Africa Gender Innovation Lab (GIL)

Léa Rouanet, Deputy Head of GIL, presented findings from GIL’s evidence review on policy levers to prevent intimate partner violence and sexual harassment at an FCDO Research and Evidence Directorate (RED) webinar. The review, developed with the Prevention Collaborative, highlights how policy, legal, and regulatory reforms can reduce GBV and promote gender equality at scale. (link to the GBV theme)

GIL presented evidence on gender-responsive social protection at the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW-69) side event, “Years of Her Life: Gender-Responsive Social Protection Across the Life Course,” organized by UNICEF. The presentation highlighted program design adaptations—such as childcare support, skills training, and community dialogue—that strengthen women’s empowerment and promote gender equality across the life course.

The Pathways to Prosperity for Adolescent Girls in Africa team received an award at the World Bank’s International Women’s Day event, recognizing their contribution to advancing women’s economic empowerment. Team members Estelle Koussoube, Kehinde Ajayi, Léa Rouanet, Ioana Botea, Wei Chang, Nelsy Affoum, and Clémence Pougué Biyong were honored for their collaborative efforts in bringing gender evidence to the forefront of policy dialogue across Africa.

Africa GIL contributed to the World Bank Group Gender Leads Network Meeting in January 2025, where Michael O’Sullivan, Head of Africa GIL, served as discussant for a session on the upcoming 2025 Human Development Report. His remarks drew on GIL evidence to highlight the importance of research and data in shaping gender-responsive development strategies.

Under our newly launched Jobs and Income for Women Research Program, we are seeking governments, NGOs, donors, and private sector firms with innovative and scalable programs, policies, or products in Sub-Saharan Africa designed to close male-female gaps in earnings, productivity, assets, and agency. Selected partners will collaborate with the Africa GIL on rigorous impact evaluations to identify effective strategies for inclusive growth. Focus areas include agriculture, entrepreneurship, youth employment, property rights, social protection, social norms, and gender-based violence.

GIL economists Sreelakshmi Papineni and Aletheia Donald presented new evidence highlighting the pressing need for childcare provision services at an event with Invest in Childcare.

At the SVRI 2024 Forum in South Africa, GIL economist Rachael Perotti shared valuable operational insights and preliminary findings from GIL's work to integrate and evaluate intimate partner violence (IPV) prevention interventions within government-led social safety net programs in Mauritania and Cameroon. She also presented a joint evidence review with the Prevention Collaborative, examining policy levers that could effectively reduce IPV at the population level.

This document suggests 10 concrete, evidence-based ideas for action. The ideas are based on a review of the available evidence, from Ethiopia and beyond, on ‘what works’ in closing key gender gaps in financial services. 

GIL co-organized an international seminar with the Réseau International Formation Agricole et Rurale (Réseau FAR) from September 17 to 19, 2024 in Côte d’Ivoire. This event brought together over 100 stakeholders from the public and private sectors across ten countries. The seminar focused on exploring the barriers women face in accessing and staying in agricultural extension programs, as well as their integration into the broader agricultural sector—addressing critical challenges, such as limited access to land.

Michael O’Sullivan, Head of Africa GIL, presented GIL evidence at the Africa Eastern and Southern Region (AFE) M&E Learning Series Session on Impact Evaluation, organized by the regional Development Effectiveness unit. His presentation highlighted how impact evaluations inform policy and operations, drawing on evidence from Niger ASP, Nigeria FNLP, Ethiopia WEDP, Zambia SWL, Rwanda GBV, and personal initiative training programs. The session also featured reflections on the value of GIL’s contributions to operational learning.

Michael O’Sullivan, Head of Africa GIL, served as moderator for the World Bank Annual Meetings flagship regional event on gender, “Clear Her Path: Breaking Down Barriers to Women’s Economic Empowerment.” The session brought together leaders from government, the private sector, and civil society, and featured Africa GIL evidence from the Pathways to Prosperity report on empowering adolescent girls.

GIL team members engaged with national and subnational policymakers during the Joint Planning Board meeting. The session featured evidence on women’s economic participation and the presentation of a draft subnational female labour force participation brief, reinforcing GIL’s commitment to promoting gender-responsive policy design.

A GIL team member gave the opening remarks at the closing event for the Women Entrepreneurship Development Project (WEDP) technical assistance component. The remarks focused on capacity building for women’s financial inclusion in Ethiopia and highlighted GIL’s innovative approaches to advancing women’s economic empowerment.

The FY2024-2028 Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Gender Action Plan (RGAP) developed with contributions from GIL and other World Bank teams has been launched. 

GIL’s Deputy Head, Léa Rouanet, shared insights at the OECD RPCA meeting in Paris on how gender evidence can shape more inclusive agricultural policies. Drawing from work in Mozambique and Côte d’Ivoire, she highlighted how initiatives like couples’ training and inclusive savings tools foster equitable growth and resilience across farming communities.

On March 28, Africa GIL in collaboration with the National Bank of Ethiopia organized a conference on furthering women’s financial inclusion in the country, along with launching a policy brief on the same.

In commemoration of International Women’s Day, GIL Senior Economist, Julia Vaillant, presented evidence on the positive impact of community-based interventions, such as safe spaces, mentoring, and empowerment. 

The Africa Gender Innovation Lab and the Social Sustainability & Inclusion (SSI) Global Practice, co-led a gender evidence and policy session at an IMF/UN Women event.

GIL's Deputy Head, Léa Rouanet, at a recent Western and Central Africa regional education summit discussed expansion of access to secondary education for girls based on excerpts from a study on school attendance.

Under our newly launched Jobs and Income for Women Research Program, we are seeking governments, NGOs, donors, and private sector firms with innovative and scalable programs, policies, or products in Sub-Saharan Africa designed to close male-female gaps in earnings, productivity, assets, and agency. Selected partners will collaborate with the Africa GIL on rigorous impact evaluations to identify effective strategies for inclusive growth. Focus areas include agriculture, entrepreneurship, youth employment, property rights, social protection, social norms, and gender-based violence.

At the SVRI 2024 Forum in South Africa, GIL economist Rachael Perotti shared valuable operational insights and preliminary findings from GIL's work to integrate and evaluate intimate partner violence (IPV) prevention interventions within government-led social safety net programs in Mauritania and Cameroon. She also presented a joint evidence review with the Prevention Collaborative, examining policy levers that could effectively reduce IPV at the population level.

GIL co-organized an international seminar with the Réseau International Formation Agricole et Rurale (Réseau FAR) from September 17 to 19, 2024 in Côte d’Ivoire. This event brought together over 100 stakeholders from the public and private sectors across ten countries. The seminar focused on exploring the barriers women face in accessing and staying in agricultural extension programs, as well as their integration into the broader agricultural sector—addressing critical challenges, such as limited access to land.

This document suggests 10 concrete, evidence-based ideas for action. The ideas are based on a review of the available evidence, from Ethiopia and beyond, on ‘what works’ in closing key gender gaps in financial services.