Blog

News

News, ideas, and analysis from J-PAL staff and affiliated professors. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive monthly email updates.

Map showing the Western Balkans

How can insights from rigorous evidence inform policymaking in the Western Balkans?

This post highlights how rigorous impact evaluations can contribute to this broader reflection, including by examining interventions from neighboring countries outside the region facing similar challenges, such as migrant and refugee inclusion in Bulgaria and Turkey.
students attending Breakthrough's gender sensitization in-classroom discussions

Gender inequality: What really needs to change?

In an op-ed for the India Development Review, J-PAL SA's Anna Rego and Shagun Sabarwal argue that policies and programs must change restrictive gender norms in order to meaningfully impact the lives of women and girls.
Rachna is standing and speaking into a microphone

Alumni Voices: Reimagining how innovation funders measure and value gender impacts

By
  • Rachna Nag Chowdhuri
Rachna Nag Chowdhuri ‘13 (former research manager at J-PAL South Asia) discusses her work at the Global Innovation Fund to reimagine how funders measure and value impact on gender equality outcomes.
Women in Debanandapur, West Bengal, India sitting on the ground while sewing and ironing garments.

Training gender practitioners in South Asia in strategies to measure gender outcomes

The Centers for Learning on Evaluation and Results, hosted at J-PAL South Asia, conducted a five-day online workshop on Applying a Gender Lens to Program Evaluation in February 2021. This workshop covered content on the measurement of gender outcomes, such as gender norms, agency, attitudes...
A woman sitting at a sewing desk smiles at the camera while cutting cloth with scissors

Growing the research agenda on women’s work

Through the Gender and Economic Agency Initiative (GEA), J-PAL is catalyzing a new body of innovative research on women’s work to support policymakers in implementing policies to support working women during and after the pandemic. GEA is now expanding our research portfolio with support from the...

A passion that became a career: J-PAL's Diana Warira receives 2021 Africa Evidence Leadership Award

By
J-PAL policy manager Diana Warira Njeri is the 2021 winner of the Africa Evidence Leadership Award (AELA) offered by the Africa Evidence Network (AEN). AEN caught up with Diana about receiving the award and asked her some questions about what the Africa Evidence Leadership Award means for her work.
A smiling girl holds a piece of paper.

Shifting social and gender norms for improved development outcomes: A recap from the Global Evidence for Egypt Spotlight Webinar

While Egypt has made some progress towards gender equality and girls’ and women's empowerment, traditional gender roles and power dynamics continue to persist. Egypt has one of the highest gender gaps in the world, ranking 134th out of 153 countries in the World Economic Forum’s 2020 Global Gender...
A woman sits and smiles

A five-question women’s agency index created using machine learning and qualitative interviews

Women’s agency, or their ability to make and act on their choices for their lives, is an important concept in research and policy related to gender equality. Many policies aim to increase women’s agency, which could be a means for them to improve their health, economic security, and decision-making...