South Asia Region South Asia Gender Innovation Lab: Call for Proposals The South Asia Gender Innovation Lab (the Lab) was set up at the World Bank Group (WBG) in 2014 to expand evidence on “what works” towards addressing key gender challenges and reducing gender inequalities in the region. The objective of the Lab is to contribute to gender equality and women’s empowerment in the South Asia Region (SAR) through identification of interventions that address underlying causes of female and male disadvantages in a given country’s context. In order to do this, the Lab develops and uses robust diagnostic tools to better understand the gender impact of development activities, identifies and evaluates innovative mechanisms that can significantly enhance gender outcomes, and facilitates their incorporation and scale-up into policy and operations to address gender inequalities in SAR. To support this objective, the Lab is pleased to announce a Call for Proposals to scope pipeline, early stage, or ongoing operations for impact evaluation (IE). This process, referred to in this document as a scoping exercise and described in detail below, will determine eligibility and help plan for an impact evaluation. In addition to funds, selected projects will have access to technical assistance from the Lab team. The chief criterion to be selected for a scoping exercise is that the proposed operation must aim in its implementation to address gender gaps in South Asia under at least one of the Lab’s three thematic pillars: (i) access to and use of infrastructure services, (ii) economic empowerment, and (iii) voice and agency—with priority given to gender- based violence (GBV). The South Asia Gender Innovation Lab currently oversees a portfolio of 15 activities (please see accompanying brief). In addition to diagnostic research, the Lab conducts IEs that provide empirical evidence on what is and is not effective in reducing gender-based disadvantages across the three thematic pillars outlined above. The IEs currently supported under the lab are based in India, Nepal, and Bangladesh; the majority of these fall under the thematic pillar of access to and use of infrastructure services. The Lab now seeks to expand the evaluation of operations to GPs/sectors and countries that have received more limited attention. Therefore, GPs in which operations have not yet received much gender-focused evaluation and/or where critical knowledge gaps remain—for instance, in female labor force participation, GBV, and other aspects of voice and agency—are especially encouraged to apply. Priority consideration also will be given to operations based in Afghanistan, Bhutan, Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan. Scoping Exercise A scoping exercise determines if a given project is eligible for impact evaluation. In cases where eligibility is confirmed, this process will also plan for an impact evaluation and result in a detailed and well-designed scoping paper or an IE concept note. This scoping paper or concept note is expected to outline goals, questions, and methodology for the planned evaluation, as well as the proposed budget and expected deliverables. November 2016 South Asia Region The Process Teams in the WBG’s South Asia Region (SAR) are invited to submit proposals to the South Asia Gender Innovation Lab for scoping of projects. Selected projects will be awarded up to $20,000 towards a scoping exercise that will help determine if the proposed project is suitable for an impact evaluation. Additional funding and technical assistance may follow if the scoping exercise determines that the project qualifies for evaluation and will result in a detailed and well- designed scoping paper or IE concept note. Eligibility Project teams applying for funds through this call should demonstrate intent to have the Lab scope projects for impact evaluation. An impact evaluation, at minimum, requires the identification of treatment and control groups and use of a rigorous framework of analysis like a randomized control trial or use of quasi-experimental techniques. Project teams do not need to specify how they plan to identify a treatment or control group or which analytical technique they will apply. They should, however, show that they intend to arrive at these conclusions with a scoping exercise funded through this call for proposals. Proposed projects should: • Be based in one or more SAR countries; • Be proposed by a staff member of the World Bank South Asia Region with intent to scope projects for impact evaluation; • Aim to answer the following general research question: how effective is the project’s intervention at reducing gender gaps in at least one of the Lab’s three thematic pillars (i) access to and use of infrastructure services: (ii) economic empowerment; and/or (iii) voice and agency; • Identify more specific research questions to be answered through an impact evaluation. Please see Table 1, below, for sub-thematic areas that specific research questions on gender gaps could address (Identified questions can be revised once the project has been selected for the scoping exercise)); • Be approved by the team’s Practice Manager November 2016 South Asia Region Application: Contact Information Name Title WBG Global Practice/IFC and Unit Email Address Project Information Name of the project Project code Project TTL(s) Country (or Countries) in which the IE would take place Project Details: Please provide a description of the project and explain what stage the project is in (pipeline, concept note formulation, or currently operational): How does the project relate to the mission and objective of the South Asia Region Gender Innovation Lab and its three thematic pillars of access to and use infrastructure, economic empowerment, and voice and agency? November 2016 South Asia Region Please select below the thematic and sub-thematic areas of the Lab that the project addresses (check all that apply): Table 1. Thematic/sub-thematic Area √ Access to Infrastructure Energy and Extractives Transport Water Other (please specify) Economic Opportunities Access to Finance Asset Ownership Entrepreneurship Labor Force Participation Skills Development Other (please specify) Voice and Agency (proposals that focus on GBV will be prioritized over other V&A topics) Child Marriage Decision-making in the household Political participation Violence against men and boys Violence against women and girls Engaging men to address violence against women and girls Other (please specify) What key questions (can be revised after selection) does the project team want to answer through an impact evaluation? November 2016 South Asia Region Please describe how the questions you have identified above relate to the mission of the South Asia Gender Innovation Lab? How do they address knowledge gaps regarding gender issues in South Asia? What methodologies do you have in mind for an impact evaluation of the proposed project? (Optional) November 2016 South Asia Region What is the requested budget for this scoping exercise? Please indicate if you are willing to share funds with another project for this scoping exercise. Is the scoping exercise for evaluation of the proposed project approved by the team’s practice manager? Application Submission: The deadline for applications is COB, Friday, December the 2nd, 2016. Eligible project teams should submit this application by email to Jennifer Solotaroff, Senior Social Development Specialist, at jsolotaroff@worldbank.org and cc Luis Alberto Andres (landres@worldbank.org), George Joseph (gjoseph@worldbank.org), Syed Usman Javaid (sjavaid1@worldbank.org), and Jayati Sethi (jsethi1@worldbank.org) November 2016