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South Asia Gender Innovation Lab
Newsletters
Events
Police Role in Gender-based Violence Prevention and Response
16 Days of Activism 2023
Date/Time: December 6, 2023 from 9:00 to 10:00 AM EST
Moderator:
Sofia Amaral, Economist at World Bank – South Asia Gender Innovation Lab
Presenters:
Sandip Sukhtankar, Professor, Department of Economics, University of Virginia
Sarah Khan, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Yale University
Description:
Inadequate police responsiveness to rising yet under-reported gender-based violence has prompted reforms which seek to increase accessibility and accountability. However, most of these reforms have not been rigorously studied and the limited evidence that has been available is mixed, if not pessimistic, especially within patriarchal settings. Drawing on findings from a large-scale randomized controlled trial of a police reform (to date) in Madya Pradesh, India, and a community policing initiative in Pakistan, this learning event examines the role of police and efficacy on ongoing reforms. The findings offer evidence of what is working (and not), with policy implications as governments in South Asia and elsewhere consider gender-targeted police reforms.
Webinar: From Safety to Empowerment: Pathways for Improved Mobility for Women in South Asia
December 7, 2022
Moderator: Karla Dominguez Gonzalez, Senior Gender Specialist, World Bank Group
Opening Remarks: Kevin Tomlinson, Practice Manager for Social Sustainability and Inclusion Global Practice in South Asia, World Bank Group
Speakers:
Ashwani Kumar, Principal Resident Commissioner, Government of India
Nobonita Chowdhury, Director, Gender, Justice and Diversity and Preventing Violence Against women Initiative, BRAC
Andrea Maria Navarrete Mogollon, Bogota Bicycle Program Manager, Undersecretariat for Mobility Policy, District Secretariat for Mobility
Closing Remarks: Shomik Raj Mehndiratta, Practice Manager, Transport in South Asia, World Bank Group
Description: In this session, leading practitioners discussed the importance of enhancing safer mobility and best practices to improve safety for women and girls in South Asia.
Video Link
Roundtable Discussion: Towards Safer Migration: Countering Human Trafficking in an Integrated South Asia
November 30, 2022
Moderator: Diana Jimena Arango, Senior Social Development Specialist, World Bank Group
Opening Remarks: Maurizio Bussolo, Lead Economist in the Chief Economist Office for South Asia, World Bank Group
Speakers:
Charimaya Tamang, Founding Member and President, Shakti Samuha (NGO), Ramon Magsaysay Award 2013 recipient
Peppi Kiviniemi-Siddiq, Senior Regional Migrant Protection Specialist, International Organization for Migration
Priya Dhanani, Assistant Director, Women’s Empowerment Program, The Asia Foundation
Closing Remarks: Cecile Fruman, Director, Regional Integration and Engagement in the South Asia Region, World Bank Group
Description: The session provided important insights into how regional integration can be used as a tool to prevent risk factors for human trafficking and promote safe migration across South Asia.
Video Link
Webinar: Women's Groups in South Asia: Landscape, Impact, and the Future
May 25, 2022
Moderator: Soumya Kapoor Mehta, Senior Social Development Specialist, World Bank Group
Presenters:
Thomas De Hoop, Program Area Lead, Food Security, Agriculture and Nutrition, American Institutes for Research
Sapna Desai, Associate, Population Council
Amna Javed, Economist Consultant, World Bank Group
Sarah Haddock, Senior Social Development Specialist, World Bank Group
Discussant: Najla Sabri, Social Development Specialist, World Bank Group
Description: Co-organized by the South Asia Gender Innovation Lab (SAR GIL) and the Evidence Consortium on Women's Groups (ECWG), the webinar will present findings from three streams of work supported by the South Asia Gender Innovation Lab.
· A typology of women’s groups in South Asia with a particular focus on the design frameworks, implementation modalities, and composition of groups.
· Findings from a recent systematic review that assesses the impacts of SHG interventions on women’s economic participation and empowerment outcomes in South Asia.
· Implementation and design experiences from the Strengthening Afghan Women’s Economic Empowerment Project (SWEEP) in Afghanistan.
View the recoding and presentations here
Launch Event: Women's Economic Empowerment in South Asia (WEESA) Community of Practice
Moderator: Robin Mearns, Practice Manager, South Asia Social Sustainability and Inclusion, World Bank Group
Opening Remarks: Hana Brixi, Global Director, Gender Group, World Bank Group
Speakers:
Renana Jhabvala, National Coordinator, Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) of India, Chair of SEWA Bharat
Ashwini Deshpande, Professor of Economics and Founding Director of Centre for Economic Data and Analysis (CEDA), Ashoka University
Diva Dhar, Deputy Director (Data & Evidence), Women’s Economic Empowerment, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Closing Remarks: Mandakini Kaul, Regional Coordinator, South Asia Regional Integration and Engagement, World Bank Group
Description: The launch event featured an esteemed panel of speakers who provided important insights about the ways critical evidence on “what works” in advancing women’s economic empowerment can be translated into action. In addition, it highlighted the role of WEESA in amplifying evidence to actors beyond the WEE community.
Webinar: Strengthening Human Capital in South Asia by Preventing Child Marriage
Moderator: Maria Beatriz Orlando, Lead Social Development Specialist, South Asia Social Sustainability and Inclusion, World Bank Group
Opening Remarks: Robin Mearns, Practice Manager, South Asia Social Sustainability and Inclusion, World Bank Group
Discussant: Lori Heise, Technical Director, Prevention Collaborative and Professor of Gender and Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Presenters:
Anaise Williams, Researcher, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health & World Bank South Asia Gender Innovation Lab
Rajan Subedi, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Officer, Care Nepal
Rawnak Jahan, Tipping Point Team Leader, Care Bangladesh
Description: The session presented evidence on the impact of WEE programs on child marriage in the region based on the findings of a new synthesis paper by SAR GIL. Speakers shared lessons from implementation, strategies to avoid unintended harm, and highlighted the importance of preventing child marriage to strengthen human capital, a priority for South Asia.
Webinar: SARCE- Social Norms Intervention with Gender Innovation Labs
Speakers:
Hans Timmer, Chief Economist, South Asia, World Bank Group
Maurizio Bussolo, Lead Economist, South Asia, World Bank Group
Ana Maria Munoz Boudet, Senior Social Scientist, Poverty and Equity Global Practice, World Bank Group
Rachael Pierotti, Social Development Specialist, Eastern & Southern Africa, World Bank Group
Kate Ambler, Research Fellow, International Food Policy Research Institute
Elizaveta Perova, Senior Economist, East Asia & Pacific, World Bank Group
Benjamin Burckhart, Senior Development Specialist, East Asia & Pacific, World Bank Group
Sarah Haddock, Senior Social Development Specialist, South Asia, World Bank Group
Amna Javed Consultant, South Asia, World Bank Group
Lourdes Rodriguez, Senior Economist, Latin America & Caribbean, World Bank Group
Manuel Contreras, Senior Economist, Latin America & Caribbean, World Bank Group
Lili Mottaghi, Senior Economist, Middle East & North Africa, World Bank Group
Nausheen Khan, Impact Evaluation Analyst, Development Research Group, World Bank Group
Hala ElBehairy, Research Associate, Poverty Action Lab, Middle East and North Africa
Description: This workshop focused on policy and operational interventions aimed at improving women’s outcomes by shifting social norms. It featured all the World Bank Gender Innovation Labs (GIL), discussing a range of initiatives, approaches, and lessons learned from their work across different world regions.
Watch the event
Webinar: Women’s Entrepreneurship - Minding the Skills Gap- Does Access to Training help to improve business performance among female-owned enterprises?
Presenters:
Diego Ubfal, Economist, World Bank Africa Gender Innovation Lab
Leonardo Lacovone, Lead Economist, World Bank, Finance, Competitiveness and Innovation Global Practice
Ambika Sharma, Analyst, World Bank’s South Asia Gender Innovation Lab
Michael Frese, Full Professor for Management & Entrepreneurship, Asia School of Management
Description: The session summarized the global literature on business trainings that are designed around women’s constraints in developing countries and featured recent evidence on soft skills training for women from an influential randomized controlled trial in Togo. Additionally, it presented recent evidence from an impact evaluation on a large-scale pilot of soft skills training in Mexico and discussed meaningful business training to a vast number of women.
Watch the event
Webinar: What Works for Women’s Work? Insights from a Systematic Review of Evaluated Interventions in South Asia
June 2, 2021
Moderator: Kathleen Beegle, Lead Economist, World Bank
Presenter: Ana Maria Munoz Boudet, Senior Social Scientist, World Bank
Discussant: Amer Hasan, Senior Economist, World Bank
Description: The session presented findings from a systematic review, conducted by the South Asia Gender Innovation Lab, of skill-building interventions and those that provide women with assets. Additionally, the methodolgy and the process followed to conduct the review were discussed.
Webinar: Childcare Solutions: The impact of childcare on women’s labor force participation – the devil in the details
April 28, 2021
Speakers:
Emcet Tas, Senior Social Development Specialist, World Bank Group
Elizaveta Perova, Senior Economist, World Bank Group
Matt Wai-Poi, Lead Economist, World Bank Group
Description: This session featured findings from three different studies released by the East Asia and Pacific Gender Innovation Lab (EAP GIL), the Mashreq Gender Facility (MGF), and the South Asia Gender Innovation Lab (SAR GIL), which show that making childcare services available increases women’s chances of participating in the labor market.
Webinar: The Impact of COVID 19 on School-age Girls and Adolescents
December 9, 2020
Chair: Lynne Sherburne-Benz, Regional Director, World Bank Group
Presenters:
Sarah Baird, Associate Professor, George Washingon University
Tazeen Fasih, Lead Economist, World Bank
Shwetlena Sabarwal, Senior Ecoomist, World Bank
Koen Geven, Economist, World Bank
Discussant: João Pedro Azevedo, Lead Economist, World Bank
Description: This webinar discussed the impacts of COVID-19 on school-age children and adolescents in South Asia and shared experiences from ongoing efforts to mitigate them. It featured findings from a recent COVID-19 survey on adolescent well-being in Bangladesh, and from an intervention supported by the World Bank in Pakistan to keep girls in school and promote distance learning during the pandemic.
WEBINAR: Exploring Gender Discrimination in Workplace Supervisor-Subordinate Relationships: Experimental Evidence from India's Gig Economy
November 10, 2020
Moderator: Emcet Tas, Senior Social Development Specialist, World Bank Group
Presenter: Martin Abel, Assistant Professor, George Washingon University
Discussants:
Kathleen Beegle, Lead Economist, World Bank
Shubha Chakravarty, Senior Economist, World Bank
Description: This webinar presented the findings of a working paper supported by the South Asia Gender Innovation Lab that tests whether gender discrimination by surbordinates presents a barrier for female managers in India's growing gig economy.