The Governance Program at R4D will lead the technical sessions of the Annual Workshop for think tank partners of the Strengthening Institutions to Improve Public Expenditure Accountability (“Strengthening Institutions”) project in Bangkok, Thailand, on February 28 through March 2, 2011. Taking place at the halfway point of the five-year project, the workshop will provide an opportunity for partner organizations in fifteen low- and middle-income countries to share successes and experiences in studying their country’s education, health, and water sector budgets and in lobbying government officials to improve spending to better serve poor and underserved populations in the countries.

In addition to participating in peer review of analytical work and impact, R4D will lead technical sessions on conducting policy simulations in the social sectors. Following the workshop, the think tank partners will begin developing comprehensive proposals for improving the effectiveness of spending based on their policy simulations. Proposals such as these have great potential to raise the visibility and credibility of policy research organizations in developing countries as well as enacting tangible improvements to policies affecting the world’s poorest people every day.

R4D’s Governance Program has been the technical lead on the Strengthening Institutions project since 2008. Coordinated in partnership with the Global Development Network, the project provides funding, technical support, and peer learning opportunities for emerging think tanks in 15 countries (Argentina, Armenia, Bangladesh, Ghana, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, Nepal, Nigeria, Peru, Philippines, Tanzania, Uganda) to become leaders in budget and policy research in their countries. The Strengthening Institution project and the R4D Governance Program both seek to develop countries’ accountability systems to increase the impact of government spending on human development.