How programs keep running after we step back, from Liberia to India. Plus: our CEO at Devex.͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌

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Newsletter · Q3 2026


** Programs built to outlast us
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Hi Friend,

Every year, syphilis in pregnancy causes more than 390,000 stillbirths, newborn deaths, premature births, and lifelong disabilities – even though most of those mothers will have attended prenatal care. During the UN General Assembly in September, our CEO Danielle Bayer sat down with Devex to talk about how to make sure every one of those visits includes a test and treatment:
1

The test itself is the easy part. Impact lives in the nuts and bolts: kits on the shelf, trained nurses, and data that flags issues early.
2

Plan the exit from day one. Success is when health ministries and clinic nurses call it “our program” and keep it running without us.
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Behind every number is a mother. Some have lost a baby to syphilis without knowing why. Now they can be tested and treated in a single visit, so their next baby can be born healthy.
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“I am a mother. I have very young children. So when I see the impact of what Evidence Action does, it feels really visceral.”

Danielle, speaking as a mother, on seeing the impact of our work.
Danielle Bayer
CEO, Evidence Action

Watch the clip ([link removed])

The same principles shaped our work across programs this past quarter.
Deworm the World

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India


** How India’s National Deworming Day grew from a three-state pilot to a program reaching more than 300 million children a year ([link removed])
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Ankur Garg, Executive Vice President and India Country Director, shares insights from a decade of deworming: the children most at risk are the easiest to miss, fast data lets states fix gaps early, and support should be built to end.
Read the story → ([link removed])

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“Deworming is still one of the cheapest levers for school attendance that exists.”

Crawfurd put Deworm the World on his shortlist of 34 organizations he would bet on. A randomized trial in Kenya found 25% less school absenteeism, and 13% higher incomes two decades later.
Lee Crawfurd · Center for Global Development
From CGD’s Putting the AI Windfall to Work series ([link removed]) → ([link removed])
Safe Water Now

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India


** Pipes aren’t enough: Water safety in rural India depends on community ownership ([link removed])
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Rural tap connection coverage has grown nearly five-fold in seven years. But a functionality assessment by the Jal Jeevan Mission found only 76% of households surveyed had enough safe water consistently. Trust is also essential — and it’s built by people, not pipes. In Andhra Pradesh, pump operator Bhavani went door to door to explain why treated water smells of chlorine.
Read the story → ([link removed])
Leapfrogging the learning curve: We’re sharing our dispenser playbook ([link removed])
Chlorination remains among the most cost-effective ways to keep children alive past their fifth birthday. After a decade of running dispensers, we’re sharing what we learned – failures included – so others can improve the model. This year, we’ll support four pilot partners in Nigeria and Ethiopia. → ([link removed])
Syphilis-Free Start

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Liberia


** Liberia has largely closed the gap between HIV and syphilis screening, and built it into government health systems ([link removed])
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Screening at prenatal visits has since gone from about 8 in 100 women to about 80. All 15 counties have graduated from our intensive support, and health workers at more than 560 facilities now routinely screen and treat.
Read the coverage → ([link removed])
One shot, many partners: Danielle Bayer at Devex Impact House ([link removed])
After decades of neglect, maternal syphilis is on the international agenda. Our CEO sat down with Devex’s Kate Warren to talk about the growing global coalition we’ve convened. → ([link removed])
Equal Vitamin Access

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Nigeria


** Same supplies, smarter targeting: How Nigeria could save 250% more lives ([link removed])
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Nigeria has committed $30 million to nutrient supplements for three million children under two. Where those supplements go matters. By sending them to the highest-burden wards, with trained health workers to deliver them, we estimate 3,000 more children’s lives could be saved.
Read the story → ([link removed])
Four things we’ve learned since launching an anemia prevention program in Malawi ([link removed])
From a standing start in under two years, about 54% of adolescent girls in Malawi received at least one iron tablet in a given month. Four lessons are helping us close the gap to full doses. → ([link removed])
A dose only works if it’s swallowed: behavior is the next frontier in India’s fight against anemia ([link removed])
If prevention is the future of public health in India, the next frontier in the fight against anemia is “the infrastructure of behavior,” writes Ankur Garg. In Uttarakhand, a health worker returned three times to a home where the iron syrup sat unopened; in Haryana, a teacher talked with students who were slipping tablets into their bags. → ([link removed])
Accelerator

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Liberia


** A proven way to prevent newborn deaths still isn’t reaching most babies. ([link removed])
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Kangaroo Mother Care, which pairs skin-to-skin contact with close monitoring for danger signs, cuts neonatal mortality by roughly a third, yet a four-country case study found only 5% of facilities offering it had reached durable, routine practice. We’ll work with Liberia’s Ministry of Health to learn what delivery would require.
Read the story → ([link removed])
Devex opinion: Reading glasses are a livelihoods issue, not a convenience ([link removed])
An estimated 826 million people lack the simple glasses that would restore near vision and enable them to earn an income. The authors argue for putting screening and distribution in the hands of community health workers, and put Evidence Action’s program among the evidence it can work. → ([link removed])
Also this quarter

Evidence Action welcomes Cammie Lee as Executive Vice President, Global Programs ([link removed])
Cammie joined in July after leading the scale-up of low-cost proven innovations for mothers and babies at the Gates Foundation, and a decade at Results for Development. She will lead our largest programs across 11 countries. → ([link removed])
A new wave of philanthropy is coming. Researchers say to follow the evidence. ([link removed])
AI-related wealth could add $37 billion to $100 billion a year in giving. The Center for Global Development’s series asks where it could do the most good; several of its picks overlap with our work, from newborn health to deworming. → ([link removed])
Designing AI for scale from the start: a conversation with Kanika Bahl ([link removed])
Recorded at Devex Impact House, Kanika Bahl, who leads the AI Access Initiative and was previously CEO of Evidence Action, explains why government systems are the channel to scale: they deliver most population-level services and hold the digital registries that let AI reach people where they already are. → ([link removed])

Thanks for reading, Friend.

Every update above starts with the evidence, and the work that reaches families runs through government systems built to last. Your support makes the next one possible.
DONATE NOW ([link removed])

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