The below is attributable to Spokesperson Rebecca Chalif:
Today, Administrator Power participated in a keynote conversation at the Annual Conference of the Behavioral Science and Policy Association (BSPA) with Dr. Esther Duflo, the Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, co-founder and co-director of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), and a 2019 Nobel laureate in Economics.
Dr. Duflo and Administrator Power discussed their perspectives on applying behavioral science to improve outcomes for a wide range of development challenges, and exchanged views on approaches for measuring and assessing progress in fields such as public health, education, and democratic governance. Administrator Power highlighted USAID’s social and behavioral change work, provided her views on why behavioral science offers distinct insights for policymakers in the development space, and underscored that she is prioritizing efforts to further integrate behavioral insights into USAID’s development programming around the world.