South Asian Think Tank Legacy Series 10 years of lessons
Aurangabad, India. Photo: Simone D. McCourtie-World Bank
Kaski. Nepal. Photo: Simone D. McCourtie / World Bank
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FOREWORD The Think Tank Initiative (TTI) was a multidonor program dedicated to strengthening independent policy research organizations - or think tanks - in developing countries, enabling them to better provide high quality research that both informs and influences policy. As part of the efforts to disseminate learning from nearly 10 years of work supporting think tanks in 20 countries, we asked participating think tanks to document their experiences in the program in their own words. In response, the Executive Directors of the fourteen TTI-supported think tanks from South Asia recounted the journeys that the organizations undertook to become better and more effective contributors to development processes in their countries and regions.
In these interviews, each think tank leader answered key questions such as: How was their organization doing before they joined TTI? What were they able to do with TTI’s support? This video series is one of many outputs that they generated that captures their perspectives and insights. We hope that their stories will lead to a better understanding of the critical role think tanks play in achieving global development goals.
Andrew Hurst, Program Leader Think Tank Initiative
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Delhi, Inida. Photo: © Simone D. McCourtie / World Bank
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Table of Contents 6 8 10 12 14 16
BIGD CBGA CPD CPR CPA CSDS
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CSTEP IIDS IPS ISET-N
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SPDC SPDI
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NCAER PAC 5
BIGD BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD) Dhaka, Bangladesh
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CBGA Centre for Budget and Governance (CBGA) New Delhi, India 8
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CPD Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Dhaka, Bangladesh
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CPR Centre for Policy Research (CPR) New Delhi, India
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CPA Centre for Poverty Analysis (CPA) Colombo, Sri Lanka
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CSDS Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) New Delhi, India 16
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CSTEP Centre for the Study Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP) Karnataka, India
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IIDS Indian Institute of Dalit Studies (IIDS) New Delhi, India 20
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IPS Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) Colombo, Sri Lanka
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ISET-N Institute for Social and Environmental Transition Nepal (ISET-Nepal) Kathmandu, Nepal
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NCAER National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) New Delhi, India 26
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PAC Public Affairs Centre (PAC) Bangalore, India
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SPDC Social Policy Development Centre (SPDC) Karachi, Pakistan 30
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SPDI Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SPDI) Islamabad, Pakistan
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Photo: Morakot Theptarathip/TTI
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Thanks for Watching! 35
Additional Information If you’d like to learn more about the South Asian think tanks featured in this booklet, read this publication that dives deeper into their journeys in the Think Tank Initiative: Strengthening Policy Research: Role of Think Tank Initiative in South Asia. It is also available for purchase on Amazon and Flipkart.
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Sahabatpur village, Bangladesh. Photo: Dominic Chavez/World Bank
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From 2009-2019, the Think Tank Initiative (TTI) provided core funding and capacity building support to think tanks in 20 countries across South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. TTI is a multi-funder partnership between Canada's International Development Research Center (IDRC), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the UK Department for International Development (DFID), the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) and the Netherlands Directorate-General for International Cooperation (DGIS). To learn more, visit: http://www.thinktankinitiative.org/
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