UNICEF workshop to share Child Family Tracker to representatives of the Economic Innovation Lab and National Planning Commission. 

With technical support under UNICEF-EU Public Finance Facility for South Asia and Southeast Asia, the Ministry of Finance in Nepal has established an Economic Lab to promote evidence-based policy making process. To this end, the Lab is intended to be engaged in problem solving, researching, modelling, and analysing contemporary policy and its effectiveness in achieving policy goals. The Economic Lab will also focus on learning the impacts of public policies on most vulnerable groups, strengthening the public finance data base system; publishing policy briefs; and capacitating the human resources within the Ministry of Finance and sectoral ministries.

The lab is at its initial preparatory stage and working on scoping, strategic and long-termed planning. Since the Economic Lab is a new initiative for Nepal, UNICEF and the Ministry of Finance have agreed to work together in promoting learning from overseas experiences on how similar institutions elsewhere are functioning, what their scopes are, and what types of institutional and coordination arrangements they have in order to promote evidence-based policy-making process. The learning from overseas experiences will be crucial for the Economic Lab in Nepal particularly to formulate its strategic direction and scope.

EU-UNICEF’s engagement with the Economic Lab is also intended to enhance the adequacy, effectiveness, and efficiency of social sector spending in promoting children’s rights and development. The best possible use of public budget for the realization of children’s rights is the main objective of EU UNICEF NCO partnership.

Read more about the SP&PFM in Nepal: here