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GRASSP: Mexico
GRASSP: Mexico
In December 2018, the Government of Mexico instituted policy and programmatic reforms of the country’s social protection system. The goal of these reforms was to address child poverty, disparities related to income and ethnicity, and inequalities in education and labour-market outcomes.Integrating Gender and Child Rights into the Reforms of Key Social Protection Programmes in Mexico investigates the key elements of these reforms that impact issues of gender and child rights. The study examined the characteristics of the reforms, the factors that influenced them and the conditions that are required to ensure their sustainability.The study concludes that addressing political, financial and institution conditions will be required to ensure the sustainability of the gender-responsive and age-sensitive social protection reforms in Mexico.The work was part of a multi-year Gender-Responsive Age-Sensitive Social Protection (GRASSP) research programme, which was funded by the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). The project featured investigations into social protection systems in nine countries: Angola, Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Mali, Mexico, Tanzania, Uruguay and Viet Nam.
GRASSP: Mali
GRASSP: Mali
The Government of Mali with support from UNICEF introduced a cash-plus programme to women’s savings groups in rural Mali in response to COVID-19. UNICEF Innocenti – Global Office of Research and Foresight conducted a mixed-methods impact evaluation of this programme between 2022 and 2024 as part of the Gender-Responsive Age-Sensitive Social Protection (GRASSP) research programme.The cash-plus programme combined (quarterly) cash payments with complementary services in the areas of child wellbeing and women’s empowerment over the course of one year. The impact evaluation consisted of two treatment arms (cash plus services, and services only) and one control group, as part of a cluster randomized control trial. Programme impacts were measured through a 16-month follow-up survey on the same households interviewed at baseline. The evaluation broadly informs a potential scale-up of the programme in Mali (and similar contexts) as well as the design and implementation of child- and gender-sensitive social protection policies and programmes and their shock-responsiveness.A full impact evaluation report and baseline and endline briefs (English and French) will be available.
GRASSP: Ethiopia
GRASSP: Ethiopia
Study 1: Implementation of Gender Provisions in Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Programme. What works, how and why? This study investigates the influence of social protection implementation processes on the fulfilment of gender design commitments and the achievement of gender equality objectives. It is carried out as part of the Gender-Responsive and Age-Sensitive Social Protection (GRASSP) research programme (research stream two), which seeks to understand how gender-responsive and age-sensitive social protection can reduce poverty and gender inequality. To accomplish this, the study analyses the implementation processes of the gender provisions of Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP). Suggested citations: Report: Kuss Maria Klara, and Mathilde Van Drooghenbroeck, Sofia Af Hällström, Eszter Timar and Noe Petitjean, Implementation of Gender Provisions in Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Programme. What works, how and why?, UNICEF Innocenti, Florence, August 2024.Brief: Kuss Maria Klara, and Sofia af Hällström, Mathilde Van Drooghenbroeck and Jessica Daminelli, The realities of gender responsive social protection: Lessons from the implementation of Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Programme, UNICEF Innocenti, Florence, January 2024. Study 2: Institutionalization of Gender in the Design of the Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Programme This study is part of the Gender-Responsive Age-Sensitive Social Protection (GRASSP) research programme (research stream three). It focuses on the institutionalization of gender within the policy design and policy design processes of Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP). Doing so, it unpacks the intricate interplay between stakeholders, their preferences and gender beliefs, and the ways they have influenced the integration of gender into the PSNP since 2005. This history and analysis of gender provisions’ evolution in Ethiopia’s PSNP can inform policymakers in Ethiopia and elsewhere around the globe about the integration of gender equality considerations into social protection programming. Suggested citations: Main report: Kuss Maria Klara, and Mathilde Van Drooghenbroeck, Getu Demeke Alene and Kiran Stallone, Institutionalization of Gender in the Design of the Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Programme, UNICEF Innocenti, Florence, August 2024.Brief: Kuss Maria Klara, and Mathilde Van Drooghenbroeck, Kiran Stallone and Getu Demeke Alene, The Gender Design of Social Protection in Ethiopia: Key Insights into the History of the Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP), UNICEF Innocenti, Florence, August 2024.
GRASSP: Angola
GRASSP: Angola
Over the last decade, the Government of Angola has implemented on a series of reforms aimed at establishing a comprehensive social protection system and strengthening it so it would cover some of the country’s most vulnerable populations. The reforms included the first ever cash-transfer programme, a child-sensitive unconditional social cash transfer programme for food-insecure households with children up to age five - Valor Criança. This programme also linked families to other services including birth registration, early childhood development, adolescent empowerment and community-led sanitation – known as a ‘cash plus’ programme.As part of the multi-year Gender-Responsive Age-Sensitive Social Protection (GRASSP) project, research was conducted on the effectiveness of Angola’s social protection system and its impact on children’s lives and the role it plays in fostering gender equality.The research project in Angola resulted in two reports and two short briefs, all in English and Portuguese. Report 1 focuses on the impacts of the Valor Criança programme on various domains of child and household well-being. Report 2 examines the extent to which gender and child rights have been embedded in Angola’s social protection system, focusing on the decision- and policy-making processes that led to the design, implementation and financing of the reforms.
Implementation Research Compendium
Implementation Research Compendium
Achieving results for children requires a shift in how we implement innovative approaches, evidence-based policies and programmatic interventions. Drawing from nine country case studies, this compendium highlights the potential of implementation research (IR) to ensure that interventions are not only based on solid evidence but also effectively implemented to achieve the best outcomes for children. IR helps close the gap between what is known and what is done, ensuring that proven strategies are effectively translated into real-world actions that benefit children. in thisProminent themes include:The potential of IR for customization and adaptation of interventions to fit specific cultural, social, and economic contexts.The importance of involving local stakeholders, including communities, to ensure interventions are accepted, supported, and sustained.The potential of IR for continuous improvement and timely identification and rectification of implementation bottlenecks.IR’s role in increasing the evidence about what works, why, and how.The power of IR to ensure that interventions are equitable.The case studies also suggest ways future IR can be improved and strengthened.UNICEF is committed to IR as a key difference-maker in accelerating outcomes for children and encourages its wider use to improve results for children and meet Sustainable Development Goals.Suggested citation: UNICEF Innocenti – Global Office of Research and Foresight, Implementation Research Compendium: A systematic presentation of the learnings from nine countries, UNICEF Innocenti, Florence, July 2024.
GRASSP: Viet Nam
GRASSP: Viet Nam
As a component of GRASSP, and in collaboration with UNICEF Viet Nam and the Viet Nam Ministry of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs (MOLISA), this study investigates the gender-responsiveness of the social assistance reform that was initiated under the Central Party’s Resolution No 15-NQ/TW (2012), and which primarily took place between 2015 and 2021, resulting in two policies, Decision 488/2017 and Decree 20/2021. While the overall objective of the social assistance reform was to increase coverage and adequacy for individuals in “extremely difficult circumstances” and to define a minimum living standard to determine eligibility for transfers, they provided an opportunity to enhance gender-responsiveness across the social assistance system.However, despite the existence of several well-established gender mainstreaming mechanisms and processes, the resultant policies have only a limited degree of gender integration. The aim of the study, therefore, is to investigate how gender was considered during conceptualization, formulation, and approval of the policies, what factors influenced that process, and how this led to the level of gender-responsiveness in the final policies. Suggested citations: Main report – English: Mathers, Nicholas, and Mathilde Van Drooghenbroeck, Eszter Timár and Tran Nhu Trang, An Investigation of Gender Mainstreaming in Social Protection Policy: Understanding the processes, actors and institutions that shaped integration of gender into social assistance policy reforms in Viet Nam, UNICEF Innocenti, Florence, June 2024.Brief – English: Mathers, Nicholas, and Mathilde Van Drooghenbroeck, Eszter Timár and Tran Nhu Trang, Understanding gender mainstreaming processes in social protection policy: A case study from Viet Nam, UNICEF Innocenti, Florence, April 2024.
Inclusive Education for Children with Disabilities in Cambodia
Inclusive Education for Children with Disabilities in Cambodia
In 2019, children with disabilities in Cambodia were three times less likely to access educational opportunities than their peers without disabilities. Several barriers impede their ability to access inclusive educational opportunities. These include limited capacity of mainstream schools to enroll children with disabilities, lack of teachers who are trained in pedagogical strategies and approaches to teach children with various types of functional difficulties, and community perceptions towards inclusive education. A holistic approach is required to ensure necessary changes are made at all levels of the education system to ensure that children with disabilities can access inclusive learning in Cambodia. This is the first report under the Learning is For Everyone (LiFE) project and offers key recommendations to address barriers.
Neurotechnology and Children
Neurotechnology and Children
In the next five to 10 years, neurotechnologies – ranging from brain implants to non-invasive devices like watches and headbands – will affect daily life for many children. The technologies stand to bring potential benefits in areas such as health, education, wellness and play.However, they also pose risks – known and unknown – especially given children’s evolving capacities and physical brain development. Unchecked, neurotechnology could be used to infer insights about children’s mental states, and predict and influence behaviours. Wearable devices are spilling over from the medical domain into the consumer market and are not subject to ethical or legal oversight, reducing protections for children.Robust guidance and the development and enforcement of adequate regulation in the present and near future are needed to protect and empower children.This working paper explains what neurotechnology is and, through the lens of opportunities and risks, highlights current applications of neurotechnology involving children, and considers future and emerging uses. It concludes with preliminary recommendations towards child-centred neurotechnology.Watch this space: This working paper, which is part of a partnership between UNICEF and the Government of Finland, will be followed by a set of more detailed policy recommendations to guide neurotechnology policymaking and development for children.Suggested citation: Pauwels, Eleonore, Neurotechnology and Children, UNICEF Innocenti – Global Office of Research and Foresight, Florence, June 2024.
Data Must Speak: United Republic of Tanzania
Data Must Speak: United Republic of Tanzania
Evidence-informed decision making is crucial to improve the quality and relevance of basic education in United Republic of Tanzania. Both the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) in Mainland Tanzania and the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (MoEVT) in Zanzibar are interested in enhancing data usage and access to develop, implement, and monitor evidence-based policies, plans and strategies for primary education.By merging and analyzing existing administrative datasets in both Mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar, the Data Must Speak (DMS) research helps to identify important associations between school inputs and school performance that can inform public policies and investments in the education sector. The DMS research leverages this administrative data to identify positive deviant schools – or those schools outperforming other schools operating in the same contexts and with equivalent resources. It then identifies the practices and behaviours that may be contributing to positive deviant schools’ success and explores how to scale these to more schools in the country.Data Must Speak is a global initiative launched in 2014 to address the evidence gaps and mitigate the learning crisis using existing data. The DMS Positive Deviance research is co-created and co-implemented with Ministries of Education and key partners. It employs mixed methods and innovative approaches, including positive deviance, behavioural sciences, implementation research and scaling science to generate knowledge and practical lessons. The research focused on understanding ‘what works’, ‘why’ and ‘how’ to scale grassroots solutions for national policymakers and the international education community.All DMS Positive Deviance research outputs related to the United Republic of Tanzania is presented here:DMS Stage 1: Understanding what resources and contextual factors are associated with good school performanceStage 1 Report: Unpacking Factors Influencing School Performance in Mainland Tanzania (English)Stage 1 Report: Unpacking Factors Influencing School Performance in Zanzibar (English) DMS Stage 3: Discovering locally led behaviours and practices to improve quality educationStage 3 Report: Research on the practices and behaviors of positive deviant schools in Mainland Tanzania (English)Stage 3 Executive Summary for Mainland Tanzania (English)Stage 3 Report: Schools Inspiring Change: Research on the practices and behaviours of positive deviant schools in Zanzibar (English)Stage 3 Executive Summary of the DMS research in ZanzibarCitation: UNICEF Innocenti – Global Office of Research and Foresight, Ministry of Education and Vocational Training Zanzibar and UNICEF Tanzania, Data Must Speak – Schools Inspiring Change: Research on the practices and behaviours of positive deviant schools in Zanzibar. UNICEF Innocenti, Florence, November, 2024.
Educational strategies that can reduce child labour in India
Educational strategies that can reduce child labour in India
India has made significant progress in increasing school enrolment in recent decades. However, there remain gaps in school participation and learning outcomes, especially among children from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds. At the same time, child labour in the country persists, with out-of-school children being more likely to engage in…
Teachers for All: Republic of Congo
Teachers for All: Republic of Congo
The Republic of Congo must address systemic challenges in its educational sector to ensure all students have equitable access to quality education, in line with the Education 2030 agenda. Current challenges include significant disparities in teacher distribution which undermine the learning conditions in rural and urban settings alike.Investments in teacher recruitment have not yet successfully addressed the high pupil-teacher ratios, reaching as high as 48:1 in public schools. The early grades of primary education are particularly affected, as inadequate support from teachers can hinder academic performance from the outset.This report offers a comprehensive examination of teacher distribution across the Republic of Congo and presents strategic recommendations for enhancing future teacher deployment to better align with the needs of schools.
Leading Minds 2024: Climate action
Leading Minds 2024: Climate action
Leading Minds harnesses the insight, foresight, and energy of youth, combining it with the wisdom and experience of world leaders to reimagine global leadership. The Leading Minds Fellowship on Climate provides a unique platform for young leaders to shape the agenda of the Leading Minds Conference 2024, focused on Climate Breakthroughs. Leading Minds Fellowship on Climate is an intensive, six-month fellowship programme designed to foster and harness the talents of young climate leaders aged 15-25. Participants are actively involved in identifying cutting-edge breakthroughs and solutions to drive impactful change in climate action and advocacy. By empowering these young leaders, we cultivate community-driven strategies to drive policy development, prioritize social equity within financial structures, advance renewable energy initiatives, advocate for environmental education as a catalyst for systemic change and chart the way for democratic governance to prepare and engage youth in building a sustainable future today. During the two months prior to the Leading Minds Conference, UNICEF’s Leading Minds Fellows on Climate Action worked to identify solutions, drive commitment, and inspire action within UNICEF and beyond.The following publications have been prepared with Fellows as pre-conference materials that have helped shape the agenda and center the discussion around child rights and the role of young people in the climate space:Discover youth insights on climate change and breakthrough solutions, and dive deeper through the following publications: 2024 Leading Minds Conference on Climate Action: The conference outcomes reportEmerging Horizons: Youth Insights on Climate Change and Breakthrough Solutions: A synthesis report of the participatory workshop which informed the conference's key thematic areas.Twelve Thought Pieces on Climate Activism: A collection of 12 personal narratives from Leading Minds Fellows on Climate about how the climate crisis affects them and what they are doing in their communities and at global level to drive change on the climate agenda.Collapse, Compromise or Collective Action: Youth Stories on the Future of Climate Action: A collection of future-inspired stories informed by a Horizon scanning exercise aimed fostering innovation, enhancing preparedness, and staying ahead in the rapidly evolving landscape of climate change.
