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

Unidentified Ghanaian pupils in school uniform in a local village. Photo: nicolasdecorte | Shutterstock.com

Want to get girls to school in sub-Saharan Africa? Tackle poverty

Female education remains a key challenge in sub-Saharan Africa, which is home to the largest population of out-of-school girls. Poverty remains a key barrier to school enrolment, especially following the economic disruptions triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic. Can governments really hope to tackle...
Headshot of Dr. Nkechi Owoo

African Scholar Spotlight: Dr. Nkechi Owoo

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In this post we speak with Dr. Nkechi Owoo, a senior lecturer in the Department of Economics at the University of Ghana. Nkechi’s primary research interests relate to gender, health, demography, and poverty alleviation.
Three people of different ethnicities sit in front of a laptop and discuss.

Using research to combat internalized bias

Combating internalized biases is an important step in building equitable, fair societies. Read on for a recap of our recent webinar on combating discrimination, featuring insights from researchers on how research can help further our understanding of effective strategies.
Mujer con hijo en su espalda asiste a hospital

The effect of cash transfers on women's well-being: Lessons from evidence in Latin America

There is no consensus on the effects of cash transfers on women's lives, especially regarding empowerment and violence perpetrated by their intimate partners. This blog post reviews existing evidence from Latin America and draws lessons for policymakers on the scope and limits of these programs for...
Students work on schoolwork together around a table

Diversifying economics, part one: How J-PAL's collaborative pipeline program was built

Jatnna Amador and Toby Chaiken discuss background of J-PAL North America's Economics Transformation Project, how their lived experiences informed this work, and opportunities for continued learning.
West African woman and children sitting on the edge of a dirt selling home grown produce

Earth Day 2022: Evidence for climate-resilient food systems and nutrition

The effects of climate change will worsen over the next thirty years and will disproportionately impact the world’s poorest people in many ways. In recognition of Earth Day 2022, we're highlighting how food systems, food security, and nutrition are particularly vulnerable to climate impacts.
A grid of headshots of the 34 alumni who have participated in our feature series.

Reflecting on our global alumni community

We celebrate our alumni and their many interests and achievements through an ongoing series of interviews and blogs in which alumni share their work in their own words. Marking the third year of this documentation project, we're highlighting the 34 remarkable individuals we’ve interviewed to date to...
Rahma stands in front of a screen

Rahma Ali, J-PAL ‘21, on bringing together statistics and purpose for development research

Rahma Ali is a former research manager at J-PAL Middle East and North Africa, where she was at the forefront of establishing the office’s research operations in Egypt and pushing forward randomized evaluations on employment and livelihood generation in the country. Now at Global TIES for Children at...