Blogs

Late last month, over 500 researchers, policymakers, donors and activists descended on the beautiful city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for the 5th bi-annual Sexual Violence Research Initiative Forum, the largest global gathering focusing on gender-based violence (GBV) in low- and middle-income countries. The forum has become the venue to connect with others working to…

It is hard to discuss development, poverty and foreign aid without someone mentioning the contentious topic of Universal Basic Income (UBI). Some say it will be the defining issue for the future of poverty and inequity, others say it will never work. But what exactly are the defining features of UBI?

An innovative approach to combating poverty and hunger is gaining credibility in sub-Saharan Africa and making its way into international development discourse. This involves bringing together agricultural and social protection interventions to support small family farmers in taking part in, and contributing to, the process of agricultural transformation.

Non-contributory social safety nets (SSNs), including cash and in-kind transfers, public works and vouchers or fee waivers, are typically designed to provide regular and predicable support to poor populations and have become a popular policy tool to address poverty, vulnerability and inequality. There are numerous arguments in favor of SSNs, including their documented impacts across…

Can cash transfers increase women’s modern contraceptive use? This was the question that researchers recently set out to answer through a systematic review of existing studies on conditional and unconditional cash transfers published in Studies in Family Planning. As the authors of the study noted, extensive evidence has demonstrated that cash transfers (CT) can improve…