Initiative: SUMMA, Laboratory of Education Research and Innovation for Latin America and the Caribbean, is a joint initiative of the IDB, Fundación Chile, and the Governments of the region to improve the quality of information that influences decision-making as well as the development of education policies.

SUMMA is the first laboratory dedicated to education research and innovation for Latin America and the Caribbean. Created in 2016 by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and Fundación Chile, with the support of the Education Ministries of Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, and Uruguay, SUMMA’s mission is to contribute to and increase the quality, equity, and inclusion of the educational systems in the region, through the improvement of the decision-making process regarding educational policies and practices. For this purpose, SUMMA works in the following areas:
(a) generating knowledge and evidence through cutting-edge research on key matters of education policy,
(b) boosting innovation in education through the promotion of policies that are innovative and have proven effectiveness, and
c) stimulating the collaboration and exchange of knowledge between policy makers, academics, innovators, directors, and educators.

To accomplish its mission, SUMMA organizes its actions in three strategic pillars that allow the promotion, development, and dissemination of:
(1) cutting-edge research aimed at diagnosing the main challenges in the region and promoting shared work agendas;
(2) innovation in education policies and practices aimed at providing solutions for the main education problems in the region;
(3) collaborative spaces that allow the exchange between policy makers, researchers, innovators, and the school community, based on a consensual regional agenda.

Activities: In recent months, SUMMA has:
(i) established a small technical team, based in Fundación Chile, to implement the initiative;
(ii) developed a web portal, summaedu.org;
(iii) held launch events to disseminate the initiative in Washington, D.C. (in the IDB’s Regional Policy Dialogue meeting in November, 2016) and in Santiago, Chile (in March, 2017);
(iv) initiated research on regional education financing, to bring to the region an application of the Global Commission on Education Financing’s 2016 report; and
(v) convened a group of global experts to serve in its Advisory Council.

Beneficiaries: As a Regional Public Good, SUMMA will benefit all countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Partnerships and financing: Inter-American Development Bank, Fundación Chile, Governments of Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, and Uruguay.

www.summaedu.org

Since the Summit, the IDB has advanced an initiative, SUMMA: Innovations for Education, which is the first education innovation lab for the Latin America and Caribbean region. With around US$1 million from the Regional Public Goods Fund of the IDB, SUMMA is a public-private partnership to promote innovative, scalable programs to raise education quality in the region. Specifically, SUMMA’s goals are to:
• Promote innovation in education.
• Provide access to evidence-based information to improve decision-making.
• Create networks and strengthen the link between policy makers, social innovators and knowledge generators.

To achieve these goals, SUMMA will work through a network of national and local innovation labs, private sector organizations, and governments to implement innovations in education systems to improve student learning in preschool, primary and secondary education. Founding member countries include: Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay.

Since 2015 the IDB has been part of the Inter-American Task Force on Non Communicable Diseases (IATF), a group that jointly with PAHO, the OAS, including the Inter-American Commission of Women and the Inter-American Children’s Institute, IICA, ECLAC, and the World Bank, promotes collaboration across various sectors of government in the Americas for a comprehensive response to Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs) at the national, sub-regional and regional levels. In 2016 the IATF aims to: i) support Member States in strengthening their national capacities for NCD policies and programs through enhanced interagency collaboration; ii) seek synergies and harmonization among the participating agencies and their relevant activities and strategies to support Member States in implementing actions to prevent and control NCDs; and iii) coordinate with the multi-sectoral NCD actions of related global and regional initiatives to ensure complementarity of purpose and optimal use of resources.

The IDB is also part of the Salud Mesoamerica Initiative (SMI) - a public-private partnership which aims to reduce maternal and child health inequalities through a results-based financing model which is based on: targeting the poorest 20%; financing evidence-based interventions; 50% average cost-sharing; and, independent verification of results. As of today, five countries achieved their targets and received a cash incentive. Countries have approved pro-poor policies and increased allocation of funding to the poorest individuals. Countries showed significant progress in availability of critical supplies in more than 1,000 facilities; 200,000 children are receiving micronutrients for the first time; and three countries are reorganizing their service network. In the coming years, countries are committed to reach population-based targets focused on effective coverage and quality.

Initiative: Improving Education through Broadband: Best Practices for Policy Design
It is well recognized that technology can produce substantial improvements in the learning process by allowing personalized instruction, increasing student engagement, providing real-time monitoring, and generating immediate feedback to students. However, there is limited analytical work on how identify best practices regarding how to leverage technology access effectively for educational purposes and disseminate such practices.
This initiative presents two main products: First, a high-level policy workshop titled “Schools Ready for Change: Technology to Improve Learning in Latin America and the Caribbean”, and second, the collaborative work of a team of experts in education, technology and economics to produce an e-book on promising models to improve Math learning using technology. These products contribute to the identification and sharing of best practices regarding how to effectively use technology for educational purposes in the LAC region.
Finally, the described e-book has produced a deep analysis of the underlying educational problems faced by students in our region and has synthetized knowledge from different disciplines to guide governments on the critical challenge regarding how to leverage technology effectively to promote student learning.

Activities:
Review of research evidence and successful programs:
- Identification of learning gaps and promising instructional strategies
- Summary of the quantitative evidence
- Documentation of successful and promising programs
- Analysis of challenges and solutions of specific inputs
Production of best-practices toolkit:
- Organization of workshops
- Production of toolkit

Website: Video: https://vimeo.com/126055258

Beneficiaries: Latin America and the Caribbean countries

Low-income Students' Access to Higher Education.
The Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola (USIL), a leading private university in Peru, will receive a loan from
the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), as a non-sovereign guaranteed loan, to double its capacity
and expand access to affordable education programs for low-income students.

Activities:
IDB financing will allow USIL to double its capacity from approximately 12,000 to 25,000 students over the
next ten years. Moreover, the loan will help USIL establish a new student guarantee fund, support a new
technical training institute, and increase its participation in Beca 18, a Peruvian government flagship
scholarship program targeting economically disadvantaged youth. It will also help expand and upgrade
USIL’s infrastructure using green technology that permits the reduction of water and energy
consumption.

Beneficiaries: Low-income Students' in Peru

Initiative:
New Employment and Opportunities (NEO)

Description:
The New Employment and Opportunities (NEO) project intends to expand employment opportunities for youth, with particular emphasis on those who are economically disadvantaged and/or at-risk. While employers struggle to find qualified workers, youth unemployment stands at nearly 3 times that of adults. Many youth lack critical skills to make them attractive job candidates – both technical skills and, most importantly, “life skills” such as communication, reliability and teamwork – long-term skills that are needed in any kind of job or career. To this end, the NEO alliance brings together key private, public, and civil society partners to provide high-impact, market-relevant youth training and job placement services on a large scale.

Activities:
10-YEAR GOALS:
• Train one million disadvantaged youth, ages 16-29, using models that incorporate best practices of job training programs.
• Achieve job placement rates of at least 50 percent for graduates of the new program.
• Ensure that 50 percent or more of the youth trained are girls and young women.
• Promote the adoption of high-impact training models in at least 10 countries in the region.
• Mobilize 1,000 companies to offer internships and employment opportunities for youth.
• Strengthen the capacity of 200 job-training providers.

Partnerships:
International Youth Fellowship, Multilateral Investment Fund, CEMEX, Microsoft, Arcos Dorados, Caterpillar, Walmart