This final issue of the Development Research News (DRN) in 2016 highlights social protection measures like the government's Agricultural Insurance Program that seeks to mitigate the negative impact of disasters on agriculture and help small farmers and fishermen recover from shocks. The multisite impact evaluation study conducted by PIDS shows the program fell short of its objective. Reasons include the low uptake of the program attributable to its limited presence at the grassroots, the insufficient amount of insurance coverage, and the inefficient settlement of claims. Calls for program enhancement also go to the implementers of the Students’ Grants-in-Aid Program for Poverty Alleviation and the utilization of the Motor Vehicle Users Charge, which are also featured in this issue. This DRN issue also highlights the value of collaborative partnerships as avenues for shaping and enriching policy discourse and development, policy research, and knowledge exchange. This is exemplified in the Socioeconomic Research Portal for the Philippines project and the Institute’s collaboration with fellow think tanks Korea Institute for International Economic Policy and Asia Competitiveness Institute of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.
