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Providing access to economic assets for girls and young women in low-and-lower middle-income countries A systematic review of the evidence

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What do we want to know? This review addresses the following questions: What is the impact of economic asset-building and/or protecting programmes for girls in low- and lower-middle income countries, and fragile states? and What are girls and young women's views and experiences of participating in asset-building and/or protecting programmes in low- and lower-middle-income countries, and fragile states? Who wants to know and why? The review has been informed by the commissioners and relevant policy-makers at DfID and substantive topic specialists in the field of gender and economics in developing countries, from organisations like the Overseas Development Institute, the Population Council and the IDS (Institute of Development Studies). The aim of this review was to identify interventions which attempt to address the economic barriers faced by girls and young women, in low- and lower-middle income countries, and fragile states. The hypothesis is that if interventions both provide direct access to economic assets for young girls and tackle the wider social issues which impede girls and young women's opportunities to access, build and protect economic assets, this will (i) support their immediate economic, social and psychological well-being (ii) improve their chances of economic success through the accumulation and control of economic assets and (iii) potentially help girls and young women to reframe/change wider social/societal relations. What did we find? There is a modest but growing evidence base to suggest that providing girls and young women with access to economic assets and developing their skill sets may improve their ability to generate an income, increase the amount they can save, support their participation in school, and increase their sexual health knowledge. However, claims that this will increase their economic standing in society overall, lead to better further educational or career choices or improve long-term sexual health outcomes, as adults, cannot be made. Meanwhile the studies reporting on girls and young women’s views suggest that social, practical and financial support is required if they are to maintain safe and active economic participation in society. In addition, further consideration of their experiences of economic asset building interventions should be assessed during programme participation to ensure interventions are more likely to be successful. How did we get these results? A systematic search of the international literature was conducted. A total of 18 relevant studies examining interventions to increase access to or protect economic assets for girls and young women in low- and lower-middle-income countries, and fragile states were critically appraised and explored in-depth. The included studies evaluated the following types of economic asset interventions: Educational incentives Livelihood programmes Reproductive health programmes.
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... In terms of sex, 14 reviews included studies of both female-only and mixed-sex programs (three did not provide information). Some reviews (e.g., Dickson &Bangpan, 2012, andGibbs et al., 2017) included mostly female-only studies, and others (e.g., Bakrania et al., 2018, andMartin et al., 2019) had half or more studies that evaluated co-ed programs. One review focused on HIVvulnerable youth, orphans, and vulnerable children (Lee et al., 2020). ...
... In terms of sex, 14 reviews included studies of both female-only and mixed-sex programs (three did not provide information). Some reviews (e.g., Dickson &Bangpan, 2012, andGibbs et al., 2017) included mostly female-only studies, and others (e.g., Bakrania et al., 2018, andMartin et al., 2019) had half or more studies that evaluated co-ed programs. One review focused on HIVvulnerable youth, orphans, and vulnerable children (Lee et al., 2020). ...
... Ten of the reviews included quantitative data (vote counting, effect sizes, or enough detail for us to vote count) summarizing the effects of interventions on economic, empowerment, SRH or violence outcomes (see Table 4). (Chinen et al., 2017;Dickson & Bangpan, 2012;Gibbs et al., 2012;Hindin et al., 2016;Lee et al., 2020). Two reviews covering 93 studies examined evaluations of girls' empowerment groups (Marcus et al., 2017, Temin & Heck, 2020. ...
... There is a large body of empirical evidence, including systematic reviews, investigating the impact of social protection programmes. A myriad of robust systematic reviews have sought to clarify the impact of social protection programmes on women and men, regardless of their age (Baird et al., 2014;Bassani et al., 2013;Bastagli et al., 2016;Buller et al., 2018;Chinen et al., 2017;Dickson & Bangpan, 2012;Durao et al., 2020;Haberland et al., 2018;Kalamar et al., 2016;Kluve et al., 2017;Langer et al., 2018;Målqvist et al., 2013;Murray et al., 2014;Pega et al., 2015;Tripney et al., 2013;van Hees et al., 2019;Yoong et al., 2012). The results, however, are dispersed with reviews focusing on various specific subtypes of social protection (e.g., labour market programmes, cash transfers), women and/or men, in different regions, and with some offering conflicting or discordant results regarding the impact of social protection measures. ...
... Intervention design or development is the period or process of developing an intervention to "the point where it can reasonably be expected to have worthwhile effect" (Craig & Petticrew, 2013, p. 9) that usually consists of making decisions about the content, format and delivery and ends with the production of a document or manual describing the intervention and how it should be delivered (O'Cathain et al., 2019). While only six of the reviews presented in Table 2 explicitly investigate the links between programme design and implementation and its outcomes, six other reviews summarise key considerations on contextual factors as well as programme design and implementation features, with a number of them assessing feasibility and appropriateness, as well as programme effectiveness (Dickson & Bangpan, 2012;Murray et al., 2014). ...
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This is the protocol for a Campbell review. The review aims to systematically collect, appraise, map and synthesise the evidence from systematic reviews on the differential gender impacts of social protection programmes in Low-and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). Therefore, it will answer the following questions: (1) What is known from systematic reviews on the gender-differentiated impacts of social protection programmes in LMICs? (2) What is known from systematic reviews about the factors that determine these gender-differentiated impacts? (3) What is known from existing systematic reviews about design and implementation features of social protection programmes and their association with gender outcomes?
... While women are more likely to benefit from microfinance programs if they are specifically targeted, targeting is associated with a cost that may not justify the limited benefits. Evidence from outside of Africa shows that combining microcredit with skills training and provision of peer group space significantly improves young women's earnings (Dickson and Bangpan, 2012), as can longer repayment periods that allow women time to reduce their aversion to risk (Buvinic and Furst-Nichols, 2014). While small, one-time grants can prove effective for larger SMEs, in-kind grants may be more effective for smaller womenrun businesses, and very poor women require more business development support for these grants to be effective at improving earnings. ...
... While microfinance programs can result in higher investments, profits, and durable goods expenditure, effects dissipate quickly and health, education, and female empowerment are often unchanged (Banerjee et al., 2015). However, effects are highly dependent on variation in targeting and supplemental training (Todd, 2012;Dickson and Bangpan, 2012). ...
... Note: This figure is based on the following 17 reviews: Banerjee et al. 2015, Blackmore et al. 2018, Blundo et al. 2018, Bowler et al. 2010, Cho and Honorati 2013, Dickson and Bangpan 2012, Halder and Mosley 2004, Hemming at al. 2018, Higgins et al. 2018, J-PAL and IPA 2015, Juillard et al. 2016, Liu and Kontoleon 2018, Loevinsohn et al. 2013, Stewart et al. 2015, Sulaiman 2016, Ton et al. 2013, Ton et al. 2017. Unsurprisingly, the reviews that we identified cover a wide brief in terms of intervention types (see Figure 11 above). ...
... Note: Number and types of outcomes identified across 17 reviews: Banerjee et al. 2015, Blackmore et al. 2018, Blundo et al. 2018, Bowler et al. 2010, Cho and Honorati 2013, Dickson and Bangpan 2012, Halder and Mosley 2004, Hemming at al. 2018, Higgins et al. 2018, J-PAL and IPA 2015, Juillard et al. 2016, Liu and Kontoleon 2018, Loevinsohn et al. 2013, Stewart et al. 2015, Sulaiman 2016, Ton et al. 2013, Ton et al. 2017 9 of the 17 reviews reported positive impacts across a wide range of outcomes, while 3 reported largely positive but also some mixed impacts, and 5 reported only mixed impacts. 6 of the 17 reviews focus on income generation and 3 of those found positive and 1 positivemixed evidence while 2 found mixed evidence. ...
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A wide range of financial inclusion programmes seek to increase poor people’s access to financial services to enhance the welfare of poor and low-income households in low- and middle-income countries. The impacts of financial inclusion interventions are small and variable. Although some services have some positive effects for some people, overall financial inclusion may be no better than comparable alternatives, such as graduation or livelihoods interventions. Impacts are more likely to be positive than negative, but the effects vary, are often mixed, and appear not to be transformative in scope or scale, as they largely occur in the early stages of the causal chain of effects. Overall, the effects of financial services on core economic poverty indicators such as incomes, assets or spending, and on health status and other social outcomes, are small and inconsistent. Moreover, there is no evidence for meaningful behaviour-change outcomes leading to further positive effects. The effects of financial services on women’s empowerment appear to be generally positive, but they depend upon programme features which are often only peripheral or unrelated to the financial service itself (such as education about rights), cultural and geographical context, and what aspects of empowerment are considered. Accessing savings opportunities appears to have small but much more consistently positive effects for poor people, and bears fewer downside risks for clients than credit. The weak effects found warn against unrealistic hype for financial inclusion, as previously happened for microcredit. There are substantial evidence gaps, notably studies of sufficient duration to measure higher-level impacts which take time to materialize, and for specific outcomes such as debt levels or indebtedness patterns and the link to macroeconomic development.
... These guidelines were developed according to the procedures and methods described in the WHO handbook for guideline development (WHO 2014).UNICEF: Four systematic reviews were found cited in research briefs informing two areas of UNICEF's Strategic Plan for 2018-2021, and were therefore examples of instrumental use of research (Dickson et al. 2012; Kabeer et al. 2012; Birdthistle et al. 2011; Gupta et al. 2015). Two of these systematic reviews(Dickson et al. 2012; Kabeer et al. 2012) and ten others were found in the Campbell Collaboration-UNICEF Mega-Map, which was used to prepare a series of five of these research briefs. One of these systematic reviews (Westhorp et al. 2014) was also used transparently to enhance understanding by stimulating debate about community accountability, empowerment and education (Section 4.4). ...
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Systematic reviews for international development originated 20 years ago. In 2010 the Department for International Development (DFID) introduced a programme of systematic reviews with a capacity building element that spanned multiple policy sectors. This study traces the impact of these systematic reviews both in the academic research literature and beyond academia, by looking at use within government and other organisations (for example through inclusion in documents, research repositories and decisions beyond academia). Systematic reviews were cited more often in academia than beyond, some for their substantive findings, and some for methodological debate. Beyond academia, of the 86 systematic reviews: 21 informed specific decisions or policies, 25 were cited to enhance understanding, one informed new procedures for embedding evidence in decision making, 19 appeared in existing procedures for decision making, and 21 appeared in portals, maps or databases to enhance knowledge accessibility. Reviews were used by academics (69 reviews), government (20), review advisors (2), other stakeholders (37), or none (14). Three models of knowledge exchange can explain how use of these systematic reviews beyond academia was achieved. Clearly communicated policy implications may lead to greater use for policy decisions (linear model of knowledge transfer). Greater involvement of policy teams in focusing and reporting the review may lead to reviews appearing more relevant beyond academia (relationship model). Organisations using multiple systematic reviews may be distinctive in terms of their investment in capacity of individuals, teams, institutions and a global support system for systematic reviews (dynamic systems model). The three models potentially overlap: a dynamic evidence system supporting policy input may lead to more relevant reviews with clearer implications for policy. Investment in systems and relationships to support the production of systematic reviews looks promising for systematic reviews that provide clearer implications for policy and greater use beyond academia.
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There is a broad spectrum of interventions targeted at gender equality in developing countries. However, to our knowledge, there is no evidence gap map on the effectiveness of interventions to improve women’s empowerment in developing countries. This evidence gap map (EGM) plots studies on the effectiveness of interventions for women’s empowerment in developing countries (defined here as the list of countries defined by the Kyoto Protocol as non-Annex I countries). The EGM contains 423 studies, of which 288 are impact evaluations, 105 are process evaluations and 38 are systematic reviews (which totals 431 studies because a single study may be an impact evaluation as well as a process evaluation). Most of the evidence is from studies conducted in sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia. There is a relatively large amount of evidence on economic interventions and capacity-building interventions, and both these categories in the map have a high number of impact evaluations and systematic reviews. There is a dearth of evidence on policy and institutional interventions. In terms of outcomes, political empowerment outcome categories are far less populated than other outcome categories. Women’s representation in political bodies, digital access and access to justice shows very little evidence.
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Background: More than half of the global population is not effectively covered by any type of social protection benefit and women's coverage lags behind. Most girls and boys living in low-resource settings have no effective social protection coverage. Interest in these essential programmes in low and middle-income settings is rising and in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic the value of social protection for all has been undoubtedly confirmed. However, evidence on whether the impact of different social protection programmes (social assistance, social insurance and social care services and labour market programmes) differs by gender has not been consistently analysed. Evidence is needed on the structural and contextual factors that determine differential impacts. Questions remain as to whether programme outcomes vary according to intervention implementation and design. Objectives: This systematic review aims to collect, appraise, and synthesise the evidence from available systematic reviews on the differential gender impacts of social protection programmes in low and middle-income countries. It answers the following questions: 1.What is known from systematic reviews on the gender-differentiated impacts of social protection programmes in low and middle-income countries?2.What is known from systematic reviews about the factors that determine these gender-differentiated impacts?3.What is known from existing systematic reviews about design and implementation features of social protection programmes and their association with gender outcomes? Search methods: We searched for published and grey literature from 19 bibliographic databases and libraries. The search techniques used were subject searching, reference list checking, citation searching and expert consultations. All searches were conducted between 10 February and 1 March 2021 to retrieve systematic reviews published within the last 10 years with no language restrictions. Selection criteria: We included systematic reviews that synthesised evidence from qualitative, quantitative or mixed-methods studies and analysed the outcomes of social protection programmes on women, men, girls, and boys with no age restrictions. The reviews included investigated one or more types of social protection programmes in low and middle-income countries. We included systematic reviews that investigated the effects of social protection interventions on any outcomes within any of the following six core outcome areas of gender equality: economic security and empowerment, health, education, mental health and psychosocial wellbeing, safety and protection and voice and agency. Data collection and analysis: A total of 6265 records were identified. After removing duplicates, 5250 records were screened independently and simultaneously by two reviewers based on title and abstract and 298 full texts were assessed for eligibility. Another 48 records, identified through the initial scoping exercise, consultations with experts and citation searching, were also screened. The review includes 70 high to moderate quality systematic reviews, representing a total of 3289 studies from 121 countries. We extracted data on the following areas of interest: population, intervention, methodology, quality appraisal, and findings for each research question. We also extracted the pooled effect sizes of gender equality outcomes of meta-analyses. The methodological quality of the included systematic reviews was assessed, and framework synthesis was used as the synthesis method. To estimate the degree of overlap, we created citation matrices and calculated the corrected covered area. Main results: Most reviews examined more than one type of social protection programme. The majority investigated social assistance programmes (77%, N = 54), 40% (N = 28) examined labour market programmes, 11% (N = 8) focused on social insurance interventions and 9% (N = 6) analysed social care interventions. Health was the most researched (e.g., maternal health; 70%, N = 49) outcome area, followed by economic security and empowerment (e.g., savings; 39%, N = 27) and education (e.g., school enrolment and attendance; 24%, N = 17). Five key findings were consistent across intervention and outcomes areas: (1) Although pre-existing gender differences should be considered, social protection programmes tend to report higher impacts on women and girls in comparison to men and boys; (2) Women are more likely to save, invest and share the benefits of social protection but lack of family support is a key barrier to their participation and retention in programmes; (3) Social protection programmes with explicit objectives tend to demonstrate higher effects in comparison to social protection programmes without broad objectives; (4) While no reviews point to negative impacts of social protection programmes on women or men, adverse and unintended outcomes have been attributed to design and implementation features. However, there are no one-size-fits-all approaches to design and implementation of social protection programmes and these features need to be gender-responsive and adapted; and (5) Direct investment in individuals and families' needs to be accompanied by efforts to strengthen health, education, and child protection systems. Social assistance programmes may increase labour participation, savings, investments, the utilisation of health care services and contraception use among women, school enrolment among boys and girls and school attendance among girls. They reduce unintended pregnancies among young women, risky sexual behaviour, and symptoms of sexually transmitted infections among women. Social insurance programmes increase the utilisation of sexual, reproductive, and maternal health services, and knowledge of reproductive health; improve changes in attitudes towards family planning; increase rates of inclusive and early initiation of breastfeeding and decrease poor physical wellbeing among mothers. Labour market programmes increase labour participation among women receiving benefits, savings, ownership of assets, and earning capacity among young women. They improve knowledge and attitudes towards sexually transmitted infections, increase self-reported condom use among boys and girls, increase child nutrition and overall household dietary intake, improve subjective wellbeing among women. Evidence on the impact of social care programmes on gender equality outcomes is needed. Authors' conclusions: Although effectiveness gaps remain, current programmatic interests are not matched by a rigorous evidence base demonstrating how to appropriately design and implement social protection interventions. Advancing current knowledge of gender-responsive social protection entails moving beyond effectiveness studies to test packages or combinations of design and implementation features that determine the impact of these interventions on gender equality. Systematic reviews investigating the impact of social care programmes, old age pensions and parental leave on gender equality outcomes in low and middle-income settings are needed. Voice and agency and mental health and psychosocial wellbeing remain under-researched gender equality outcome areas.
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Background Despite a considerable reduction in child mortality, nearly six million children under the age of five die each year. Millions more are poorly nourished and in many parts of the world, the quality of education remains poor. Children are at risk from multiple violations of their rights, including child labour, early marriage, and sexual exploitation. Research plays a crucial role in helping to close the remaining gaps in child well‐being, yet the global evidence base for interventions to meet these challenges is mostly weak, scattered and often unusable by policymakers and practitioners. This mega‐map encourages the generation and use of rigorous evidence on effective ways to improve child well‐being for policy and programming. Objectives The aim of this mega‐map is to identify, map and provide an overview of the existing evidence synthesis on the interventions aimed at improving child well‐being in low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMICs). Methods Campbell evidence and gap maps (EGMs) are based on a review of existing mapping standards (Saran & White, 2018) which drew in particular of the approach developed by 3ie (Snilstveit, Vojtkova, Bhavsar, & Gaarder, 2013). As defined in the Campbell EGM guidance paper; “Mega‐map is a map of evidence synthesis, that is, systematic reviews, and does not include primary studies” (Campbell Collaboration, 2020). The mega‐map on child well‐being includes studies with participants aged 0–18 years, conducted in LMICs, and published from year 2000 onwards. The search followed strict inclusion criteria for interventions and outcomes in the domains of health, education, social work and welfare, social protection, environmental health, water supply and sanitation (WASH) and governance. Critical appraisal of included systematic reviews was conducted using “A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews”‐AMSTAR‐2 rating scale (Shea, et al., 2017). Results We identified 333 systematic reviews and 23 EGMs. The number of studies being published has increased year‐on‐year since 2000. However, the distribution of studies across World Bank regions, intervention and outcome categories are uneven. Most systematic reviews examine interventions pertaining to traditional areas of health and education. Systematic reviews in these traditional areas are also the most funded. There is limited evidence in social work and social protection. About 69% (231) of the reviews are assessed to be of low and medium quality. There are evidence gaps with respect to key vulnerable populations, including children with disabilities and those who belong to minority groups. Conclusion Although an increasing number of systematic reviews addressing child well‐being topics are being published, some clear gaps in the evidence remain in terms of quality of reviews and some interventions and outcome areas. The clear gap is the small number of reviews focusing explicitly on either equity or programmes for disadvantaged groups and those who are discriminated against.
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Abstract Background More than half of the children in the world experience some form of interpersonal violence every year. As compared with high‐income countries, policy responses in low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMICs) are limited due to resource constraints and paucity of evidence for effective interventions to reduce violence against children in their own contexts, amongst other factors. Objectives The aim of this evidence and gap map (EGM) is to provide an overview of the existing evidence available and to identify gaps in the evidence base on the effectiveness of interventions to reduce violence against children in LMICs. This report covers evidence published in English; a follow‐up study is under preparation focusing on evidence in five additional languages—Arabic, Chinese, French, Portuguese and Spanish. Methods The intervention‐outcome framework for this EGM is based on INSPIRE—Seven Strategies for Ending Violence against Children, published by WHO and other partners in 2016. The seven strategies include implementation and enforcement of laws; norms and values, safe environment; parent–child and caregiver support; income and economic strengthening; response and support services; education and life skills. The search included both academic and grey literature available online. We included impact evaluations and systematic reviews that assessed the effectiveness of interventions to reduce interpersonal violence against children (0–18 years) in LMICs (World Bank, 2018b). Interventions targeting subpopulation of parents, teachers and caregivers of 0–18 years’ age group were also included. A critical appraisal of all included studies was carried out using standardised tools. Results The map includes 152 studies published in English of which 55 are systematic reviews and 97 are impact evaluations. Most studies in the map are from Sub‐Saharan Africa. Education and life skills are the most widely populated intervention area of the map followed by income and economic strengthening interventions. Very few studies measure impact on economic and social outcomes, and few conduct cost‐analysis. Conclusion More studies focusing on low‐income and fragile and conflict‐affected settings (FCS) and studying and reporting on cost‐analysis are required to address gaps in the evidence. Most interventions covered in the literature focused on addressing a wide range of forms of violence and harm, which limited understanding of how and for whom the interventions work in a given context, for specific forms of violence. More impact evaluation studies are required that assess specific forms of violence, gendered effects of interventions and on diverse social groups in a given context, utilising mixed methods.
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