Gender Equality

Image of women in colorful clothing laughing

Gender equality is critical for improving lives both because of its intrinsic value and because it can contribute to improving economic and health outcomes.  However, women and girls in low-and middle-income countries continue to fall behind because of societal and structural barriers that limit their education, employment, and health opportunities.

We conduct research and evaluations and provide technical assistance to improve gender equality by working with communities, and development agencies.

Our Work

AIR’s work focuses on strengthening, expanding, and disseminating the global evidence base on how to improve gender equality.  This includes generating and synthesizing evidence on the impact, cost-effectiveness, and scalability of women’s groups in India, Nigeria, and Uganda, as well as examining the impact of cash transfers on women’s empowerment in various countries in sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, AIR conducts research and provides technical assistance on girls’ education. Recent examples of work include the following:

In addition to these specific projects, AIR implements a gender-sensitive approach across its international work, which allows it to go beyond measuring women’s empowerment and including analyses on gender relations and social norms. To achieve this objective, AIR has laid out components of a gender-sensitive approach to various steps in the life cycle of research, evaluation, and technical assistance. This includes the use of a gender balanced team, the consideration of gender implications within the research questions, and the design of research, evaluation, and technical assistance in a gender-sensitive manner, including quantitative and qualitative data collection instruments, and gender-focused data analysis.

Latest Work

Image of young woman in headscarf
8 Oct 2020
Spotlight

Educating Girls and Women Throughout the World

Equitable access to education is a global challenge for many, but especially for girls. The evidence overwhelmingly shows that educating girls contributes to the social and economic development of communities, increases household earning potential, and provides a foundation for making informed health and safety decisions. Helping girls access learning opportunities so they can achieve their greatest potential is an important focus of AIR’s work across the globe.
Project

Evidence Consortium on Women's Groups

To counter socioeconomic and structural challenges in low- and middle-income countries, governments, development agencies, and nongovernmental organizations have invested in different types of women’s empowerment collectives (WECs), including economic self-help group programs and women’s groups practicing participatory learning and action.
1 Dec 2017
Report

Vocational and Business Training to Improve Women’s Labour Market Outcomes in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review

The following systematic review summarizes evidence focused on the impact, or lack thereof, of vocation and business training programs. In addition, the review also focuses on the barriers and facilitators of this training and its effectiveness for women that are located in low- and middle-income countries around the world.
30 Jan 2016
Report

Cash for Women's Empowerment? A Mixed-Method Evaluation of the Government of Zambia's Child Grant Programme

Despite the promise and potential of cash transfers to empower women, the evidence supporting this outcome is mixed. This paper based on an evaluation of the Government of Zambia’s Child Grant Programme, a transfer given to mothers or primary caregivers of young children aged 0 to 5, shows there is potential for national, poverty-targeted, unconditional, government-run programmes in Africa to improve the well-being of female beneficiaries.
Project

Evaluation of the Transformative Potential of Positive Gender Socialization in Education for Peace Building in Uganda

Post-conflict regions are often characterized by a weakness in resilience, social cohesion, and human security, which may be reinforced by gender inequality. The continued absence of positive gender socialization can serve to perpetuate inequality, inevitably confining women to traditional gender roles. Women constitute the largest proportion of out-of-school youth in Uganda, and their limited educational opportunities render them unable to contribute to this aspect of the peace-building process, which in turn may further delay progress in peace-building.
Project

Longitudinal Evaluation of Women for Women International-Nigeria’s Men’s Engagement Program

With limited access to health services and education, patriarchal norms, and mounting violence, Nigerian women struggle to gain economic opportunities and equality. AIR evaluated a men's engagement program which includes training for men on issues such as the value of girls and women and violence against women.
Project

The Effects of Economic Self-Help Group Programs on Women’s Empowerment: A Systematic Review

Self-help group programs are the most popular development intervention to stimulate women’s empowerment in South Asia. In partnership with Touro University, AIR conducted a mixed-methods systematic review to determine the impact of women’s self-help groups on empowerment.
Project

Girls' Opportunities to Access Learning (GOAL) and GOAL Plus - Liberia

The 1989–2003 civil war disrupted all aspects of Liberian society, government services, and daily life, and the country’s education system was no exception. The GOAL project, implemented between 2010 and 2013, aimed to improve girls’ enrollment, attendance, and retention in six districts in Liberia.