MOSAIC International Development Projects

Self-help groups are implemented around the world to empower women, supported by many developing countries' governments and donor agencies. AIR conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to examine the impact of economic self-help group programs on women's economic, social, psychological, and political empowerment in low- and middle-income countries. The project team also examined the mechanisms that empower women through a meta-ethnography of women's experiences in self-help group programs.

Project Director:  Thomas de Hoop

Project Investigators:  Thomas de Hoop

Subject:  International Development, Women's Groups

Population:  Adults (ages 18+)

Project Type:  Meta-analysis, Systematic literature review

AIR conducted a systematic review to examine the impact of vocational and business training on women's labor market outcomes in low-and middle-income countries. The project team used quantitative and qualitative meta-synthesis techniques to examine the trainings' impacts on women's employment and income and to assess structural barriers to training effectiveness.

Project Director:  Thomas de Hoop

Project Investigators:  Marjorie Chinen, Thomas de Hoop

Subject:  International Development, Vocational training

Population:  Adults (ages 18+)

Project Type:  Meta-analysis, Systematic literature review

In partnership with the Campbell Collaboration and Makerere University, AIR is conducting a scoping review to examine the evidence base and evidence gaps on women’s groups in Uganda. The project team will appraise the evidence base on the impact, cost-effectiveness, and implementation of women’s groups in Uganda to understand both the evidence that exists and the evidence gaps that remain. In addition, the team aims to gather some preliminary evidence on the evidence base related to the pathways through which women’s groups can achieve their objectives.

Project Director:  Thomas de Hoop

Project Investigators:  Thomas de Hoop

Subject:  International Development, Women's Groups

Population:  Economically disadvantaged

Project Type:  Scoping review

In partnership with the Population Council and Stanford University, AIR is conducting a systematic review to synthesize findings from experimental and quasi-experimental evaluations and linked process evaluations or qualitative research to examine the theories of change, enablers and barriers associated with achieving health outcomes through women’s groups that integrate economic and health activities. The project team will include studies that report effects on health-related knowledge, behavior and outcomes amongst adults and children, for domains consistent with the World Health Organization's (WHO's) definition of health as a 'state of complete physical, mental and social well-being.'

Project Director:  Thomas de Hoop

Project Investigators:  Thomas de Hoop

Subject:  International Development, Women's Groups

Population:  Economically disadvantaged

Project Type:  Systematic literature review

Recognizing the insufficient evidence available to scale education innovations in humanitarian settings, the Department for International Development (DFID), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) established the Humanitarian Education Accelerator (HEA), with the aim of understanding how to create the conditions necessary to scale existing pilot programs. In order to begin building the evidence base, AIR conducted a meta-evaluation to synthesize the findings of mixed methods process evaluations of five innovations as well as impact evaluations of three innovations.

Project Director:  Andrea Coombes, Hannah Ring

Project Investigators:  Thomas de Hoop

Subject:  International Development, Education, Refugees

Project Type:  Systematic literature review

In partnership with Juarez and Associates, AIR leads the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Latin America and Caribbean Reads Capacity Program (LRCP), which focuses on collecting and consolidating evidence on early grade literacy in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region. As part of the project, AIR conducted a mixed-methods systematic review on what works to improve early grade reading outcomes in the LAC.

Project Director:  Rebecca Stone

Project Investigators:  Rebecca Stone, Andrea Coombes, Ana Gonzalez, Pooja Nakamura, Elizabeth Spier, Thomas de Hoop

Subject:  International Development, English Language Arts (ELA)

Population:  ECE/PreK, Kindergarten, Elementary school (Grades 1 – 5), Infants/toddlers (ages 0 – 3), Children (ages 3 – 12)

Project Type:  Knowledge translation, Meta-analysis, Systematic literature review, Training