Hanmer, Lucia

Person:
Hanmer, Lucia

Gender Cross-Cutting Solutions Area, The World Bank

Author Name Variants

Hanmer, Lucia C.

Fields of Specialization

Gender equality, Gender data

Departments

Gender Cross-Cutting Solutions Area, The World Bank

Last updated:April 30, 2024

Biography

Lucia Hanmer is a Lead Economist in Gender at the World Bank Group. In this capacity, she works to identify and pursue frontier research areas and develop new knowledge products aimed at filling key data gaps and operationalizing gender equality throughout the World Bank Group portfolio. She holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Cambridge.

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/10986/38797

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Publication Search Results

Now showing1 - 10 of 14

Increasing Gender Equality in Fragile, Conflict, and Violence Settings
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-04-17) Hanmer, Lucia; Ekhator-Mobayode, Uche; Al-Ahmadi, Afrah; Rawlings, Laura
Fragility, conflict, and violence (FCV) significantly impact women and girls, exacerbating gender-based violence and limiting access to rights and services due to weakened institutions. Positive changes can emerge from crises, providing opportunities to reshape social norms and empower women. Achieving gender equality in these settings requires tailored approaches that consider local dynamics and involve influential non-state actors. The World Bank Group's experience suggests that partnerships, strengthened laws, and inclusive policies can enhance outcomes. Sustainable progress demands increased investment, innovation in data collection, and collaboration among governments, NGOs, and the private sector to address these complex challenges effectively.
The Impact of Protracted Displacement on Syrian Refugees in Jordan: The Evolution of Household Composition and Poverty Rates
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-09) Rubiano, Eliana; Santamaria, Julieth; Hanmer, Lucia
This paper examines the influence of gender inequality on poverty among Syrian refugees in Jordan between 2013 and 2018. Two waves of Home-Visit surveys, collected by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, are analyzed to track the evolution of poverty among Syrian refugees in Jordan. To compare changes in poverty between female- and male-headed households, the paper uses relative comparisons of deciles in the expenditure distribution and quantile regressions. The analysis adjusts the poverty measure for economies of scale as the cost per person of maintaining a given standard of living may fall as household size rises. The findings show that the spending distribution has shifted over time, negatively affecting female-headed households. In 2013, female-headed households below the median had lower expenditure than male-headed households. In 2018, this pattern occurs in all deciles. The findings also show small differences between poverty rates of female- and male-headed households whether the poverty measure is adjusted for economies of scale or not. Regardless of the poverty measure, the poverty gender gap has increased over time, with female-headed households experiencing poverty more intensely. Female single caregivers remain at the most risk of falling into poverty when compared with other types of households and over time. This approach can help policy makers design more effective programs of assistance that respond to gender-based differences in vulnerability to poverty and find durable solutions for displaced populations.
Understanding the Gender Gap in ID: Key Research Findings and Policy Lessons from Nigeria
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-03) Esquivel-Korsiak, Victoria; Hanmer, Lucia; Pande, Rohini
The World Bank Group’s identification for development (ID4D) initiative estimates that 1 billion people are without an officially recognized means of ID - of these, the majority are women. ID4D undertook an in-depth qualitative study in Nigeria to build global knowledge on women and marginalized groups’ access to and use of IDs, and to inform the country’s Digital ID4D Project. This study draws on data from focus groups discussions and interviews with over 1,500 Nigerian participants that explored gender-based barriers in obtaining the national ID and the intersectionality of issues faced by women and persons with disabilities, internally displaced persons (IDPs), and pastoralists. A systematic analysis of this data reveals that universal issues which make it difficult for many Nigerians to register under the current system are compounded by gender-specific barriers and other barriers faced by marginalized groups. The study synthesizes solutions suggested by communities along with international good practices to provide evidence-based recommendations on how to improve access to ID for women and the public more broadly. This note provides a summary of the study and the insights.
How Does Poverty Differ among Refugees? Taking a Gender Lens to the Data on Syrian Refugees in Jordan
(Taylor and Francis, 2020-05-12) Rubiano, Eliana; Hanmer, Lucia; Arango, Diana J.; Santamaria, Julieth
Many reports document the hardships experienced by refugees, highlighting that women and children are a highly vulnerable group. However, empirical analysis of how gender inequality impacts poverty among refugees is limited. We combine registration data for Syrian refugees in Jordan collected by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees with data from its Home Visit surveys to analyze income poverty rates among refugee households. We use an approach that captures the disruption to household structures that results from displacement to evaluate the poverty impacts, comparing refugee households with male and female principal applicants (PAs). We find that distinguishing between different types of principal applicant households is important. Half of the female PAs for nonnuclear households live below the poverty line compared to only one-fifth of male PAs for nonnuclear household. PAs who are widows and widowers also face high poverty risks. Households that have formed because of the unpredictable dynamics of forced displacement, such as unaccompanied children and single caregivers, emerge as extremely vulnerable groups. We show that differences in household composition and individual attributes of male and female PAs are not the only factors driving increased poverty risk. Gender-specific barriers which prevent women accessing labor markets are also a factor. Our findings show that gender inequality amplifies the poverty experienced by a significant number of refugees. Our approach can be used to help policy-makers design more effective programs of assistance and find durable solutions for displaced populations.
Barriers to the Inclusion of Women and Marginalized Groups in Nigeria’s ID System: Findings and Solutions from an In-Depth Qualitative Study
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021) Esquivel-Korsiak, Victoria; Hanmer, Lucia; Pande, Rohini
An estimated one billion people around the world do not have an officially recognized means of identification (ID). The majority live in low-income countries (LICs), particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. This study contributes to an overarching goal of building global knowledge about increasing women’s and marginalized groups’ access to and use of IDs to promote development. There is little systematic evidence about the causes of gender gaps or the exclusion of particular groups from possession of government-recognized IDs. The study aims to analyze gaps in access to the national ID issued by Nigeria’s National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), and provide evidence-based advice to policy makers on how to lift the constraints that create high barriers for women and marginalized groups.
Achieving Universal Access to ID: Gender-based Legal Barriers Against Women and Good Practice Reforms
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-01) Elefante, Marina; Hanmer, Lucia
Proof of identity is vital in modern society. Individuals need identity documents to participate in many aspects of civil, political, and economic life. These include obtaining a job in the formal sector, opening a bank account, borrowing from a financial institution, and owning a property or a business in addition to traveling, voting, and gaining access to health and social welfare services. For women and girls, legal identity is a stepping stone to empowerment, agency, and freedom of movement. Hence, it is a vital enabler of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG). Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. However, many women and girls do not have access to legal identity. Globally, it is estimated that 1 billion people are unable to prove their identity, and millions more have forms of identification that cannot be reliably verified or authenticated (World Bank 2015). This paper explores how gender-based legal differences and nationality laws limit women’s ability to obtain identification for themselves, their children, and, in the case of nationality laws, their spouses too. It brings together data and analysis produced by agencies working on legal barriers that pertain to their mandates, for example, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on birth registration, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on statelessness, and the evidence produced by the World Bank Group’s Women, Business and the Law and other legal sources. Its aim is to provide a comprehensive overview of the extent of gender-based legal barriers against women to ID and what is known about their impact on women, children, and excluded groups.
Addressing the Needs of Women and Girls in Contexts of Forced Displacement: Experiences from Operations
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019) Arango, Diana; Hanmer, Lucia; Damboeck, Johanna; Rubiano, Eliana; Villacres, Daniela
This review focuses on women and girls who have been forcibly displaced. Gender inequality is not left behind when women and girls are forced to flee their homes. In situations of displacement, women and girls are most exposed to adversity, and many of the risks they face, such as gender-based violence, are heightened. Women are among the most vulnerable, facing a number of challenges including extreme poverty, lack of access to basic infrastructure and services, and the impacts of climate change on livelihoods and human well-being. Internalized inequality can limit women's ability to overcome adverse experiences. With that in mind, World Bank projects must consider the different circumstances of women and girls/men and boys to deliver benefits to those that need them most. The objective of this portfolio review is twofold: (i) to assess how World Bank operations to date have addressed the different needs of forcibly displaced women and girls/men and boys in fragile, conflict, and violence (FCV) contexts; and (ii) to distill lessons and guidance for task teams, including those designing operations under the new International Development Association (IDA18) refugee window and the Global Concessional Financing Facility (GCFF). The review is limited to considering how the needs of women and girls have been addressed, as no operations were found that identified gender specific needs of forcibly displaced men and boys, or sought to close gender gaps that affected these men and boys adversely.
How Does Poverty Differ Among Refugees? Taking a Gender Lens to the Data on Syrian Refugees in Jordan
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2018-10) Arango, Diana J.; Hanmer, Lucia; Rubiano, Eliana; Viollaz, Mariana; Santamaria, Julieth
Data collected for refugee registration and to target humanitarian assistance include information about household composition and demographics that can be used to identify gender-based vulnerabilities. This paper combines the microdata collected by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to register refugees with data from its Home Visit surveys to analyze income poverty rates among refugees with a gender lens. It finds distinguishing between different types of male and female principal applicant (PA) households is important in the setting of Syrian refugees in Jordan. Poverty rates for couples with children do not differ by gender of the PA but for other household types poverty rates are higher for those with female PAs. Households formed because of the unpredictable dynamics of forced displacement, such as sibling households, unaccompanied children, and single caregivers, are extremely vulnerable, especially if the principal applicant is a woman or a girl.
The Role of Identification in Ending Child Marriage
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016-07) Elefante, Marina; Hanmer, Lucia
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’s Goal for Gender Equality (SDG5 to: Achieve Gender Equality and Empower Women and Girls) sets a series of ambitious targets that will measure progress towards attaining this goal. One such target is to: ‘eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation. In this paper we examine how efforts to achieve legal identity for all, including birth registration for all, can contribute to ending child marriage. The authors begin by setting out the current context presenting data on child marriage and its impacts and then turn to birth registration drawing out its links with fundamental human rights and development goals. We then present estimates of the numbers of unregistered children in the world’s global regions based on the World Bank Identification for Development Initiative (ID4D) dataset. The authors turn next to the link between birth registration and child marriage rates6 using data on birth registration in the 106 countries for which authors also have data on child marriage. The authors find a correlation between high birth registration rates and low child marriage rates and discuss this link in the context of evidence on the underlying causes and drivers of child marriage. The authors explore the links between birth registration and child marriage in greater depth in two case studies: the first one examines the role of identity papers, particularly birth and marriage certificates, in the enforcement of minimum age of marriage laws for Syrian refugees in Jordan; the second one discusses how a recently adopted strategy to streamline the process for obtaining birth certificates in Indonesia can contribute to reducing child marriage. Despite evidence of a correlation, however, a policy pursuing universal birth registration is unlikely to have impact on child marriage rates unless it is embedded in broader efforts to end child marriage, including legal reform, advocacy, and national and local policies and programs which work with communities to change social norms and are designed to reach people that are at risk from being excluded from national efforts, for example refugees and internally displaced peoples.
Voice and Agency : Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity
(Washington, DC: World Bank Group, 2014) Klugman, Jeni; Hanmer, Lucia; Twigg, Sarah; Hasan, Tazeen; McCleary-Sills, Jennifer; Santamaria, Julieth
The 2012 World Development Report recognized that expanding women's agency - their ability to make decisions and take advantage of opportunities is key to improving their lives as well as the world. This report represents a major advance in global knowledge on this critical front. The vast data and thousands of surveys distilled in this report cast important light on the nature of constraints women and girls continue to face globally. This report identifies promising opportunities and entry points for lasting transformation, such as interventions that reach across sectors and include life-skills training, sexual and reproductive health education, conditional cash transfers, and mentoring. It finds that addressing what the World Health Organization has identified as an epidemic of violence against women means sharply scaling up engagement with men and boys. The report also underlines the vital role information and communication technologies can play in amplifying women's voices, expanding their economic and learning opportunities, and broadening their views and aspirations. The World Bank Group's twin goals of ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity demand no less than the full and equal participation of women and men, girls and boys, around the world.