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Hidden Fees Highlighted by Hidden Researchers: A Citizen Science Approach to Detect Overcharging in Digital Financial Services

IPA Uganda team learning to use the POKET app. © 2024 IPA

By Lauren Perlik, Vardaan Chawla, Tomoki Fujii, Arpita Khanna, and Abu Shonchoy

The latest blog from our Financial Inclusion team explores the potential of citizen science, a method of training and utilizing support from members of the general public alongside more formal research. Research from Bangladesh and Uganda illustrates how this approach can enhance the detection of overcharging for digital financial services and help improve the experience of low-income consumers.

Preventing Individual-Level Violence in Conflict Settings

A woman walking in Liberia. © 2010 Glenna Gordon

Authors: Caroline Lawton and Nessa Kenny

This policy brief unpacks the current literature on preventing and mitigating gender-based violence, intimate partner violence, and violence against children during and immediately after conflicts, to identify key lessons for policymakers and practitioners, and highlight important questions that remain unanswered. Given the limits of existing research in this context, this brief also integrates the broader literature on individual-level violence reduction in low- and middle-income countries, drawing relevant insights into conflict settings.

Evaluating a Mentorship Program to Reduce School Dropout Rates in Guatemala

In collaboration with IPA-Latin America, Dartmouth College, and Proyecto de Desarrollo Santiago (Prodessa), researchers are conducting a randomized evaluation in Guatemala to measure whether a mentoring program and information sessions for sixth-grade students reduce school dropout rates and increase awareness of child labor and human trafficking.
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Evaluating A Peer Counseling Program for Survivors of Human Trafficking in Brazil

Funded by HTRI and in collaboration with Stanford University, FLPO, and CDVDH/CB, researchers are conducting a pilot evaluation to assess whether a case management and peer counseling program led by human trafficking survivor advocates can increase newly identified survivors' access to social programs and job support programs and improve their mental health.
 

Developing Safe Reporting Environments for Child Trafficking Survivors: A Training Program for Frontline Workers and Officials in Kenya

Funded by HTRI and in collaboration with Terre des Hommes Netherlands, researchers in Kenya are developing a program to train frontline workers and government officials on creating safe reporting environments for children trafficked for sexual exploitation.
 

Promoting Safer Labor Migration from Kenya to Arabian Gulf Countries

Funded by HTRI and in collaboration with Vyxer Remit, researchers are developing a study to assess if interventions that provide Kenyan workers with improved labor migration information and monitoring opportunities enhance safe migration to Gulf Cooperation Council countries.
 

Evidence at your Fingertips Series: Operational and Design Choices of Social Assistance Programs

To help policymakers make practical programmatic design choices, the “Evidence at Your Fingertips Series” explains how the design of cash transfer programs can affect outcomes. The review is largely based on impact evaluations published in the past decade.