracy and governance, agriculture and rural development, and investments in infrastructure.

To date, Mathematica has worked with 20 agencies and philanthropic organizations in more than 30 countries to design and conduct rigorous evaluations of complex social programs around the world. Recent projects include:

• LAC Reads Evaluation This five-year project will evaluate and estimate the costs of U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) investments in early literacy and access to education in conflict settings in the Latin America and Caribbean region. Preference will be given to the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Peru. Read more.
• MasterCard Foundation Scholars Program The MasterCard Foundation’s Scholars Program seeks to expand access to education for youth in Africa and other developing countries through scholarships and support services, and to link youth to employment opportunities. As the learning partner to the foundation, we will work closely with the implementing partners to create and implement a measurement framework to assess the effects of these investments. Read more.
• Improving Maternal and Child Health in Bihar Mathematica, along with its partners, is evaluating the Ananya program, a family health initiative in Bihar, India, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The project aims to reduce maternal and child mortality and improve key nutrition and health outcomes. Read more.
• School Dropout Pilot Prevention Program Mathematica is evaluating a school dropout prevention program in four Asian countries—India, Tajikistan, Cambodia, and Timor Leste—using a randomized controlled trial (RCT) design. We have also developed the survey instruments and overseen data collection, data entry, and analysis. Read more.

In addition to evaluation, research, and technical assistance, the center will serve as a hub for knowledge sharing and dissemination. It will convene key stakeholders through a variety of activities including policy forums, research presentations, seminars, and conference participation. Information about CIPRE and its programs can be found on the center's website.

About Mathematica: Mathematica Policy Research seeks to improve public well-being by conducting studies and assisting clients with program evaluation and policy research, survey design and data collection, research assessment and interpretation and program performance/data management. Its clients include foundations, federal and state governments and private-sector and international organizations. The employee-owned company, with offices in Princeton, NJ; Ann Arbor, MI; Cambridge, MA; Chicago, IL; Oakland, CA; and Washington, DC; has conducted some of the most important studies of international, health care, nutrition, education, disability, family support, employment, and early childhood policies and programs. .