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Latest Research and News



A Letter from Annie Duflo, Executive Director

Happy International Women’s Month!

As we celebrate the progress made for women and girls, we also acknowledge the work still needed to achieve gender parity. We have been busy at IPA, and I'm pleased to share this month’s newsletter highlighting our work.

Recently, I have been reflecting on the relevance of our mission amid evolving cuts to international aid and development. When IPA was founded over twenty years ago, we set out to discover what works and what does not to improve the lives of people living in poverty.

Fast-forward to 2025, and much more rigorous evidence now exists. IPA has 19 country offices and has conducted evaluations in over 60 countries. We are partnering with 24 Embedded Evidence Labs in 16 countries

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and have a robust Right-Fit Advisory

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team that helps funders and implementers learn, adapt, and achieve greater impact.

With the shifting funding landscapes, our commitment to rigorous research has never been more critical. Despite the uncertainty facing our sector, IPA remains well-positioned for this shift and continues to deliver impact. By bridging research to effective programs, IPA and our partners have demonstrated the essential role of evidence in advancing women's rights and well-being. For example, we identified promising interventions to end violence against women and girls, including couples' counseling

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that reduces intimate partner violence, childcare

poverty-action.org/multigenerational-perspective-childcare-review-rigorous-research-low-and-middle-income-countries?utm_source=newsletter1&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter-mar-2025

for women’s economic empowerment and child development, and 'edutainment

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' that shifts attitudes toward women's rights, which we recognized as some of our Best Bets: Emerging Opportunities for Impact at Scale

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We continue to move forward with our commitment to improving lives, a value that has guided us from the beginning—finding and measuring what works to reduce global poverty and drive meaningful change around the world.

Demonstrating the courage and conviction that drives our work, Dean Karlan

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, founder of IPA and Professor of Economics and Finance at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, recently shared with NPR's Goats and Soda

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(and in a more extended interview in Devex Pro

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) his reasons for resigning as chief economist of USAID, offering valuable perspectives into the dismantling of the world's largest bilateral donor.

Your partnership makes our work possible - thank you!

Warm regards,

Annie Duflo

Executive Director, IPA

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Girls in a youth club in Tanzania reading books on social issues as part of BRAC's Empowerment and Livelihood for Adolescents (ELA) program. © 2016 BRAC Maendeleo Tanzania/BRAC

The Empowerment and Livelihood for Adolescents Program is Transforming Young Girls’ Lives

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Authors: Ian McDonnell

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(IPA) and Scott MacMillan (BRAC International)

Adolescent girls in low-income settings face significant challenges, where limited access to education, lack of job opportunities, and economic instability often trap them in a cycle of poverty and dependence. IPA has identified BRAC

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’s Empowerment and Livelihood for Adolescents (ELA) program as one of our Best Bets

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, a promising emerging intervention that holds significant potential to reduce poverty and improve health among adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) at scale. First developed by BRAC, ELA combines safe spaces or “clubs” with empowerment training, graduation-style livelihood interventions such as business and vocational skills training, financial literacy, and health education.

READ THE FULL BLOG

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Research Highlight

Reducing Pregnancy Among Adolescent Girls Through Sex Education and Information Services in Rural Peru

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Photo: Adolescent girls going to school in Cusco. ©Shutterstock/studiolaska

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Researchers: Erica Field

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and Renzo Severino

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Adolescent pregnancy is a primary driver for girls to drop out of secondary school, especially in rural regions with limited access to quality health services. This can have significant economic, educational, and health repercussions for them and their families. In a region in rural Peru—where adolescents live predominantly in low-income households and often speak an Indigenous language—researchers are evaluating whether sexual education classes and buses providing information and referrals to local health services reduce the incidence of pregnancy.

READ THE FULL SUMMARY

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Policy Insight

Supporting Evidence-Based Policy Through Innovation: The Peru MIMP Evidence Lab

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Photo: Minister Teresa Hernández (left) and IPA Peru Country Director Barbara Sparrow sign the agreement between IPA and MIMP. © 2024 MIMP

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Staff: Bárbara Sparrow

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, Fernando Tavara

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, Alexandra Heredia

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, and Aracely Montes Arias

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Since 2024, IPA has partnered with the Peruvian Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Populations (MIMP) to establish an Embedded Evidence Lab

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within the Ministry's Monitoring and Policy Evaluation Office (OMEP). The lab’s focus is on promoting data- and evidence-based policymaking, enhancing the effectiveness of programs, and developing innovative solutions to the challenges facing Peru’s women, children, adolescents, and other vulnerable populations. IPA’s team has conducted capacity-building workshops for MIMP officials and helped identify their key policy challenges, forming the basis for future projects and laying the groundwork for an evidence-driven culture within MIMP. The team has also contributed to incorporating an innovation component into the “Prevent to Protect” strategy, which aims to prevent sexual violence against children, leading to the lab’s first project with this component—a pilot communications campaign launching later this year.

READ THE FULL SUMMARY

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Links of Interest

Are Instant Payment Systems Changing the Financial Inclusion Landscape in Emerging Markets?

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Despite significant advances in digital financial services, nearly one in three adults globally still lack access to basic financial accounts and use cash for most retail transactions. Instant payment systems offer a promising solution to expand the usage of digital financial services by creating a compelling alternative to cash. In a blog post

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on FinDev Gateway, authors Hussam Razi

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(IPA) and Hakan Ozyilmaz (Stanford Graduate School of Business) summarize five key takeaways from a research synthesis brief

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produced by the Toulouse School of Economics in partnership with IPA.

Why Digital Safety Matters, And What We’re Doing About It

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While technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV) affects women and girls disproportionately worldwide, its extent and nature remain largely unknown in low- and middle-income countries. In this blog post

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, co-authors Victoria Kiasyo Isika

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& Jackie Namubiru

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(IPA) and Alexandra De Filippo & Abigail Hatcher (sistemaFutura) highlight how IPA is addressing the knowledge gap by collaborating with sistemaFutura

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to develop an instrument for measuring different kinds of TFGBV tailored to the experiences of women in African settings.

Reintegrating Former Members of Nonstate Armed Groups: State of Evidence and Design Recommendations

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In a new evidence review

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, IPA and J-PAL examine the current state of research on reintegrating former members of non-state armed groups (NSAGs) into civilian society, and find that the overall evidence base remains limited and highly context-specific. This review identifies critical questions for future research and offers design recommendations to strengthen both the evidence base and program implementation, while emphasizing the need for interventions tailored to local conditions that address both socioeconomic and psychological dimensions of reintegration.

Preventing Violence Against Women and Girls: What We’ve Learned in the 30 Years since the Beijing Declaration

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The 1995 Beijing Declaration and subsequent Platform for Action set ambitious goals

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for improving the lives of women around the world. In this blog

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, co-authors Victoria Kiasyo Isika

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, Caroline Lawton

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, and Sydney O’Connell

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highlight what we’ve learned since the signing of the Beijing Declaration on improving women’s outcomes and preventing Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG).

Youth, Violence, and Therapy | Evidence of the Impact of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) as an Intervention

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There is often a disproportionate concentration of violence and crime among young people in low-income urban areas compared to their high-income counterparts. Experimental evidence from high-crime contexts highlights the effectiveness of CBT-inspired interventions in reducing criminal, violent, and antisocial behaviors. In this blog post

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, co-authors Lelys Dinarte-Diaz (World Bank), Ricardo Morel

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(IPA), and Florence Dzame

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(IPA) share relevant evidence from low- and middle-income countries and marginalized communities, and discuss the road ahead for integration into governance processes and further evidence generation.

ADB’s Building Resilience in Education Systems Features mEducation

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In a new report

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, the Asian Development Bank presents 13 chapters on strengthening education system resilience, written specifically for policymakers and practitioners. Chapter 9 highlights the mEducation program

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evaluated by IPA, demonstrating how simple and targeted lessons delivered via mobile phone can improve learning even during school disruptions, ensuring education continues and no student is left behind.

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Events



Displaced Livelihoods Webinar Series | Emerging Evidence on Refugee Employment in Cox’s Bazar

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April 22, 2025



IPA Participates in CIES 2025 Conference - Envisioning Education in a Digital Society

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March 22-26, 2025



SEE ALL EVENTS HERE

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IPA in the News

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TechAfrica News Covers Launch of Nigeria Consumer Protection Embedded Evidence Lab

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IPA Researchers in VoxDev on the Impact of the JADENKÄ Program

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Employment Opportunities

Global Safety, Security, & Safeguarding (Sr.) Manager | Any IPA Country Office

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Support the development, execution, and training of the organization's security & safeguarding policies and procedures in collaboration with country office and senior leadership. This is an integral position to IPA’s day-to-day operations.



(Associate) Director, Right-Fit Evidence | Any IPA Country Office in Africa

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Develop and oversee the delivery of a portfolio of evidence- and learning-related advisory services. This position can be based in any IPA country office in Africa, including Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, and Uganda.



Senior Director, Global Human Resources | Multiple Possible Locations

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Lead and oversee the human resources function across multiple countries and regions, rolling out global HR strategies and policies, supporting HR and management staff around the world, and ensuring alignment with organizational and programmatic goals



(Sr.) Operations Manager, Philanthropic Partnerships | United States

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Play a lead role in implementing the Philanthropic Partnerships Team’s efficient and effective development operations, including but not limited to maximizing database efficiency, maintaining important relationships with vendors and partners, and providing oversight and management of mid-level giving outreach



SEE ALL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES

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