The World Bank’s Africa Region Gender Innovation Lab (GIL) sits squarely at the intersection of policy and operations. Our aim is to enable project teams and policymakers to advocate for better gender integration from a position of evidence. In close collaboration with project teams, the GIL designs, launches, and oversees impact evaluations of new interventions to generate knowledge on which policies work (or not) for closing gender gaps in the economic sectors. We also conduct impact evaluation workshops and other capacity building activities, so that others can contribute to and better interpret the knowledge base. Finally, we leverage the evidence to promote the uptake of effective gender policies throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. GENDER-FOCUSED IMPACT EVALUATIONS ARE YIELDING CONCRETE RESULTS. EARLY RESULTS Large gaps remain in knowing what works best for closing gender differences, what doesn’t work, and why. For instance, we know that agricultural productivity in UNDERLINE THE Sub-Saharan Africa could increase 10%-30% if women used farming inputs at the LARGE BENEFITS same rate as men, but we still don’t know how to best provide women with access to OF EFFECTIVE these inputs. The Gender Innovation Lab is spearheading efforts to identify scalable DEVELOPMENT solutions for women’s economic empowerment in Africa, to help policymakers and development practitioners to better address gender constraints. PROGRAMS THAT INTEGRATE The GIL is currently working on more than 40 impact evaluations in 20 countries GENDER. across Sub-Saharan Africa, in the following thematic areas: • Agriculture • Including extension services, grants, market development, new technologies • Private sector development • Including business registration, managerial and entrepreneurial training, matching grants, networking marketplace, apprenticeships • Property rights • Including land registration • Youth employment • Including life skills and livelihood training, job placement programs THE GENDER INNOVATION LAB IS USING IMPACT EVALUATIONS TO FIND SOLUTIONS THAT ARE: COST EFFECTIVE For just $18 per girl per year, a program of adolescent girls clubs in Uganda provided livelihoods training, life skills, and a safe social space – and helped more girls move into income-generating activities. Participants showed tremendously positive changes in their life choices around reproductive health, career and self-esteem. PROFITABLE In Uganda, men and women working in the same sectors receive the same earnings. But the women who break the metal ceiling and cross over into male- dominated sectors, for instance becoming car mechanics, make as much as men. GIL identified that a major stumbling block is simply that most women are not aware that male-dominated industries are more profitable. Another finding underscores the important role that teachers play in determining girls and boys professional paths. Providing accurate information and supporting mentoring services could encourage women to cross over to more lucrative work, and close the gender gap in earnings. SCALABLE Female farmers in many African countries experience lower yields than male farmers. Thanks to new data from Nigeria, Ethiopia and Malawi, the GIL and the LSMS-ISA program are quantifying which constraints hold female farmers back the most – a necessary first step for designing effective policy to increase yields. CONTEXT-SPECIFIC In Liberia, 60% of the population is under the age of 24 and most young adults are unemployed. The World Bank’s Adolescent Girls Initiative boosted employment among trainees by 50%. FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT Markus Goldstein SUSTAINABLE mgoldstein@worldbank.org In Rwanda, providing land titles led owners to invest more heavily in soil Katherine Manchester conservation – and women were twice as likely to make these investments as kmanchester@worldbank.org men. Findings from GIL’s evaluation of a pilot of the land registration program 1818 H. St NW spurred changes in Rwandan government policy, strengthening the property Washington, DC 20433 USA rights of women without a marriage certificate.