Photo by: Andrea Borgarello July 2024 GIL TOP POLICY LESSONS ABOUT THE AFRICA ON SOCIAL PROTECTION GENDER INNOVATION LAB Women are often overrepresented among the poorest and the most The Africa Gender Innovation Lab vulnerable. Due to various factors limiting their opportunities, including (GIL) conducts impact evaluations of care responsibilities and gender norms, many either remain outside the development interventions in Sub- workforce or engage in informal employment within precarious sectors Saharan Africa, seeking to generate lacking crucial safeguards. Even during relatively stable times, they evidence on how to close gender gaps in earnings, productivity, teeter on the edge of economic insecurity, and when confronted with assets, and agency. The GIL team is shocks like a pandemic or climate hazard, their already precarious currently working on over 80 impact jobs become even more susceptible to disappearance, leaving women evaluations in more than 30 countries in a vulnerable reality without adequate coping mechanisms. in Africa with the aim of building an evidence base with lessons for the This underscores the importance of putting women at the center of region. social protection programs, which have the potential to effectively alleviate poverty. Ensuring that social protection systems have a The impact objective of GIL is targeted approach for women could help them navigate through increasing take-up of effective policies unexpected crises and setbacks, secure employment opportunities by governments, development organizations, and the private sector and enhance their overall productivity and well-being. This does to address the underlying causes of not only have the power to alleviate women out of poverty, but also gender inequality in Africa, particularly potentially their families, communities, and broader societies. in terms of women’s economic and social empowerment. The Lab aims The Africa Gender Innovation Lab (GIL) has been generating rigorous to do this by producing and delivering evidence to understand what works, and what does not, in supporting a new body of evidence and women with social protection interventions. This brief provides an developing a compelling narrative, overview of these key research findings from Sub-Saharan Africa, geared towards policymakers, on highlighting insights and design considerations from social protection what works and what does not work programs that have demonstrated positive outcomes for women while in promoting gender equality. also deriving conclusions from programs that don’t work. http://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/africa-gender-innovation-lab Niger Adaptive Social Protection Program Components MULTI-FACETED ECONOMIC core components which were included in all packages INCLUSION PROGRAMS tested (except for the control group) and consisted of Economic inclusion programs that offer the most i) coaching and group formation ii) savings groups iii) economically disadvantaged women bundled micro-entrepreneurship training iv) access to markets; package of interventions can yield large economic the capital component which was a v) one-time cash gains for women and their households. An important injection; and psychosocial components that included feature of these programs is that they can tackle the vi) community sensitization on aspirations and social multiple constraints often faced by the most vulnerable and gender norms vii) life skills training. In most cases, women. Typically, these packages pair the provision of women were the direct recipients of the cash transfer and productive assets, financial stipends, healthcare support, beneficiaries of the accompanying measures. promotion of savings, and life skills and entrepreneurship In Niger, the evaluation compared the impact of three training, among others. packages for women who were already receiving In the Sahel region, the Sahel Adaptive Social Protection monthly cash transfers through a national cash transfer Program (ASP) managed by the World Bank has program implemented by the Government of Niger. been accompanying governments’ efforts to address These packages were the full package which included chronic poverty and food insecurity by leveraging cash core, capital, and psychosocial components; the capital- transfers to strengthen people’s resilience to shocks. only package which adds a lump sum cash grant of A multi-country impact evaluation led by the World 80,000 XOF (US$127 (US$311 in 2016 PPP)) to core Bank’s Social Protection Global Practice, DIME, the components and excludes the psychosocial components; Africa Gender Innovation Lab, Innovations for Poverty and the psychosocial package which excludes the cash Action, and partner researchers, studied the impact of boost and included the psychosocial components listed an economic inclusion program. The evaluation tested above. Overall, the study1 found that all three treatments different combinations of the following components: generated large impacts on annual business revenues as 1 Bossuroy, T., Goldstein, M., Karimou, B. et al. Tackling psychosocial and capital constraints to alleviate poverty. Nature 605, 291–297 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022- 04647-8 well as household consumption and food security, and helped households diversify their economic activities. BOX 1: APPROACHES IN NIGER AND The program was particularly cost-effective when ZAMBIA – KEY DIFFERENCES integrating the psychosocial interventions, with impacts Compared to Niger where the psychosocial exceeding the costs 18 months post-intervention. In component was effective, the human capital terms of implementation, national safety net program’s arm had a limited impact in the Zambia study, staff oversaw the delivery of the intervention by training where the training content was similar to the institutes, actively leading the implementation of key Niger psychosocial package. Trainer and components. These findings demonstrate that economic implementation quality may explain the contrast. The trainers in Zambia were community-based inclusion programs can be delivered effectively through volunteer facilitators who had varying levels of existing government systems and that, when integrating literacy, received training nearly equivalent in psychosocial interventions, they lead to high benefit-cost duration to what they were expected to deliver, ratios. had minimal incentives and resources, and lacked significant teaching experience. In addition, the In Mauritania, the findings show that only the full human capital arm was not layered on the cash package had a significant impact on consumption, transfer program unlike in Niger. While complex, suggesting that the combination of all interventions the SWL is more limited than other multi-faceted was required to lift households out of extreme poverty. “graduation” packages: it lasts 8-10 months instead of up to 24 months, focuses on grants In highly insecure, conflict-affected, northern Burkina rather than livestock or other productive assets, Faso, the interventions enhanced savings but had and includes group mentoring rather than limited impact on other outcomes, partly due to the individual. environment which was not conducive to investment. In Senegal, only the packages that included a cash grant— the full package and the capital-only package, not the In Zambia, the Girls Education and Women’s psychosocial one—had a positive impact. This suggests Empowerment and Livelihood Project (GEWEL)’s that the capital constraints were more binding for this Supporting Women’s Livelihoods (SWL) initiative, relatively more educated, urban, youth population than implemented by Zambia’s Ministry of Community the psychosocial constraints. Development and Social Services, targeted poor women In Nigeria, the economic inclusion package of the Nigeria in rural areas. They were provided with a bundled “big National Social Safety Net Program (NASSP) finds similar push” package comprising: (i) a 21-session life and encouraging impacts.2 The package combined cash business skills training; (ii) a productive grant equivalent transfers, savings groups, a capital injection, life skills to US$225; (iii) support to form savings groups; and (iv) and business skills training, and regular mentoring and six months of group mentoring. The study3 randomly coaching. Recent findings from the impact evaluation of assigned rural communities to one of three variations of NASSP reveal that the multi-faceted economic inclusion the SWL program or a control group: the “full package” program which simultaneously addresses psychosocial, which included all four activities listed above; a “human skills and capital constraints, significantly increases capital” bundle which included only the skills training household earnings, decreases food insecurity, and and mentorship; and a “financial capital” bundle which boosts women’s economic empowerment and well- included only the grant and savings groups support. This being. nationwide livelihood program implemented in rural areas 2 Publication forthcoming. 3 Botea, Ioana and Brudevold-Newman, Andrew and Goldstein, Markus and Low, Corinne and Roberts, Gareth, Supporting Women’s Livelihoods at Scale: Evidence from a Nationwide Multi-Faceted Program (August 2023). NBER Working Paper No. w31625 with over 75,000 female beneficiaries across 51 districts In the Democratic Republic of Congo, an Africa in all 10 Zambian provinces yielded large impacts across GIL study5 showed that PWPs in fragile states improve a wide range of welfare outcomes, including increases in participants’ livelihoods and women seem to leverage consumption, food security, assets, household income, most of these benefits. The Social Response to the Ebola and mental health. However, the study shows that effects Crisis Program in DRC, implemented by the DRC Social were entirely driven by the asset transfer portion of the Fund as part of the World Bank DRC Eastern Recovery bundled intervention, with the human capital activities Project took place in health zones affected by Ebola, having limited stand-alone impacts and no marginal with the goal of improving the public infrastructure by impacts when implemented as part of the full bundle addressing the needs of the communities and the public (also discussed in Box 1). health teams. The program targeted poor and vulnerable PUBLIC WORKS PROGRAMS (PWP) men and women over 18 years of age and offered 60 days for a period of 3 consecutive months. By leveraging Labor-intensive public works programs, which the random selection of participants through public are government-initiated and funded initiatives lotteries and conducting a follow-up phone survey 3 to designed to create temporary employment 6 months after the completion of the public works, the opportunities and stimulate economic growth study estimated the program’s effects on a wide range through the construction, maintenance, or of economic and social outcomes. Economic outcomes improvement of public infrastructure and facilities, could lead to enhanced women’s economic included economic activity, income, savings, and food outcomes in fragile contexts. In the Central African security. Social outcomes included intra-household Republic, GIL’s impact evaluation as part of the World decision-making, participation in household chores, Bank Londö Project4 helped uncover positive impacts of gender norms, and social cohesion. The analysis shows the public works on economic activity. In the pilot, each that beneficiaries are more likely to be engaged in income worker receives a wage of about $3 for each day of the generating activities and generate higher incomes and 40-day contract period. In addition, each worker receives savings and the effects are stronger for women. Although a bicycle, roughly valued at about $60, which he or she there is an impact of PWP on social outcomes, it is not as can keep after successful completion of 40-day contract clear as the one on economic outcomes. period. The results showed that having temporary jobs resulted in short-term increases in monthly earnings, the number of days worked, and productive asset ownership of participating men and women. These effects were sustained even after the program and took place through different channels. Men intensified agricultural production and diversified into small manufacture activities, while women diversified into small trade activities. The program also had a positive impact on the mobility of male beneficiaries but did not have the same effect on women. This discrepancy in outcomes appears to be linked, in part, to significant gender disparities in bicycle-riding skills among program participants. 4 Alik Lagrange, Arthur; Buehren, Niklas; Goldstein,Markus P.; Hoogeveen,Johannes G.. Can Public Works Enhance Welfare in Fragile Economies: The Londo Program in the Central African Republic (English). Gender Innovation Lab Washington, D.C.: World Bank Group. 5 Publication: Gendered Impacts of Public Works in Fragile States: The Case of an Ebola Crisis Response Program in DRC by Diana Lopez-Avila and Niklas Buehren is forthcoming. Photo: © Stephan Gladieu / World Bank BOX 2: PUBLIC WORKS PROGRAMS AND CHILDCARE PROVISION Labor-intensive public works programs can incorporate childcare components to ensure the safety of children who accompany their mothers to work sites while also creating new paid work opportunities for public works beneficiaries as childcare providers. In Burkina Faso, the Government’s Youth Employment and Skills Development Project included a Labor-Intensive Public Works (LIPW) component with mobile crèches to enable mothers to participate. These crèches were mobile and positioned near work sites, allowing children to stay close to their mothers. Selected project beneficiaries were also trained to provide childcare to their own and other beneficiaries’ children during public works sessions. A study by GIL found that providing mobile crèches at public work sites tripled childcare usage for children up to 6 years old. This access not only improved children’s motor skills but also enhanced mothers’ labor participation, psychological well-being, financial resilience, and savings. In Ethiopia, a childcare intervention was added to the LIPW component of the Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP), implemented by the Government of Ethiopia’s Ministry of Agriculture and funded by IDA and other donors. Childcare providers were selected among PSNP beneficiaries and rotated to provide childcare during public works sessions in a central local government facility. An impact evaluation conducted by AFRGIL found very high usage of these childcare services. Three quarters of the PSNP households selected to take part in this intervention attended the training for caregivers, while 75 percent of the children attended the childcare centers. However, the pilot and evaluation were subsequently suspended due to the conflict in Northern Ethiopia. More information on these pilots and other implementation modalities can be found in this case study. PROGRAM DESIGN of a cash transfer program in Northern Nigeria CONSIDERATIONS IN SOCIAL to test whether the frequency of cash transfers PROTECTION PROGRAMMING matters for rural women. The evaluation found that quarterly transfers cost half as much to administer as monthly ones and had similar positive impacts on consumption, investment, women’s labor force Providing the cash transfer directly into a participation, and other outcomes. woman’s account could provide safer and more secure access, more control over use, offer a gateway to savings and other mechanisms, and increase a woman’s bargaining power. Digital Complementary interventions aim to address accounts, in particular, could contribute to norms and intra-household dynamics that influence the intended program impact on increasing women’s access to and control over the women. In Niger ASP, the full community, including household’s financial resources. elders, economic and traditional leaders, as well as program beneficiaries and their husbands (or other family members), are invited to attend a video Helping women entrepreneurs keep their screening and a community discussion. Program business income separate from household staff project a short video, filmed in local languages, demands through secure saving mechanisms that depicts the story of a couple that overcomes could have a positive impact on women’s household and personal constraints and develops productive activities while also ensuring economic activities, with support from family and women’s privacy. For example, in Tanzania the larger community. As a result, they become and Indonesia, GIL promoted the expansion more economically resilient. After the screening, of mobile savings accounts among women trained facilitators guide a public discussion on microentrepreneurs and provided them with social norms, aspirations, and community values. business related training.6 In both countries, the training enhanced the impact of promoting mobile savings. The mobile savings interventions also led Psychosocial and life skills training are to an increase in women’s intra-household decision particularly important for women. Standalone making power vis-à-vis their husbands. business and vocational training interventions have had a mixed impact on building women’s agency. Data from 17 Sub-Saharan African countries, Offering chunkier transfers can lower the analyzed in a recent Africa GIL review,8 revealed overall cost of delivering cash, possibly that socio-emotional skills, especially interpersonal freeing up resources to increase the number skills, are linked to higher earnings, particularly of beneficiaries and widen the impact of such for women. Many social protection programs programs. The Africa GIL led an impact evaluation7 increasingly incorporate psychosocial and life skills 6 Bastian,Gautam Gustav; Bianchi,Iacopo; Buvinic,Mayra Lourdes; Goldstein,Markus P.; Jaluka,Tanvi; Knowles,James C.; Montalvao Machado,Joao H. C.; Kartaadipoetra,Firman Witoelar. Are Mobile Savings the Silver Bullet to Help Women Grow Their Businesses (English). Gender Innovation Lab,Issue 29 Washington, D.C. : World Bank Group. 7 Bastian,Gautam Gustav; Goldstein,Markus P.; Papineni,Sreelakshmi. Are cash transfers better chunky or smooth : evidence from an impact evaluation of a cash transfer program in northern Nigeria (English). Gender innovation lab policy brief,no. 21 Washington, D.C. : World Bank Group. 8 Ajayi,Kehinde; Das,Smita; Delavallade,Clara Anne; Ketema,Tigist Assefa; Rouanet,Lea Marie. Gender Differences in Socio-Emotional Skills and Economic Outcomes : New Evidence from 17 African Countries (English). Policy Research working paper ; no. WPS 10197 Washington, D.C. : World Bank Group. trainings. These interventions also tend to have higher participation when they address specific constraints faced by women in their delivery, such as childcare responsibilities, transportation barriers, or lower literacy rates. Social protection programs could play a critical role in climate resilience and adaptation by providing support mechanisms that help individuals and communities manage the risks associated with climate change. Although the impacts of climate change vary across regional contexts, women’s disadvantaged positions heighten their vulnerability and reduce their adaptive capacity. A productive safety net approach that supports livelihood diversification and skills development, like the Sahel ASP example previously discussed, can also enhance adaptive capacity and reduce risks for households and local economies. FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT Clara Delavallade cdelavallade@worldbank.org Cansu Birce Gokalp cgokalp@worldbank.org 1818 H St NW Washington, DC 20433 USA www.worldbank.org/africa/gil This work has been funded in part by the Umbrella Facility for Gender Equality (UFGE), which is a multi-donor trust fund administered by the World Bank to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment through experimentation and knowledge creation to help governments and the private sector focus policy and programs on scalable solutions with sustainable outcomes. The UFGE is supported with generous contributions from Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Wellspring Philanthropic Fund.